The Most Common Menopause Side Effects Brits Ask Dr. Google
Menopause is inevitable for all women and non-binary people who menstruate. Most will begin to develop menopause symptoms up to four years before their last period. This can be an incredibly confusing time and many frantically ‘symptom-search' to see if what they are feeling is normal.
Using Google Keyword Planner, we’ve managed to identify what side effects of menopause are the most commonly experienced.
While the above are the most common, we identified a variety of other less common symptoms worth viewing. If you experience any of these, you aren’t alone and note that each person goes through menopause completely differently. See the full data here.
The most concerning issue for the majority experiencing menopause is weight gain, with 3,600 searches each month. Weight fluctuations occur in response to changes in levels of oestrogen, progesterone and other hormones, often leading to increased appetite and fat gain.
Following on is night sweats, with 2,400 monthly searches, joint second with breast soreness, together making up the top three.
Below is how you can begin to manage each of the top three symptoms.
How can I manage weight gain from menopause?
Individuals should look to increase their level of physical activity, either by taking up a new sport/hobby or even just taking the dog out for longer walks than usual. The serotonin released during exercise should help alleviate the anxiety and stress from hormone fluctuation.
Eating a more balanced nutrient-rich diet also helps, as does avoiding negative lifestyle habits like alcohol consumption.
How can I manage night sweats from menopause?
According to research, there are certain food and drink that you should look to avoid. These are:
- Caffeine
- Spicy Foods
- Alcohol
You should also be aware of your own personal triggers, as everyone is different. If you are particularly sensitive to caffeine for example, this is more likely to cause menopausal night sweats.
Your bedroom surroundings are equally as important, your bedroom should be kept cool either by air fans or air coolers. It’s also worth re-considering your bedding needs and make sure the material is thin as possible. When sleeping it is also worth wearing loose-fitted cotton clothing.
Another important tip it to take a cold shower before bed each night, as this will help regulate your body temperature.
How can I manage breast soreness?
Breast soreness is likely not a new symptom for women at this point, as it’s commonly associated with periods and pregnancy. Therefore, it’s likely you already know your best coping strategies.
But some management techniques some women find particularly useful are:
- Supportive Bras or Sports Bras
- A Hot Compress
- A Cold Compress
Methodology
A sample list of 34 side effects from menopause was taken from Medical News Today. Each side effect was input into Google Keyword Planner with ‘menopause’ following. This tool then suggested other menopause side effects that were also popular, which increased the side effects studied to 50. From this, we were able to record the average monthly number of searches from August 2020 – July 2021 for each side effect.