Welcome to the Newsome Health Menopause podcast. I'm Dr Louise Newsome, a GP and menopause specialist,

and I run the Newston Health Menopause and Wellbeing Centre here in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Today I'm going to Menopause and Well-Being Centre here in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Today I'm going to be talking with Dr Rebecca Lewis, who's one of the doctors who works very closely with me here at my clinic. I've known Rebecca for a long time as a friend and

also a colleague, so it's really exciting that she's working so closely with me

so today we thought we talked about depression a bit about anxiety how it can happen and occur

in the perimenopause and menopause so huge problem really isn't it it totally it floors so many

women i think i think most women have experienced it to greater or less than you really, isn't it? Totally. It floors so many women, I think.

I think most women have experienced it to greater or less degree, don't you?

But yes, it sort of comes along.

It's kind of insidious and onset, like many of the menopausal symptoms,

but the fluctuations, I think, in the eastern levels,

which we see in the perimenopause, really does affect the neurotransmitters

that are important for our mood of 5HT. And they act on the limbic systems, you know, in the area of the brain,

it's important with mood. And that's affected by fluctuating levels of estrogen.

So women often then feel one day they could feel okay

and a couple of weeks later can feel absolutely flawed by their symptoms of low mood,

increasing anxiety that's very common,

feeling a little sometimes paranoid sometimes, actually.

Some poor women really are affected quite considerably by that.

Sleep as well is also bad.

And so they're not getting good night's sleep.

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