Vertigo and Menopause

I just had my annual appointment with my OB/GYN and she was shocked to hear that I was taking hormone replacement therapy already. I think she might have been offended that I went through telehealth instead of coming to her, but after our discussion, I was confident I made the right call because she said she would have suggested birth control first (that will have to be another blog post).

She asked what my symptoms were and I said, "Not sleeping, vertigo, overactive bladder, and shoulder issues." She told me that vertigo had nothing to do with menopause because men experience it too. I wasn't going to sit there and argue with her, but I know for a fact that this is a perimenopausal symptom. If you've ever had vertigo before, you know how debilitating it is!

So let me share some research...

According to a study done in 2020, the vertigo risk factors seem to increase in perimenopausal women. This article is very "sciency" but essentially, the rates of vertigo increase during menopause because we DO have estrogen receptors in our inner ear. They found that a "sudden decrease in estrogen can lead to the disturbance of otoconial metabolism, which can increase the prevalence of BPPV (vertigo)." They found that hormone replacement therapy helps decrease vertigo occurrences, while oral contraceptives increase vertigo episodes.

Here's another study done in 2014 that studied gender differences in vertigo occurences. They found perimenopausal women (age 40-49) were more susceptible to experiencing vertigo (3.2 : 1 ratio, female to male). Interestingly, there is a large difference between genders aged 10-19 as well. Both of these times in females' lives are when hormones are fluctuating. While age affects both genders, it's clear that women experience an uptick in occurrences when hormones are fluctuating.

I hope you never have to experience vertigo because it's terrible! You feel like you're going to fall over and vomit. If you find yourself with a spell of vertigo, click HERE for a demonstration of the "Epley Maneuver" which is supposed to put those ear crystals back in place.