Many women I know look forward to reaching menopause and being freed from monthly menstrual hassles and worries about unintended pregnancy.

But they’re not so happy if they find themselves experiencing menopausal “brain fog”—including poor concentration…difficulty recalling where they put things…and/or trouble remembering names and phone numbers.

And they’re really not happy when their husbands and others get frustrated and blame them for forgetting things and just seeming to be  “not all there.”

Up to two-thirds of women say they experience brain fog while going through the midlife transition. And while some studies support this, there is not much objective proof of the phenomenon—so some people claim that the menopausal brain drain is all in women’s heads, so to speak.

Researchers decided to find out whether menopausal brain fog is real…and, if so, to pinpoint exactly when a woman can expect it to start. What they found was fascinating…

HEAD TEST

To go hunting for brain fog, the researchers gathered 117 women, average age 49, and, based on each woman’s stage of menopause, split them into four groups…

  1. Late reproductive stage—characterized by subtle changes in menstrual flow and/or the length of menstrual cycles.

  2. Early menopausal transition—a woman’s cycles become persistently irregular, varying in length by a week or more.

  3. Late menopausal transition—periods come two months or more apart.

  4. Early postmenopause—the first 12 months after a woman’s final period.

For the study, the women answered questionnaires about their general health, quality of life and symptoms (if any) of depression or anxiety. And they completed a battery of tests designed to measure their cognitive function—including their attention level…short-term or “working” memory…verbal fluency…dexterity…visual/spatial skill (for instance, identifying objects that had been cut into pieces and rearranged)…and verbal learning (such as recalling lists of words).

Results: Surprisingly, women in the third stage did just as well on the cognitive tests as those in the first and second stages, I heard from the lead researcher, Miriam T. Weber, PhD. However, women in the fourth stage (the first year after the final menstrual period) were a different story—for the most part, they did significantly worse on tests of attention, verbal memory, dexterity and verbal learning. For instance, Dr. Weber said, they took an average of five to six seconds longer to complete the dexterity task of putting pegs into pegboards…and they remembered an average of two fewer words in tests measuring recall of 15-word lists.

In other words, brain fog in postmenopausal women is real—and it seems to begin shortly after the last menstrual period.

HELLO, BRAIN FOG—NOW GO AWAY

The good news is that the cognitive dip seems to be temporary. Though Dr. Weber’s research wasn’t focused on measuring how long these effects persisted past menopause, a national women’s health study done a few years ago suggested that cognitive skills rebound to premenopausal levels once a woman is postmenopausal. That study didn’t specify exactly when the rebound takes place—but “postmenopausal” by definition means that a woman’s final menstrual period occurred at least 12 months earlier.

Now, what can women do about all this? If you’re heading into menopause, you’re probably hoping to cope well with brain lapses while you wait for things to get back to normal. Weber offered these tips…

  • Safeguard your overall health. Eating right, exercising, maintaining an appropriate weight and keeping blood pressure and cholesterol under control will help your brain work optimally.
  • Keep a calendar handy. Write frequent notes to keep track of appointments and other commitments.
  • Resist the urge to multitask. Focusing on one task at a time optimizes brain power—so turn off your cell phone and disable e-mail pop-up windows when you’re in the middle of an important task.
  • Relax and be patient. As Dr. Weber said, “Just knowing that this is a normal part of life might reduce anxiety, and that helps your brain function better.”