When Covid Symptoms Collide with Menopause Ones

I have no idea whether my symptoms are menopausal or Covid related. Having done some research, I find that I am not the only Covid afflicted menopausal woman wondering the same.

Is it Covid or peri/menopause symptoms?

Having Covid feels like being in a biological battle of mini domestic proportions. A virus is occupying your body and you don’t know how it is going to play out. I isolate, test, take my vitamins and rest but it still feels like I am not doing enough. All I can be thankful for is the fact that I had my booster jab about five weeks ago.

I took to bed in the afternoon because I felt unwell. I woke up feeling just as bad as before. The word ‘menopause’ flashed through my brain. The symptoms felt familiar.

I had forgotten that I was a menopausal woman during the entire time of testing positive. Such was my concentration on being Covid ridden all memory of my alter ego as a grumpy witchy type menopausal woman with brain fog and high levels of irritation had been temporarily erased.

What are the menopausal symptoms common to Covid?

I am not a clinician but I have found the following from what looks to be a reliable website. While this article talks about ‘Long Covid’, there is enough research on other sites too about the overlap between menopause symptoms and Covid ones. I have no idea how I am meant to distinguish between the two.

In another piece of research it is stated that:

The vast majority of women, 70%, had thought that some of their Long Covid symptoms could be a result of either their perimenopause or menopause. However, 84% of women had never been asked by a healthcare professional about whether or not they could be perimenopausal or menopausal. They were given no advise about treatment of their perimenopause or menopause.

Common symptoms include: 

• Headaches
• Dizziness
• Brain fog
• Poor sleeping patterns
• Reduced concentration
• Muscle pains
• Low stamina

It is also worth bearing in mind that menopausal women are more at risk of developing heart disease and Type 2 disease, both of which can be exacerbated by Covid.