Whether it’s a hot cup of tea, a frothy latte or an iced coffee with a shot of flavoured syrup, most people enjoy a caffeine hit once in a while – and some have them far more often than that. One survey found that 70% of UK coffee drinkers have at least two cups every day! But should you drink coffee during menopause? Can it make menopause symptoms better or worse? Read on to find out everything you need to know about caffeine and menopause.
Do you use caffeine to cope with symptoms?
Menopause happens when your body begins to make much less oestrogen, either due to surgery, medication or ageing. This leads to the end of your menstrual cycle and potentially a whole host of menopause symptoms.
Menopause can be a challenging time and it’s unsurprising that you may reach for a strong cup of coffee to get through the day. Sleepless nights, low energy levels, brain fog and feeling generally under the weather are all things that might seem more manageable after a caffeine hit.
Don’t worry, we’re not going to ask you to never take another sip – but it is worth thinking twice if you’re struggling with certain symptoms. The amount of caffeine you drink and when you have it can impact your menopause experience.
How does caffeine affect menopause?
Scientists don’t know enough about the way caffeine affects hormones and menopause, but there are a few things that we do know:
- Consuming even relatively high levels of caffeine won’t affect the age you go through menopause
- Caffeine can affect your menopause symptoms
- Caffeine and HRT may interact
Studies have found that coffee and caffeine consumption are related to decreased levels of free oestrogen in the bloodstream in white women. However, the opposite was found for caffeine from green tea and soda in women of all races. This highlights how complicated it can be to know how caffeine affects you in menopause.
Does menopause cause caffeine sensitivity?
Not as far as we know. Everyone responds differently to caffeine whether in menopause or not. This is partly down to your genes, but it will also depend on the amount, type and way that you drink – or eat – caffeine. The way caffeine affects your menopause symptoms also varies widely from person to person.
Can you have caffeine and take HRT at the same time?
There is no evidence that caffeine and HRT are a harmful combination, but they may not be a great match.
Scientists know that HRT and caffeine are processed by the same enzyme. This means that having more of either substance could affect the way the other is processed and used by your body. That said, we are unsure how HRT and caffeine interact in real life, and experiences may vary.
Speak to your doctor if you’re struggling with HRT side effects or if your HRT isn’t working. You could try cutting down on your caffeine intake, but scientists don’t have any evidence about how well this will work.
Caffeine and menopause symptoms
Does caffeine make hot flushes and night sweats worse?
Evidence on whether caffeine affects hot flushes is mixed, but studies point to a link between caffeine intake and more bothersome hot flushes.
It’s worth cutting down on caffeine to see if it helps your symptoms if you’re struggling. Switching every other cup to decaf could be enough to make a difference.
Sleep disturbances
Caffeine is great at making you feel wide awake. This can be very useful during the day, but not so good when you’re struggling to get to sleep at night.
Caffeine stays in your system for many hours. It takes 4-6 hours for your body to remove half of it from your bloodstream. This means that half of the caffeine from your 4pm tea or coffee will still be there at 10pm.
Try switching to decaf or only drinking caffeinated drinks before noon if you are struggling with poor sleep.
Anxiety
Anxiety can be a real issue for many during menopause and caffeine can make things worse. That jittery, shaky, on-edge feeling could be partly due to your coffee or tea.
Try cutting down on caffeineif you are feeling anxious – you may find that it makes a difference.
Urinary issues
Needing to pee more often, having to rush to the loo and experiencing frequent urinary tract infections (UTIs)? This can all be part of the way menopause changes your urinary tract. Unfortunately, caffeine can make things worse.
Caffeine is known to act as a diuretic, which means it will make you want to pee more often. Switching to decaf or no-caffeine herbal drinks could help you get on with your life without those frustrating bladder symptoms.
Fatigue
Grabbing a coffee when you feel tired might seem like a good idea, but it may leave you feeling even more exhausted once the caffeine wears off.
Try swapping caffeine for other ways to lift your energy levels. Try having a healthy snack – a handful of nuts or an apple – or head outside to get some fresh air and stretch your legs.
How much caffeine can you drink during menopause?
Think about the wider picture when it comes to your caffeine habits – it’s not all bad. Coffee contains lots of things that are good for you, and it could contribute to your mental wellbeing too:
- Coffee contains polyphenols which act as antioxidants and fight inflammation in your body. It also contains compounds like cafestol and kahweol which have anticancer properties
- Lignans are also found in coffee. Lignans are classed as phytoestrogens and may have a positive effect on your menopause symptoms, such as hot flushes
- Consider the social and emotional aspects of coffee drinking. Perhaps having a coffee is an opportunity to catch up with friends or find a peaceful moment in your day
If you enjoy drinking coffee or would like to benefit from some of its positive effects, it’s a good idea to monitor its effect on your menopause symptoms. Here’s what to do:
- Note down when and how much caffeine you’ve had and rate your symptoms out of ten throughout the day
- After a couple of weeks, it’s time to get your detective hat on and look for patterns. Your sleep may be worse on days when you drink more coffee, or you may have particularly bad hot flushes. Make a change that could help, such as changing the timing of your daily coffee or swapping one caffeinated drink to decaf
- Do you notice things improve when you cut down? Keep tracking things until you’ve found a happy medium for you
Remember that we all respond differently to caffeine, so your results from cutting down will be unique to you.
How to cut down if you feel addicted
Caffeine addiction is real and it can take a while to cut down, especially if you have a high tolerance level. Withdrawal symptoms can include:
- Headaches
- Tiredness
- Feeling irritable
- Brain fog
These symptoms can make you feel unwell for a few days, but they will usually settle once your body gets used to the lower levels of caffeine in your bloodstream. Hang in there!
Tips for cutting down
- Have decaf versions of your favourite drinks. Decaf coffee, tea and sodas are all available
- Make the change slowly. If you drink five cups of coffee per day, switch one of them to decaf for a few days, before adding in another decaf drink. Continue this way until you’re feeling better
- Consider your triggers. What makes you reach for coffee? Stress? Anxiety? Feeling down? Is there anything you can do to replace your caffeine hit, like a power nap, short break from working at a screen, a phone call with a friend or a walk around the block?
How reducing cups of coffee made Martha feel better
‘I used to drink eight – yes, EIGHT – coffees per day. I love coffee, but life was an endless cycle of feeling slightly hyper and then finding my energy levels crashing. This seemed normal until menopause hit my energy levels in a big way. I found myself needing more coffee to get through the day until I just decided to try without it one day.
I tried to stop cold turkey initially, which was a disaster. I felt so ill I thought I’d caught Covid. Headaches, shaky, exhausted. But of course, it wasn’t Covid. It was just my body being unable to cope without coffee.
After that, I decided to cut down more gradually. I started by not finishing every drop of my coffee and then slowly started switching them for decaf. It was hard at first, but after a week or so, I noticed that my energy levels were much more stable. Yes, I still felt tired, but it was more predictable and I was able to pace myself better. I also noticed that my skin looked better, but that’s another story!
Final word
Caffeine can have a real impact on your menopause symptoms. Experiment with how much and when you consume caffeine and see what happens!
Of course HRT is still the most effective and widely used treatment if you are struggling with menopause symptoms such as urinary issues, hot flushes or poor sleep. Find out more by speaking to your doctor or explore our blog and symptoms library.
- Bouchard C, 2015, ‘Coffee or caffeine intake and effects on menopausal symptoms’, Menopause, vol. 22, no. 2, pp.129–130
- Faubion SS, Sood R, Thielen JM, Shuster LT, 2015, ‘Caffeine and menopausal symptoms’, Menopause, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 155–158
- Kinney A, Kline J, Levin B, 2006, ‘Alcohol, caffeine and smoking in relation to age at menopause’, Maturitas, 54(1), pp. 27–38
- Lohsiriwat S, Hirunsai M, Chaiyaprasithi B, 2011, ‘Effect of caffeine on bladder function in patients with overactive bladder symptoms’ Urology Annals, vol. 3, no. 1, p. 14
- Noll PRES, Campos CAS, Leone C, Zangirolami-Raimundo J, Noll M, Baracat EC, Júnior JMS, Sorpreso ICE, 2020, ‘Dietary intake and menopausal symptoms in postmenopausal women: A systematic review’, Climacteric, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 128–138
