You also can use your journal to record your emotional symptoms and responses to the process of passing through perimenopause and menopause. The very act of writing down your thoughts and feelings is a powerful tool for understanding them. Your journal gives you a much closer look at who you are, who you're becoming, what you most fear, and what your hopes for the future entail. And, the accurate record of the progress and patterns of your symptoms over the months in your journal actually can help you manage your reactions to some menopausal symptoms and expand your understanding of the process you're experiencing.

For example, your journal may record anxiety attacks, and over time, you realize that those that wake you up at 3 a.m. and cost you hours of sleepless worry occur most often between the tenth through fourteenth days of your cycle. This understanding may enable you to say to yourself, “This panic I'm feeling is a chemical response to hormonal fluctuations, not a true reaction to impending disaster.” With that, you may be able to do your deep breathing exercises, calm your mind, and return to sleep more quickly.

If you suffer from stress, simply writing in your journal may give you a means for lessening the effects of this health-eroding condition. By writing about your stress — events that triggered the stress, your reactions, and your thoughts about resolving the stress-inducing issues in your life — you give yourself a moment to stop the cycle of nervous tension, worry, anger, and fear that add fuel and momentum to your stress.

Many women have noted that perimenopause and menopause trigger feelings of introspection they haven't experienced before. If you find yourself thinking about your past, recollecting family vacations, relatives you haven't seen for years, or your old boyfriends, write it down! These thoughts and ideas are important to you right now, or they wouldn't be occupying your mind. Making a record of them helps you take a broader look at exactly what about these past events may be saying to you now. Just remember to keep separate medical and personal journals, or transfer information from one journal into the symptom diary or calendar that you plan to take with you to your doctor's appointments.