Telltale Symptoms of Menopause
The majority of women who are about to enter menopause will start to notice signs that the condition is fast approaching. Fluctuating hormone levels are the cause of menopause symptoms. This is the beginning of the wind down of the reproductive system. As hormone production decreases, most women will start to have symptoms even if their periods haven’t stopped.
Somewhere between their late 30s and early 40s, many women will start to notice the first signs of menopause. This is the time when a woman’s body cuts down on the production of progesterone and estrogen. This stage of menopause is known as perimenopause.
The ovaries gradually stop releasing eggs, so ovulation becomes irregular. A woman’s body is no longer as fertile as it was so it will be more difficult to become pregnant. As well, pregnancy during this time has more risk associated with it.
One of the early symptoms of menopause is an irregular period. Usually the flow is much heavier or much lighter than the woman has experienced to that point in time.
Mood swings are also a sign of menopause. You might need to take antidepressant medication to relieve the problem.
Hot flashes are another common experience. This is like a wave of heat that passes through the body at unexpected times, often while sleeping. She’ll start sweating profusely and her face will turn red.
Other symptoms of menopause include sleeping disorders and an increase in belly fat. Sleeping disorders can lead to depression and exhaustion and need to be monitored by a doctor.
Some women also experience a diminished sex drive and vaginal dryness. Other signs of menopause are thinning hair and falling breasts.
The symptoms become more noticeable throughout the 40s. Some time soon after turning 50, the transition is over. Once a woman has made it through a full year without having a period, she has officially reached menopause. The average age for this is 51.
Symptoms are usually experienced throughout all the stages of menopause. On the other hand, there are women who are never rid of them for the remainder of their life.
Menopause is a unique experience for each woman. There are those who are barely aware of the process. Other women will experience symptoms that interfere with their daily lives.
Visit your doctor if you think you’ve started menopause. He or she will be able to advise you on how to deal with the various stages of menopause. Some of the methods of managing the symptoms include lifestyle changes, pain relievers and hormone therapy.
How to Recognize Pre-Menopause Symptoms Symptoms
For most women, the symptoms of menopause will begin to appear about the time a woman nears the age of 50. However, for women that begin the process of menopause prior to age 40, the condition is known as pre menopause. Pre-menopause can occur for a number of reasons, including chemotherapy, autoimmune disorders like lupus, or a hysterectomy. On top of the more common signs of menopause, pre-menopause symptoms bring a host of concerns, including the loss of fertility and the increased risk of conditions like osteoporosis at a much younger age. While there is no way to reverse pre menopause symptoms, it is important to see your doctor if you suspect that this is happening to you. Your doctor can run tests to determine for sure if you are experiencing pre menopause symptoms, and offer you advice, support and treatment to deal with it.
What you Might Experience
There are a number of pre menopause symptoms that you might experience and the only difference between them and regular menopause symptoms are the time of life in which they appear. pre menopause symptoms can include irregular periods or periods that are missed completely, a change in the flow of your periods, or hot flashes. While these are the most common telltale pre menopause symptoms, other symptoms can include vaginal dryness, dry skin, moodiness or depression, or bladder problems. If you experience any or all of these pre-menopause symptoms, it is important to see your doctor to determine if this is indeed what is going on. Your doctor will do a bit of exploring to see if there might be a reason for your early symptoms, such as an autoimmune disorder diagnosis or a past history of cancer and chemotherapy.
Another common pre-menopause symptom is an increased moodiness or an intensifying of your premenstrual symptoms. Difficulty sleeping or fatigue can also be a problem for women in the throes of perimenopause. If you experience any of these symptoms, you can talk to your doctor about your treatment options. It is also important to make sure that you are eating a nutritious diet and getting daily exercise, since these steps will also help you to manage these pre-menopause symptoms. It is also a good idea to make sure that you get plenty of rest during this time, and take the time to take care of yourself properly.
pre menopause symptoms can be scary for many women to experience, but your doctor can help you to manage the more uncomfortable symptoms and prepare you for what lies ahead. Keeping your pre-menopause symptoms in check will be the first step on the road to better health after menopause.
For more information visit Natural Menopause Treatment as well as Natural Remedies for Menopause
First Symptoms of Menopause
When a woman suspects she may be experiencing the first symptoms of menopause this will usually cause her to begin some personal research. This is what I did, casually at the beginning. One of the first articles I read, in on of the many women’s magazines available today, suggested talking to your mother. I was 50 years old when I thought that I may be beginning this phase of life. My mother had passed away a few years earlier. So I was not able to have a conversation with her about this topic. Generally a mother and daughter will have very similar experiences with their menstrual cycles. For instance the age they began menstruating, the length of each cycle, cramping, headaches, and the age they begin entering the menopausal stage.
As a woman and a mom, I can give you a non-clinical or college educated medical description of some of the first symptoms of menopause. I can define menopause for you in my own words. It is a women’s final menstrual period. This phase may take anywhere from one year to several years. Every woman’s experience with their period is slightly different. During the years that a woman is menstruating, her body produces estrogen and progesterone. She has a higher production of estrogen prior to each ovulation and high estrogen and progesterone levels after ovulation. These hormonal changes cause the mood swings, headaches and other adverse symptoms during the time leading up to her period or during her cycle.
Urinary problems may also be early signs of menopause but should always be checked out by a doctor to re-affirm the cause. Frequent need to urinate, development of a urinary tract infection and even leakage of urine when sneezing, coughing or exercising can also be attributed to perimenopause.
Hot Flashes and Weight Gain
I then began to experience another one of the first symptoms of menopause, hot flashes. These are called, in clinical terms, vasomotor symptoms. These happen mostly at night. They would occasionally surprise me during the day. Being a fair skinned blond, I blush easily. I would be sitting in a business meeting and suddenly begin feeling very warm and flush. This would be quite apparent to others in the room. During the night I would wake during one of these hot flashes, my clothes damp and sweaty. The ten pounds I gained during the next few months is another one of the first symptoms of menopause.
Diagnosis of Menopause
The early signs of menopause can help point the way to perimenopause, which mentioned early, can last for years. A doctor can perform a blood test to check hormone levels but these are not always conclusive. Therefore, you may have to take blood tests at various intervals in order to check for true hormonal fluctuations that can be early signs of menopause.
The actual event itself will likely come with little fanfare as you have been experiencing the early signs of menopause for years. You are in true menopause when you have not had a period for at least one year. Of course, those symptoms will likely continue for a while longer past the perimenopausal stage. The real kick in the pants comes with the fact that you can still get pregnant while still exhibiting the early signs of menopause. As long as you are still having periods, that means you are still ovulating and thereby there is always a small chance of pregnancy.
For more information visit First Symptoms of Menopause as well as Menopause and Weight Gain
Your Health After Menopause
Many women going through menopause secretly hope that their uncomfortable symptoms will end when their menopause officially does, but sometimes that isn’t always so. Even if those years of dealing with insomnia and night sweats have finally finished, you may still have some unwanted post menopause symptoms to contend with.
When menopause finishes, you can expect ovulation and menstruation to end, and this usually happens within 8 to ten years of the onset of symptoms. Nonetheless,Even so, you can still continue to have post menopause bleeding for more than six months after menopause. Periods after menopause aren’t common, and you’re more likely to experience them if you are on hormone replacement therapy or if you are significantly overweight. If you do experience bleeding after menopause, make sure you have a check-up with your doctor because it could actually be a symptom of a serious disease such as endometrial cancer.
Things To Look Out For
Post menopause bleeding is not the only symptom to watch out for. Other bothersome symptoms after menopause can include vaginal itching and dryness, which is both irritating and potentially embarrassing. However, the most unpleasant and awkward of all possible symptoms is stress incontinence, which is the involuntary trickling of urine because there is extra stress on your bladder, caused by a weakness in the pelvic floor muscles.
Other post menopause symptoms include the increased likelihood of health conditions such as hypertension and osteoporosis. You may also start to notice more wrinkles and a loss of skin tone on your face. Post menopause symptoms are not pleasant, but they are a natural part of the cycle of every woman’s life. At least products are available to mitigate many of the symptoms you may experience. This can include face creams, lubricants, prescription medications and panty liners which can improve the experience of life after menopause.
It’s good to remember that not all women experience post menopause symptoms. And of those that do, most are not serious. In addition to conventional remedies, there is a great selection of vitamins and supplements that can be surprisingly powerful.
Get Medical Advice Before Trying Out Any Treatments For Early Menopause Symptoms
Menopause has been the butt of many jokes not only from comedians but also from women themselves who are either going through it or negatively are anticipating it. The bottom line is that it all boils down to the fact that different bodies will exhibit different first symptoms of menopause. Some women will experience every known symptom attributed to “the change” while other women will experience few if any symptoms other than a lack of menstruation.
There are certain early menopause symptoms that you will notice and these could occur in a greater or even lesser degree depending on your individual case, and if you are lucky, you could escape with just the barest symptoms, though in other instances the symptoms could be pretty severe causing a lot of distress and anxiety to the affected person.
Among the more common early menopause symptoms are night sweats and hot flashes as too changes that cannot easily are explained such as changes to the menstrual cycle, level of blood sugar, your becoming depressed for no apparent reason and being very irritable as well.
A paradigm shift in your thinking about sex is among the first signs of menopause as well and those thoughts can go either way. Some women lose desire to have sex and it is coupled with vaginal dryness and lack of arousal. However, other women may feel sexier and enjoy it more, even with the physical symptoms like the vaginal dryness which can be aided by a number of lubricants on the market today.
Irregular periods, of course, are also early signs of menopause as well. However, because perimenopause can last years, whenever you start exhibiting signs of irregularity, you should be examined by a doctor to rule out other health issues like tumors, fibroids, cancer and more. There are many things that can cause irregular periods and should not be the “end all to end all” signals of menopause.
The first signs of menopause are quite a bit to handle but many of them gradually present themselves as a way to ease into the transition. These signs can also include mood swings, fatigue, sleeping problems and even changes in your body like not being able to lose weight as easily as you once could.
The actual event itself will likely come with little fanfare as you have been experiencing the early signs of menopause for years. You are in true menopause when you have not had a period for at least one year. Of course, those symptoms will likely continue for a while longer past the perimenopausal stage. The real kick in the pants comes with the fact that you can still get pregnant while still exhibiting the early signs of menopause. As long as you are still having periods, that means you are still ovulating and thereby there is always a small chance of pregnancy.
For more information visit Natural Menopause Treatment as well as Natural Remedies for Menopause
Early Signs Of Menopause
What is menopause? It’s when a woman has not had her monthly period for at least one year. This happens to all women sooner or later.
In the US, the average age of menopause is 51. In other countries, this can be earlier or later, depending on nutrition and available medical care.
This video, “Understanding Menopause” may be helpful in understanding what is happening with your body. (If you find the ads annoying you can turn them off by clicking on the x in the upper right hand corner of the ad box.)
Early Menopause Symptoms
Some women start having early signs of menopause in their mid-thirties. A woman’s period may become lighter or shorter, or it may get longer and heavier. She may also notice her periods are becoming irregular, and she may even skip having her period some months.
Most women start noticing early signs of menopause in their forties. This is usually when more noticeable menopause symptoms usually set in. These include the most common type of menopause symptom, which are hot flashes. A woman can also be afflicted with sleeping disorders, mood swings and changes to her skin, such as dryness around her mouth and eyes. In addition, there can be a loss of bladder control and an increase in fat around her abdomen. Her breasts will also start to lose their fullness and her hair may also thin slightly.
Women usually retain the sex drive that they had before starting menopause, but sometimes there is a decrease in sex drive, which may be connected to the problem of vaginal dryness, which makes intercourse uncomfortable if certain measures are not taken.
What Causes Menopause?
The causes of menopause are that the woman’s body produces less estrogen and progesterone than it used to produce. There are fewer eggs that are ripening for fertilization, and when they do, there is a lesser surge in progesterone for the post ovulation surge. This change in hormone levels is what causes the symptoms and mood swings in women.
Your doctor can check to see if you’re entering menopause by doing a blood test that looks for FSH, or follicle stimulating hormones, and also estrogen levels. If the levels of these hormones are lower than normal, this indicates that you may be in the beginning stages of menopause.
If a woman is too young to be starting menopause, treatments are available, including lifestyle changes and hormone therapy.
Early menopause can also be caused by a hysterectomy or by chemotherapy or radiation.
