Let’s be honest, very few women look into this stage of a woman’s life cycle until they’re starting to experience hot flashes or other menopausal symptoms.
Most of us are busy living life as it comes and believe menopause is just a natural, normal stage in women’s lives that doesn’t need much preparation, or require us to do anything special about it.
As a result, it’s a subject that isn’t talked about very much and women aren’t actually prepared for it, even though it is a normal part of life.
Let’s go through some information about menopause, the signs and the common menopause symptoms, and how best to understand this beautiful stage in a woman’s life.
What is menopause?
Menopause has occurred when a woman’s menstrual cycle has ceased and she hasn’t have a menstrual period for twelve consecutive months.
The lack of menstruation is not due to pregnancy but rather a natural decline of female hormones. It usually signals the end of fertility.
Perimenopause
When we think of menopause, we think of not having any periods. But there is a period of time leading up to this absence of menstruation that is called perimenopause. This is usually 4-5 years in duration, a time when women can begin to experience menopausal symptoms. The intensity and frequency of these symptoms vary during this time.
Perimenopause usually starts at some time in a woman’s forties, but can happen as early as her late thirties. This is often similar to her mother or grandmother’s experience, so it can help to ask female relatives about their menopause symptoms.
During the reproductive years, the hormones estrogen and progesterone are released to ensure the menstrual cycle occurs and fertility is possible.
As the woman’s fertile stage starts to come to an end there are several changes that happen due to fluctuations in her hormone levels. Estrogen levels, particularly, begin to fall, as the ovaries’ activity decreases. So does the production of reproductive female hormones, until the ovaries stop releasing eggs.
Menopause symptoms
As the reproductive phase starts to wind down, these hormonal changes, although normal, usually manifest with certain signs and symptoms.
Not every woman will experience each one of these symptoms and the intensity will vary from one woman to another. The symptoms manifest differently in the same woman throughout the perimenopause period.
Let’s have a look at these menopausal symptoms.
#1: Irregular menstrual periods
For many women, starting to have irregular periods is the first sign of perimenopause. Hormones begin to fluctuate up and down, rather than decline constantly. As ovarian function starts to decrease, the regularity of a woman’s menstrual cycle is also affected.
You can learn more about menstrual cycles in Menstrual Cycle-Stages, Phases And What To Expect.
#2: Hot flashes
A hot flash is a sudden feeling of heat in your upper body (face, neck and chest, back and arms). Hot flashes may even be accompanied by red blotches or heavy sweating.
Up to 85% of women experience hot flashes each day in the menopausal transition. Hot flashes are one of the most well-known perimenopausal symptoms. It’s thought the decrease in estrogen causes glands to release higher levels of other hormones that affect the brain’s thermostat. This causes your body temperature to fluctuate wildly.
#3: Chills and shivers
Some perimenopausal women also experience chills and shivers. Some women feel them right after they experience a hot flash; for others, they are unrelated to the hot flashes.
Like hot flashes, chills or cold flashes are also influenced by changes in hormone levels.
#4: Night sweats
Among the most uncomfortable symptoms of menopause are night sweats, especially when they wake you up. Sometimes night sweats can be accompanied by other symptoms, such as nausea, a raised heartbeat, headaches, flushing, and chills.
The drop in estrogens levels affects the hypothalamus, a gland in the brain in charge of regulating body temperature. During the night, these temperature changes seem to be more intense than during the day, due to our lack of awareness of them until the symptoms are very intense.
#5: Sleep problems
The drop in female hormones, mainly estrogen and progesterone, and the changes in temperature might cause sleep problems in perimenopausal and menopausal women. When women reach menopause the low level of progesterone can make it hard to fall asleep and stay asleep.
Some women experience menopause urinary symptoms that wake them because they need to urinate in the middle of the night; this adds to their difficulty in sleeping.
#6: Fragile hair and brittle nails
Declining estrogen levels can also affect your hair and nails. They lose their natural shine and start to break easily. Due to this fragility, hair loss can also happen during the menopause transition. Your skin may also be affected, becoming dry and flaky.
#7: Vaginal dryness and loss of libido
As estrogen levels decrease so does the blood flow to the genitals, making your vaginal tissue thinner. This can cause dryness, itching, burning, or even pain, especially during sexual intercourse. Vaginal dryness is the most common of the vaginal symptoms women experience.
These vaginal symptoms, as well as a drop in their sex hormones, might very likely lead many perimenopausal women to experience a decreased sex drive.
#8: Lower metabolism
The hormonal changes that cause most of the menopausal symptoms are also responsible for slower metabolism. This is directly responsible for the weight gain many women experience during their menopausal transition. Most women will gain around 1kg per year during their perimenopause period.
#9: Loss of breast volume
Because the specifically female hormones are on the low side, the breast tissue that forms the mammary gland will begin to shrink. From a biological point of view, the breasts are no longer needed to carry out their main function. Therefore some women might notice a decrease in their breast size.
#10: Mood swings
Not all the symptoms of menopause are physical. In women’s health, emotional symptoms are also important to consider during the menopause transition.
Menopause is a natural stage in women’s lives but let’s be honest: how stable do you think your mood would be if you were experiencing hair loss, insomnia, hot flashes, vaginal dryness, weight gain, saggy boobs, etc? Would you be jolly and happy all the time?
To top things off, declining estrogen causes a disruption to the production of serotonin, the hormone that stabilizes mood and feelings of wellbeing. This leads to more mood swings.
Mood swings are the most understandable of all symptoms of menopause. The combination of these symptoms can seriously affect many women’s mental health. Mood disorders are common during this time, so it’s important to note if, and when, anxiety or depression appears for the first time, or reappears. The risk of mood disorders drops after menopause.
Menopause age
Menopause is a natural stage in women’s lives. The average age when women reach menopause in western countries is 51 years. Obviously not every woman reaches it at the same age.
Natural menopause usually happens in your late 40s or early 50s. Perimenopausal symptoms might start as early as 40 years old; this isn’t considered to be premature menopause.
Early menopause
When women reach menopause (12 full months without a period) before they’re 40, this is considered premature or early menopause.
If this is a naturally achieved menopause the main cause tends to be premature ovarian failure, caused by primary ovarian insufficiency.
Early menopause can also be caused artificially in certain cases. If women develop certain types of cancer, such as ovarian, uterine, or breast cancer, the medical treatment might include induced menopause or even surgical menopause, when the ovaries are surgically removed.
Menopause treatment
In most cases, menopause doesn’t require medical treatment. In some cases, though, depending on how symptoms affect a woman’s life a healthcare provider might suggest hormonal treatments.
There are also natural ways to help you minimize the effects menopausal symptoms might have on you.
Menopause hormone treatment
In the past, menopausal women were simply told to get on with it and deal with the symptoms as best they could. Today, there is more awareness of how debilitating perimenopause can be for some women.
The methods of treating and managing menopause symptoms depend on the individual woman. There are a number of ways to increase overall health, but there is no way to replace declining hormones except with hormone replacement therapy (HRT), more commonly called menopausal hormone therapy, or MHT.
Many women manage mild menopausal symptoms with healthy living and natural therapies and don’t need to take any medication. Each woman’s situation is different from the next. How you choose to treat menopause symptoms depends on your quality of life.
Many doctors haven’t updated their knowledge of modern hormone therapy, so it’s important to seek the advice and support of a healthcare professional whose information is up to date. There are some specific health conditions or risks for certain cancers that preclude some women taking hormone therapy, but this should be discussed with a knowledgeable doctor.
In 2002, researchers in the US published a large study stating the risks of MHT outweighed the benefits of taking it. Since then, a review of the evidence has found MHT is both effective and safe and, in women between the ages of 50 and 60, the risks are very low. The use of MHT significantly improves a woman’s quality of life. Just as importantly, MHT reduces the risk of developing osteoporosis, diabetes, colon cancer, and heart disease.
Menopause natural treatments
Changing your lifestyle is always a good way to improve your health. Reducing the amount of processed food and increasing the intake of fruits, vegetables, seeds, and nuts is always a good idea. The more of these you can take raw, the better for your health.
You might find the article Healthy Pregnancy Snacks – 25 Ideas helpful.
If snacks are healthy during pregnancy, they’re the healthiest snacks for anyone at any time.
In any complementary and integrative health plan, exercising goes hand in hand with changing your diet. Make exercise a daily part of your life, whether it’s going to the gym, walking with a friend, or taking yoga classes.
For vaginal dryness, vaginal lubricants or moisturizers can be helpful. Loss of libido can be quite distressing for many women, so frank and open discussion with your partner about what’s happening is really important. Together, find ways for intimacy that reduce the risk of pain during sex.
If you’re having sleeping problems, reduce your intake of caffeinated drinks or alcohol before bed. Have a hot drink, and leave screens for an hour before going to bed. Try to establish regular patterns; go to bed and wake up at the same time each day.
Your mood changes might be helped by trying to get 7-8 hours of sleep each day, and by exercising and keeping active. Try not to take too many things on board. Meditation can also help keep your stress levels down.
If some of your symptoms are very strong and significantly interfere with your daily life, seek medical advice from your healthcare provider. Menopausal hormone therapy can be very helpful in specific circumstances.
Does menopause make you look old?
Estrogen is the main female sex hormone. It’s secreted by the ovaries, in quite large quantities, during our fertile years. Estrogen is the hormone that gives women that glow when they reach puberty or when they’re pregnant. Estrogen makes our skin soft to help it stretch, keeps our hair shiny and strong, and makes our boobs beautiful, radiant, and ready to feed our babies.
When women reach menopause their ovarian activity shuts down and the release of female sex hormones is significantly reduced.
Menopause is a normal and natural stage in a woman’s life. When menopause is artificially induced by pharmacological treatment or the ovaries are surgically removed, women look older as the natural production of estrogens stops.
Orgasm after menopause
Your capacity to orgasm should not be affected by your menopause. Many women even find menopause quite liberating and start a much more rewarding sexual life stage.
Your body doesn’t look for sexual encounters as it did during its fertile years and some of your menopause symptoms might not make you seek sexual activity as much as before. However, your life experience and, quite often, sexual liberation go hand in hand with aging and menopause.
If you have a sexual partner and your libido needs a bit of a push you might find some helpful tips in the article Sex After Birth – What We Need To Know.
Remember, no one should be forced into having sex and there are many ways of enjoying sex apart from penetrative sex. Talk to your healthcare provider if you think you and your partner might need some professional help to navigate this new life stage.
You can read more about menopause in the articles Fertility After 40 And Menopause – What To Expect
