Menopause

One thing for sure all women will go through

Menopause

often pronounced menapause, at some point in their life as they age. This condition is a normal occurrence that takes place ending menstruation and ovulation. Once this happens women are no longer able to reproduce.

With most women, this occurs sometime between the ages of 45 to 55, but this is only a gauge since menopause does not come with a timer. Each women is different and can experience it earlier or even later than the gauge.

One thing that is know is women is born with a certain amount of eggs that are stored in the ovaries that produce estrogen and progesterone. This is what regulates the period and ovulation. When the onset of menopause starts the amount of eggs start to diminish and the period will stop as well.

As menopause is the natural progression in life for women, many women will have no symptoms at all while others go through mild symptoms to life altering symptoms. There are different circumstances when menopause such as:

• Premature menopause or Premenopause – is when a women goes through menopause before 40 which could happen as a result of problems with the reproductive system or even hereditary.
• Natural menopause -is when nothing happens to stop it such as something medical.
• Perimenopause – is the onset of menopause that can begin 3 to 5 years before menopause actually takes place where the ovaries slow down releasing the eggs and the hormones start to change as well. There also may be changes to the body as well during this time such as mood swings, night sweats and hot flashes. One thing for sure, even though things may be ending, the woman is still fertile during this time
• Menopause – this is considered official once a woman has gone a full year without having a period.
• Postmenopause – after there has been years that have passed without having a period where additional symptoms may fare up such as hot flashes.

If you are someone you know is going though any of this it would be a good time to show some care and understanding since some women go through hell during this time in their lives. Another thing women may go through is that they know they are getting older and menopause means the end to having children. This can be mentally challenging for some women. Other women will want to welcome the end to having a period.

Menopause Symptoms

When it comes to having

Menopause Symptoms

the list can be quite long. There is nothing to be afraid of it can be looked at like puberty in reverse. Some women won’t notice a thing except their menstrual period has stopped, while others may feel like their bodies have been taken over by some unknown source.

Two of the biggest things that can really effect life for women are hot flashes and mood swings that can occur at anytime or anyplace in an instant. Both are rather bothersome and women have to learn to live with them. It is more like being in the ocean waiting for a wave to come in. This can be a big wave or small one you wait and ride with when it comes.

The other part to menopause symptoms is women have no idea when it is going to start. Most women do not even know what to expect until it is right up on them. Some women do not know all of the symptoms and often think something else is wrong. Here are some other things to expect:

• Irregular periods – The cycle will start changing by possible coming more often, shorter, heavier, or longer than usual.
• Infections – With the cycle changes there is an increased chance of vaginal infections, itching or burning.
• Urination – The feeling of always having to urinate may increase. There may also be a problem with incontinence especially if a women coughs, sneezes or laughs.
• Hot Flash – Once the estrogen levels in body drops suddenly causes blood pressure to react and causes the temperature of the skin to get hot. This can also be accompanied with sweating.
• Mood Swings – Some women experience mood swings that can happen at any time making others wonder if they have multiple personalities.
• Weight Gain – Unless women are underweight, this is symptom that many would rather not have and it is usually in the stomach.

All of this can happen quickly then disappear, while other women will have a lot of these menopause symptoms for years. Women should go to their gynecologist to confirm that they are in fact going through menopause to rule out other illnesses.

Perimenopause

Many people have heard of menopause, but not

Perimenopause

this is also different then premenopause. Women who go through perimenopause will start to have signs of menopause that can last for many years before they go through menopause. One of the biggest signs of this would be irregular periods. The periods will be harder to track because with some women the period will be frequent and longer. This is were you will think women are acting differently.

When having a period that is longer and or heavier, this can cause a women to act differently. Women going through perimenopause will like they are constantly dealing with PMS and everything that goes along with it. If they period is heavy, they may also be suffering with anemia since of the blood loss and the inability to replenish it quickly enough.

Just imagine that women that go through perimenopause have to deal with this often times for many years which could mean up to 5 years if not more. Many women will want to get this over with as quickly as possible especially if they are working. That is not to say that women that do not work are not suffering but they do have a lot more control of what they go through. Working women have to deal with putting on a happy face to fool the world when they are feeling horrible and things are always flowing, so to speak.

During perimenopause, since there is still a period, there is still ovulation which means there are still some eggs hanging around. What that means is that women can still get pregnant during this time and if they do, this is where you may hear children referred to as a “change of life” baby. So with the hot flashes, mood swings and night sweats women experience having a baby is probably not one of the top options in their life. Not to worry though, with perimenopause at least women know that menopause is right around the corner.