All About Menopause

Changing hormones are what brings on all the symptoms associated with menopause. Some women have very minor menopausal symptoms while others have a much more difficut time and have more pronounced symptoms.

Here are the most common signs of menopause:

A change in the menstruation cycle is quite common. The normal period cycle typically becomes erratic with more or less bleeding. During menopause, periods become more erratic, sometimes periods come more frequently with break through bleeding in between actual periods.

By far, the most prevalent menopause symptom is hot flashes. Hot flashes demonstrate with a sudden heat flushing over the upper part of the body and redness in the face and neck. You may also get hot flashes while sleeping and these are referred to as night sweats. Both hot flashes and night sweats may vary in severity among women, in most cases they only last a few years.

Sometimes women may leak a small amount of urine when laughing really hard or coughing and the bladder may need to be emptied more frequently.

A common problem is vaginal dryness, and sex can feel painful. Menopause symptoms also include changes in sexual drive and desire; some women have a sudden loss of sex drive.  Not having to think about the possibility of pregnancy causes some post menopausal women to become more active sexually. One of the joys of menopause is not having a period or having to worry about getting pregnant anymore, but if you are sexually active, you should still use a condom to protect yourself against sexually transmitted diseases.

Mood swings are common and so is feeling run down. The sudden mood swings are because of hormone levels changing. Women in the menopausal phase also tend to get easily tired, sometimes having major fatigue. Even though you may be trying to get enough sleep, you may have difficulty sleeping as a result of night sweats.

An additional symptom of menopause is weight gain; in some cases the midsection becomes thicker, while fat levels tend to increase. Skin begins to lose some of its elasticity. It becomes harder to increase lean muscle and many women put on a little extra weigh around the middle.

It’s not uncommon to get heart palpitations or other unusual heart rhythms during menopause, this is usually not an indication of other health problems and with time, they generally pass. In some cases though these signs might mimic symptoms of other more serious conditions, therefore you should always see an expert to avoid complications and potential problems.

Menopause varies from woman to woman. Millions of women have survived menopause and you will too. Try to manage your menopause symptoms as well as possible and keep in mind that this is a natural part of life. Of course, a sense of humor about the whole thing doesn’t hurt either. Try to get plenty of sleep, reduce your stress level, invest in some vaginal lubricant, do weight bearing exercises and just generally try to be good to yourself while you ride out this challenging time.