What Is Menopause? A Complete Guide to Stages, Symptoms, and What to Expect
One thing about menopause is that it is fair enough as a term and is used everywhere but so many of us still find ourselves well into our mid forties without a lot in the way of concrete information about what it is all about and what to anticipate. And once you start noticing changes in your body, you may be asking the question, could it be menopause, this guide will help you to have everything that you need to know whether this continuum or is it what life will look like on the other side.
The more you can learn about this natural transition, the more in your own terms you are going to be able to handle it.
Menopause is defined as the point in time when a woman has gone 12 consecutive months without a menstrual period. It indicates the end of reproductive years and occurs due to gradual inhibition of the ovaries to synthesize the hormones, oestrogen and progesterone.
It is good to get straight in terms, as it can get perplexing. Actually, menopause is all about one event in time which is the 12 months period. The years before it and years after it are different phases, each having its own attributes.
The average age of menopause in Australia is about 51 to 52 years yet menopause may span through mid 40s to mid 50s. Achieving menopause before the age of 40 is regarded as premature and before 45 is regarded as early menopause. They are both worth hashing out with a doctor.
Menopause is more of a transition process that takes place over multiple years instead of a single event. It has three stages involved.
Perimenopause is the transitional phase that leads up to menopause. It may start two to ten years earlier than periods end completely and most women start perimenopause in their mid-to-late 40s.
At this phase, oestrogen and progesterone become erratic instead of operating on their typical rhythmic pattern. These changes account for the symptoms that many women attribute to the process of going through menopause, although menopause has not yet happened.
During the attraction of perimenopause they may amplify, bleak, slighter, or more frequent, or farther. Pregnancy is still possible since ovulation still occurs regularly.
Most women experience this as the most symptom-laden stage and it may take several months to more than 10 years.
As mentioned, menopause is confirmed once 12 full months have passed without a period. By now, the level of oestrogen is quite low and the produce no longer releases eggs. Menopause may only be realized after the fact as you must not know whether it has occurred until you get to that 12 months later.
Postmenopause is a term used to denote the years after menopause. The levels of hormones become balanced at a lower point and most of the more intense perimenopause symptoms usually are alleviated as time progresses.
However, the lower oestrogen environment does have longer-term health implications, particularly for bone density and cardiovascular health, which is why postmenopause is not simply a return to how things were before.
Symptoms differ greatly amongst women. Some hardly get bothered at all and others find their daily life largely impacted. No normal experience exists and symptoms change with the passage of time.
Other symptoms that are widely known are vasomotor symptoms that consist of hot flushes and night sweats. Hot flour is a sudden wave of hotness, typically in the face, neck, and chest, accompanied by possible and sometimes flushing of skin and sweating. These may take several minutes up to a few seconds.
Night sweats are hot reveals occurring at bedtime, which can affect the quality of sleep. There are those who shared multiple per night and over long durations of time.
Terrisome falling or staying asleep is incredibly prevalent in the menopause transition. This may be an immediate consequence of the night sweats, although alterations in hormones also seem to impact sleep structure without modifications in temperature. He or she then experiences poor sleep, which leads to changes in mood, fatigue, and inability to focus.
A relatively large percentage of women report irritability, anxiety, low mood and in a few cases depression during perimenopause and early years of postmenopause. These are not just a question of attitude, they are related to the influence which changing levels of oestrogen exert on the neurotransmitter systems of the brain, specifically serotonin.
Mood symptoms that are menopause-related should not be confused with a clinical mood disorder, because the two will like require different interventions.
Legions of women report a lack of concentration, word-finding difficulties and an overall vague fog during perimenopause. Cognitive changes are experienced by certain individuals which are real and recorded down, but are usually temporary and most likely may get better once hormone levels have stabilised after menopause.
A decreased oestrogen level will impact the vagina, collarbone, and urinary tissues across. It may cause vaginal dryness, pain during sex, heightened vulnerability to abnormal tract infections and alterations in urine frequency or urgency. The combination of these symptoms is also known as the Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause (GSM).
In contrast to hot flushes, generally becoming better with time, the genitourinary symptoms may be chronic and actually exacerbated by lack of treatment. They are also one of the symptoms that are vastly underreported, as many women feel awkward bringing them up.
Loss of interest in sex can be normal and can be caused by a combination of factors such as the decreased estrogen and testosterone, vaginal discomfort, mood changes, fatigue, among others. This does not happen to all women and in some cases the libido does not diminish, but can actually become better when they are not pregnant.
Increased weight, especially around the abdomen, is also often reported at or around the time of menopause. This is partially due to the hormonal changes that influence the distribution of fat in the body, and partially due to the tendency of natural slowing of the metabolism with age. Resistance exercise to help maintain muscle mass is even more important at this stage.
A decrease in collagen (due to low oestrogen levels) may increase the skin thinness and density. Hair can become damaged or be lost. There are also common complaints of joint pains and stiffness which are not necessarily always connected with menopause, studies do indicate that oestrogen WRTs joint health.
This question is arguably one of the most, most commonly asked and unanswered. The perimenopausal period by itself may take between a few months to over 10 years. Menopausal acute symptoms, especially hot flushes and sleep disturbances, are usually the most severe during the period of transition and the initial years of postmenopause.
It has been researched that the average length of the vasomotor symptoms is approximately seven years; although some women can live with them much higher. The notable thing to know is that the timeline is truly personal. The interactive factors between genetics, lifestyle, body weight and the rate at which hormones decrease contribute to the way menopause occurs.
Not all menopause comes without treatment. Medical surgery, usually destruction of the ovaries (oophorectomy), and some cancer therapies such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy can also cause it.
Surgically induced menopause is likely to be more abrupt and the symptoms worse, due to the systemic drop of hormones occurring too fast and being not gradual. Women experiencing surgical menopause earlier than the age at which menopause would occur, might be experiencing a dissimilar long-term health outlook and would usually be more deserving a finer tune with their medical consultant.
Ovary- suppressing medical procedures like those in the treatment of some hormone-sensitive related conditions also lead to temporary menopause-like possibilities.
Amongst the majority of women who fall within the proposed age group, menopause cannot be confirmed through blood tests and symptoms are instead used to diagnose it together with their previous menstrual history. In the case your periods which, with or without other typical symptoms, have long been irregular or absent when you are in your late 40s or 50s, that clinical picture is sufficient in most cases to make a diagnosis.
Some cases include Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) testing, especially in under 45 age females when premature or early menopause is suspected. Higher levels of FSH especially when repeat confirmation is done can aid the diagnosis. But the FSH levels will vary over perimenopause so that a single outcome cannot always be definite.
Another tool in such a line is anti-mullerian Hormone (AMH) testing, an estimate of ovarian reserve, but the use of such testing in diagnosis of standard menopause remains under development.
The short term effects of menopause hormonal changes are not limited to how a woman feels. They has other important effects on longer-term health too.
Oestrogen helps in keeping bones strong. Following menopause, the bone loss rate gains velocity, thus higher chances of osteoporosis and fracture later on. This is the reason why bone density screening (DEXA scanning) is advised post menopausal women, especially women with other potential risk factors against osteoporosis like family history of osteoporosis, smokes, low body weight, or corticosteroid use over several years.
Before menopause, oestrogen protects the heart system, and positive cholesterol levels and dilation of the arteries. This does not happen after menopause and risk of cardiovascular disease in women starts to increase at an even faster pace. The moment you go beyond this point, the process of lowering blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar levels, and physical activity becomes crucial.
Insulin sensitivity may decline in the period leading up to menopause, increasing the chances of type 2 diabetes. Metabolic risk is also associated with the shift in fat distribution in favour of visceral (abdominal) fat. Open body exercise and a healthy diet that helps maintain a normal blood glucose level is especially helpful at this phase.
Although no lifestyle strategy has been proven to prevent menopause, the data has repeatedly demonstrated that specific practices can have a significant impact on the way symptoms are perceived and the way long-term health-related consequences can occur.
Stress Management: Chronic stress may increase hormonal changes and exacerbate symptoms of sleep and mood. Mindfulness, yoga and breathing methods approach has supporting evidence of relieving symptoms.
Although menopause is a normal process, it is not one that should just be accepted without accommodation. The diversity of evidence based choices is a broad spectrum and a GP or a specialist is able to guide and assist you in identifying what could fit your unique situation.
You may want to speak with a healthcare practitioner because:
What should also be remembered is that the discussion of menopause should not wait until after the symptoms have taken a very serious toll. Collecting a good idea of where you reside in the transition and what to expect can make the entire process seem very manageable.
Among the key facts to know about menopause, it is a heterogeneous process. The transition process is dictated by culture, genetics, reproductive history, general health, body weight and lifestyle.
Surveys have also shown, such as those detailed in the Study of women health across the nation, that there exist significant differences in symptom experience among various ethnic and cultural groupings. This is a reminder that the information in any guide like this one should serve as a starting point for understanding, not a prescription for what you should or will experience.
It is your experience and whatever you choose to do with it is a personal choice, which should be discussed with your healthcare professional who happens to be aware of your entire history.
Menopause is a big change in life, yet millions of women experience changes each year. The better informed you head into it, the less you are likely to get taken by surprise. A better range to operate off is understanding the stages, understanding the extent of potential symptoms, and having an overview of what the health picture will look like in the longer-term.
You could be years, days, or even months before menopause or a hundred years further into postmenopause without ever needing to be too early or too late to get a better understanding of what your body is doing and what you can do to help maintain its own health during or through the perimenopausal transition.