Do you have hot flashes?

Are you irritable, forgetful and do you have a hard time falling to sleep?

While any one of these can be a sign of menopause, there’s no need to panic!  Menopause does not have to be something to be dreaded, it is a natural progression of your body’s aging mechanism. It can be a freeing time and even something to look forward to.

While some women experience signs of menopause as early as their 30’s, others do not experience them until their 50’s.  Some may have severe symptoms while others may not even notice that any change is happening.  Menopause is an individual thing and there are many treatments both natural and prescription that can help alleviate your symptoms and let you get back to enjoying your life.

Symptoms of menopause are caused by hormonal changes in your body due to aging and the signs can be subtle or hit you like a ton of bricks.  One of the first signs of menopause is that your periods become more irregular.  You might experience light or heavy bleeding and spotting in between.

Another very annoying sign that you may be entering menopause is hot flashes.  One minute you’re fine and the next minute you’re sweating profusely.  Typically the hot flash is like a furnace has been turned on in your upper body, head, and neck area.  These can range in severity and can last anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes.

Many of the signs of menopause can also be signs of other ailments, or simply just the stresses of life.  Headaches, insomnia and moodiness can be attributed to many things, but can also be triggered by the estrogen changes in your body and are brought on by menopause.

As your body goes through menopause and your estrogen levels decrease, this can cause vaginal and bladder problems.  Some signs of this include painful intercourse or increasing urinary or vaginal infections.  You may find that the vaginal tissues become very thin and dry and your bladder doesn’t work as good as it used to.

Other effects of menopause that might not have any outward signs but can be risky to your health include bone loss and changing cholesterol levels. Postmenopausal women are at an increased risk of osteoporosis and should take measures to keep their bones strong.  Declining levels of estrogen can cause your bad cholesterol to increase and your good cholesterol to decrease. This can lead to risk of heart disease.  These changes should be monitored by a physician so steps can be taken to decrease your risk.

If you are experiencing the signs of menopause, you may want to talk to your doctor about them to see if you are in fact entering menopause or even in perimenopause.  Your doctor will be able to talk to you about the treatment options to relieve your symptoms as well as what you should do to eliminate certain health risks associated with the changing your hormone levels.

Tags: menopause, hot flashes, perimenopause, pre menopause