Symptoms Of The Menopause

There are a number of symptoms associated with menopause and while most women experience just one or two of the symptoms some women will unfortunately experience all of them. Menopause affects each woman individually and therefore the symptoms that you personally experience may be very different to somebody else going through the same thing, thus you should never compare yourself to your friends or relatives that are also going through the menopause.

You may have different symptoms at different times as you progress through the menopause time-line. Similarly the symptoms may range from barely noticeable to intense and they may happen over a long period of time before vanishing as quickly as they started.

One of the first symptoms of menopause is often the irregularity of your period and you may have changes in your normal menstruation process. For example, women who normally have very regular periods may start to experience months where they do not menstruate. Or if you have heavy periods you may start to see much lighter periods and they also may start to become shorter in duration.

Hot flashes are also reported by the majority of women going through menopause. These are short periods where you feel extremely hot, sometimes to the point of feeling faint. They happen frequently at night but can happen at any time of day. A hot flash can make you flush and have an immediate need to get cooled off and you may also experience excessive sweating. Unfortunately they can come on very quickly but on the up side they can end just as abruptly.

Many women have sleep problems at some point during menopause. You may have trouble falling asleep or even more commonly you may wake in the middle of the night and have trouble falling back asleep. Another frequent symptom of menopause is known as night sweats. You may wake up in the night covered in sweat. This is nothing to be alarmed at as it is simply your hormones causing your body to heat up and the natural reaction to excessive heat is to sweat, which may be followed by chills.

During menopause the vaginal area is also changing. Hormonal changes cause the vagina and urethra to become drier and this may make sexual intercourse difficult or painful. It may also lead to increased incidence of vaginal and bladder infections. Some women report that they feel an increased need to urinate while a small number of women may experience bladder incontinence.

Because of your changing hormone levels your body will undoubtedly undergo some alterations. Your weight may increase by five or more pounds, particularly around your midriff and hips. Your skin may become prone to acne and dryness and it may also start to show more wrinkles. You may have thinning hair in some areas while you experience increased hair growth in areas that weren't effected before, such as the upper lip, chin and chest.

There are mental changes during menopause as well. You may become more irritable and may have mood swings. Many women also suffer from decreased memory and may have trouble concentrating. You may also become fatigued more easily than before.

Symptoms Of Early Menopause