Each year in the United States, about 1.3 million women begin their transition through menopause, and the one constant is that no two women follow the same exact journey.
That said, some signs of menopause are more common than others, and the all-female team of experienced women’s health experts here at Beyond Women’s Care wants to review a few of these below.
At its core, menopause is a transition out of your reproductive years, and it occurs when your ovaries shut down and stop releasing eggs. The ovulation piece of the menopause puzzle doesn’t cause the symptoms, however; it’s the sudden drop in reproductive hormones, namely estrogen and progesterone.
The average age of menopause is 51, and the transition is complete when you don’t have periods for 12 months in a row.
The entire transition out of the reproductive stage of your life can take many years from start to finish.
For example, before menopause, most women enter perimenopause in their mid-to-late 40s, a time when the ovaries begin to produce less estrogen and symptoms can start to crop up.
Then, after you make the official transition, you can experience postmenopausal symptoms for many more years.
The symptoms of perimenopause and menopause are largely the same, except for this first sign on our list:
When you’re in perimenopause, your menstrual cycles can become irregular. You might experience abnormal bleeding, such as lighter periods, spotting between periods, and skipping periods altogether.
Again, once you haven’t had a period for 12 months in a row, we consider you to be postmenopausal.
Among the most common side effects of perimenopause and menopause are sudden changes in your body temperature, in the form of hot flashes and night sweats. In fact, about 75% of women experience these abrupt and brief rises in body temperature.
The loss in hormones that comes with menopause can lead to vaginal dryness, which affects more than half of women between the ages of 51 and 60.
Menopause casts a wide net and includes your mental and emotional health. Many women report irritability, as well as issues with anxiety and depression.
Women can lose up to 20% of their bone density after menopause, which can lead to osteoporosis.
The loss of estrogen can lead to pelvic organ prolapse, which can affect your bladder and lead to urinary incontinence.
We want to emphasize that this list is far from complete; there are many more potential signs of menopause. The bottom line is that if you’re experiencing some unexplained changes in your health and you’re in your 40s or 50s, they may be related to menopause.
The good news is that there are solutions that can offset many of the quality-of-life issues that come with this hormonal transition.
For expert guidance and care during your transition through menopause, we invite you to call our office in Rochester Hills, Michigan, at 248-284-4859, or you can contact us through our website.
