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Every adult woman has heard of menopause and likely has questions about it. They may also just how long menopause does menopause last as well as wanting to know what to expect as menopause symptoms. To be accurate, once it occurs, menopause lasts for the rest of your life, because it technically marks the end of menstruation, just as menarche marks the beginning.
In referring to menopause, most people are actually including the time before, and just after, the very last menstruation. This time before and just after is called perimenopause. Perimenopause commonly begins years prior to the actual cessation of menstruation. Symptoms often begin subtly, and increase over time, or begin strongly and are felt over a shorter time period. Blood tests are used to detect changes associated with perimenopause.
The most common menopause symptoms are irregular or abnormal periods and the vascular reactions commonly called "hot flashes". Lighthearted menopausal women may refer to "hot flashes" as "power surges" as a means of empowerment and providing a sense of humor during this life changing time. Before periods cease, they may become heavier, lighter, longer, shorter, or irregular in length or interval for several years. Anemia is fairly common and troubling for many women due to extremely heavy bleeding. Menopause can be caused both naturally and surgically. Menopause caused before the usual age range of the mid forties to fifties can occur from ovarian failure or surgical removal of both ovaries. The changes for younger women from surgical menopause could be more intense than natural menopause.
Women seeking menopause relief, in large part, are mostly looking for respite from mood swings and hot flashes. These symptoms are not just discomforting, but they are also embarrassing. Sudden flushes and sweating can be pretty obvious to strangers standing nearby. The majority of menopause symptoms are due to the fluctuations and decrease in estrogen and progesterone. One technique for calming the fierce mood swings and hot flashes associated with menopause is supplementing the missing hormones with drugs.
There are many women that are concerned over the increased risk of negative side effects associated with the use of prescription hormones for menopause treatment, and therefore opt for natural remedies instead. These natural remedies include such things as soy products, which contain a natural ingredient that is estrogen-like, and there are certain herbs such as black and blue cohosh, there are others as well. Others choose the hormone therapy, but utilize it only through the first and worst of the menopause symptoms.
Menopause also carries an increased risk for heart disease and osteoporosis, due to lower levels of protective estrogen. Many women will benefit from taking hormone supplements, despite their known risks, if they have family histories or previous occurrences of these problems. Generally, such women should take the lowest effective dose of such hormones, and should look for other ways to reduce the effects of heart disease and osteoporosis.
When a woman's ovaries have been surgically removed the onset of menopause can be very sudden, or it can occur gradually over as much as ten years. The important thing is that the effects are comprehensively controlled while minimizing any negative impacts from the therapy used.
Francine Cook is a retired ex-nurse who now writes articles on women's issues. Francine is the chief editor of Menopause-Answers.info, a site where you can learn more about menopause weight gain and other menopause information. |
