Signs and Symptoms of Menopause
by Jodie Phillips
There are many signs and symptoms of menopause, which occur when a woman stops menstruating. The gradual menopause transition is due to fluctuating levels of female hormones progesterone and estrogen. Menopause normally occurs in the age range of 48-55 years. Such signs and symptoms of menopause occur still earlier in women who have never been pregnant and who smoke regularly.
Common Signs and Symptoms of Menopause
Absence of menstrual periods for a full year is a sure indication of the onset of menopause. Hot flashes and mood swings are among the most common signs and symptoms of menopause experienced by more than eighty percent of women. Hot flashes are a sudden warm feeling in either your neck and face or your whole body.
Hot flashes normally with sweating and cold shivering could form red notches on your arms, back, and chest. Hormonal changes disrupt your body�s natural ability to regulate body temperature. You experience this common sign and symptom of menopause in the middle of the night, disturbing your sleep. Mostly hot flashes last from thirty seconds to five minutes.
Other common signs and symptoms of menopause include depression, mood swings, and memory loss. You gain weight around the waist and experience loss of stretchiness in the skin. Lower estrogen levels leads to brittle bones, which lose their calcium contents and become weak causing osteoporosis. Fall in estrogen levels also increase risks of heart diseases. Not all women experience all signs and symptoms of menopause.
Irregular periods are among the most general signs and symptoms of menopause. Some women experience heavy bleeding for more than ten days with periods occurring within three weeks. Vaginal and bladder problems are few other signs and symptoms of menopause. Vaginal infections are also common, sometimes leading to problems in the urinary tract like incontinence, burning sensation or pain when urinating.
Lower libido is another common sign and symptom of menopause. Genital body tissue becomes drier and thinner causing pain during sexual intercourse. Vaginal discomfort often causes lower sexual arousal. Restlessness, anxiety, panic, depression are all different signs and symptoms of menopause, often a fallout of lack of sufficient rest due to disturbed sleep and higher stress levels.
Other signs and symptoms of menopause include fatigue and sleep problems, buzzing in the ear, etc. You are unable to sleep again after waking up in the middle of the night. This causes fatigue. You also experience stiffness in joints and muscle pain. Thinning of hair and increased facial hair due to higher levels of testosterone are other signs and symptoms of menopause.
It is however, not necessary for all women to experience all such signs and symptoms of menopause. Some women may not experience most of them while some others could experience all of them. All signs and symptoms of menopause depend largely on fluctuation of your hormone levels and your individual body capability to bear such hormonal fluctuations.
Jodie Phillips is the owner of several Women's Health-related websites at http://wrinkle-cream.ramiller.com/ and she shares her knowledge and research on Women's Health in a series of articles.
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