A Guide to Menopause Symptoms: How Long is This Going to Last!? 

Menopause is a process that eventually occurs in a women’s life. The time that it occurs varies a great deal between women of different ethnicities and women who lead certain lifestyles. Some of the things that could play a factor in when menopause starts are age, stress level, diet, exercise level and medical conditions. The general time for menopause in women is in the 40s to 50s.

About Perimenopause

Perimenopause is a term that specialists use to describe the period right before a woman’s menopause starts. Perimenopause is said to end when menopause begins. A woman has reached menopause when she has gone for a period of 12 months without a menstrual cycle. This lack of a menstrual cycle indicates that her ovaries have stopped producing eggs.

The time length of the perimenopause varies from woman to woman. It could be as short as only a few months or as long as a decade. Experts give it an estimate of approximately four years. Women who are in the perimenopause stage may experience a wealth of symptoms. Some of the most common symptoms of the condition are sleeping problems, tenders breasts, mood swings and irregular periods. A woman who has had regular periods her whole life will be able to easily tell if she is going through perimenopause because she won’t be able to chart her cycles any longer. They will become sporadic or they may be lighter or shorter in substance and frequency respectively.

As the estrogen levels continue to decrease, the woman may experience a loss of interest in sex or decline in her sex drive. She may have vaginal dryness or pain during intercourse. Furthermore, she may experience fatigue quite often. If she doesn’t have knowledge of menopause and perimenopause, she may miss the fact that she is going through them. She may believe that her symptoms are coming from a different condition or situation. However, with the right education, she will be able to recognize what she is going through so that she can either embrace it or try to delay it through healthy means. Ultimately, only Mother Nature knows when that day will come when a woman’s womb shuts down reproductive processes.

Symptoms of Menopause

Menopause has a long range of symptoms that may occur. The most common symptom that people discuss is the flashing back and forth between hot and cold. Some women complain of night sweats and mood swings. Other symptoms that may appear in menopause are symptoms such as memory problems, a severely reduced sex drive, depression or anxiety. A host of other symptoms can occur. Those are just the ones that women discuss and doctors discover the most.

How to Delay Menopause

There are a few things that a woman can do to try to slow down the process or at least prevent it from progressing quickly. Quitting cigarette smoking is one of them. Increasing one’s whole grain intake is another idea that can help a woman to delay the change and menopause symptoms. Additionally, regular exercise routines may help to keep the hormones from declining as much.

Preparing for Menopause

It may be difficult for a woman to embrace the fact that she can no longer have children. However, there are some positive sides to menopause, and she can prepare for it by remembering those and embracing them. She will no longer have to worry about purchasing personal hygiene products from the store each month. She won’t have to deal with the excruciating pain of menstrual cramps or mittelschmerz (painful ovulation) if she had a difficult time with either of those. She can enjoy sex with her partner without the fear of an unexpected pregnancy. Those concepts could possibly boost her ability to embrace the upcoming new stage of her life. The best way for someone to counter something that seems like a negative thing is to think of at least 10 ways that it’s positive.

Hopefully, this piece about menopause is helpful to women who are nearing that time in their lives. Knowing what happens beforehand will help each woman to handle it appropriately.