"Menopause", as soon as we women hear this what comes in our mind at first? Yes, definitely freedom from our monthly period. But, perhaps this is the only positivity which is associated with menopause but once you have it, you might be wishing for going back to the older times again. But why is it so? It is because menopause comes with its own problems along with medical and psychological issues for 42% of the women all over the world. However, with proper knowledge and resources you would be able to turn this certain change into a beautiful experience and that is why we are here for preparing you for the better so that you can stay aware regarding the menopause.
ABC of menopause
As the title says we are going to discuss the basics of menopause first. So, menopause is the stage which marks the ending of your productive years and after completing 12 successful months without having a period shows that you have officially entered your menopause. With the end of the period begins the hormonal and physical changes of your body. Menopause generally occurs between the years of age of 45 to 55 years, and in a few rare cases it accounts for 9 % when a woman can reach her menopause in her late 30s and 3.5 % of the women reaches their menopause in her late 20s also .
But what actually causes this menopause ?
You already know that the ovaries produce eggs every month besides secreting particular hormones. But after a certain period of time the ovary stops releasing eggs every month and that is the time, the levels of oestrogen and progesterone hormones get reduced and menopause happens officially. The ovaries basically retire and that is how your period starts by becoming irregular and then totally stops.
Learning about the symptoms of menopause
Here we have covered some of the most common symptoms and effects of menopause for you so that you can recognise them while they would be hitting you:
Getting irregular periods
The first symptom which would be getting before starting your menopause is an irregular and erratic cycle of period. Due to the reduced production of hormones your menstrual cycle would be getting erratic and it eventually gets stopped.
Having night sweats
Sometimes the night sweats are accompanied with hot flashes and it is characterized by an excessive rate of precipitation during the night which does not allow you to sleep properly.
Experiencing hot flashes
One of the most common symptoms is getting hot flashes. The body temperature suddenly gets increased and you start feeling hot and irritated for some time. This may long for a couple of minutes or for some hours. Although the hot flashes can occur anytime during the day or night but generally it occurs during the night. It can be indicated by the redness of your face, neck along with the chest besides having high temperature.
Having insomnia
Your sleep cycle is definitely going to get disturbed because of the hot flashes and night sweats as they mostly occur during the nights due to the irregular production of your hormones. Your sleep would be facing a hard time while sleeping.
Dryness in your mouth, skin and eye region
Due to the sudden changes of your hormonal production your skin is going to get dry and getting a scaly and irritated skin especially during the winter is very common. Also the decreased saliva levels will be leaving your lips, tongue and the roof in your mouth to be dry.
Gaining weight
With age people have a decreased rate of metabolism, that is why they grow a tendency of storing more fat easily in their body. This is further associated with menopause and 78% of the women and up in gaining weight during the menopause.
Urinating frequently
During the menopause the tissue elasticity of your vagina gets loosened and the pelvic muscles also become weaker which results in losing control of the bladder. This lowered control of the bladder prevents you from holding your urine for a longer time and you end up urinating more often.
Levels of concentration
The production of oestrogen holds an important role by ensuring that glucose is burned for energy. But as this hormone ends up with reduced levels so you also have lack of focus and poor concentrating power.
Memory lapses
With the onset of menopause, the cognitive function might get affected and it also leads to memory lapses but do not worry as they are temporary.
Having mood swings and depression
The fluctuating level of hormones also results in stimulating different emotions at different times and they bring irritation, rage, sadness or anxiety with them. If you keep your mood swings unchecked then they may end up in mild or severe depression.
Hair becoming thinner
Your hair follicles get decreased which is accelerated due to the hormonal change and that’s why the amount of hair fall gets increased.
Accelerated rate of facial hair growth
Although your scalp loses hair but your face grows a lot of them too at an accelerated rate.
Having pains in joints and muscles
Increased levels of stress can also trigger strain on your muscles and in some extreme cases your bone density might also get low which further puts you at risk of osteoporosis.
Facing troubles in digestion
With the gradual changes of your body, the digestive system might end up in disrupted functioning which leads to indigestion, cramps and bloating.
Tender breast
Your breasts also turn tender and during the menopause they become much more sensitive to pain due to all the fluctuating hormones.
Vaginal dryness
As the natural lubrication of your vagina gets reduced during the menopause, so your vaginal area becomes dry and you can face discomfort too.
Reduced sex drive
As you would be facing the hormonal changes so it’s very normal to get your sex drive reduced to some extent. However the libido varies from person to person.
Statistical findings regarding menopause
One of the recent surveys which has been conducted by The Institute For Social and Economic Change, it was found that near about 4% of Indian women experience symptoms of menopause between 29 to 35 years of age and the figure increases to 8 % in the age group of 36 to 40 years. Most of the study has shown that women all through the world usually reach their menopause between 45 to 55 years of age and that has been calculated to a mean age of 51 years. 78% of the women notice an irregular cycle of menstruation which ceases all of a sudden and after that they approach a gynaecologist and get to know that they are having premature menopause. Unhealthy lifestyle is one of the main reasons for triggering early menopause and making it a painful experience.
Thus, detecting your menopause symptoms early and visiting a gynaecologist for seeking help would be helping you a lot to deal with the menopause issues. Also keep an eye to our other post which would be helping you to know the reasons behind early menopause and suggesting new ways of how to fight with them.
References:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4890704/
https://www.nykaa.com/beauty-blog/what-is-menopause/
https://www.healthline.com/health/menopause/menopause-facts
https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/health/Indian-women-facing-early-menopause-Survey/article14403551.ece
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