Symptoms of Menopause Onset
The sign you have menopause is when you have went 12 consecutive months without a period or even spotting, unless you’ve had a hysterectomy or cancer. There are many symptoms that may lead up to this I will try to lay out the most prevalent with explanations on them. Everyone is different no two women are alike so IF you have one or more of these symptoms this COULD be peri-menopause.
- Hot Flashes – Yeah this is the one everyone hears about. You usually feel these more intensely across the face, neck, and chest. You may feel you’re blushing and your skin redden. Some are extreme enough to cause you to sweat or be chilled. These may come on once or twice a week or numerous times a day. If these become too much to handle there are treatments available.
- Rapid Heart Rate – During your transition through menopause there is a decrease in estrogen production that is directly correlated with palpitations and increased heart rate. Many women experience these and cause a lot of anxiety and can last 15 minutes or longer at a time. There are many breathing exercises available to help you guide yourself through these naturally. Flaxseed has also shown to help with this symptom.
- Mood Swings – This doesn’t need a whole lot of explaining. Stress, sudden tears, irritability, and mood swings can be a common occurrence. Regular exercise, yoga, and other relaxation techniques can all help keep these changes in check. The goal is for you to have a great outlet of your tension, and have some type of stress management. These have a direct effect on your adrenal glands which help produce estrogen, which should be working effectively through menopause.
- Insomnia – This is mainly caused by your hormone levels being completely out of whack. When you estrogen levels lower it causes physical side effects, one being a decrease in serotonin which is a chemical in the brain that helps create melatonin which is a sleep hormone. Increasing your calcium and magnesium in your diet can help you sleep. 1,000 milligrams of calcium twice a day after a meal can have a relaxing effect. There are supplements for serotonin as well that you can get that would have a dramatic effect on you being able to sleep.
- Weird Periods – I really couldn’t think of a better word since this covers anything out of the ordinary. Shorter cycles, longer cycles, or even phantom periods all these could be signs of what is happening. Some even experience flooding which sometimes can be scary but every one of these symptoms is possible.
- Fatigue – Again there are so many related symptoms when you’re relating them to hormone levels it would take pages to list them all. Fatigue is a symptom that most everyone going through menopause feels at one point or another. Some women don’t get hit quite as hard as others when it comes to fatigue. Usually there is a direct correlation with how active you currently are or have been to how much fatigue you’ll experience. Those that have a more active lifestyle will not feel the effects as much as those with a more sedentary lifestyle. Again, one more point for getting out and getting some exercise.
- Others – There are many other symptoms beyond these but here is a larger list you can look at: loss of libido, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, allergies heightened, headaches, memory lapse, itchy, dry vagina, depression, weight gain, dizziness, hair loss, burning tongue, brittle nails, ringing in ears, body odor, osteoporosis, and tingling throughout the body.
Wow! Really makes you want to go through this doesn’t it? Honestly, this is a huge list of things that you can POSSIBLY have. It doesn’t mean that you’ll have every single symptom, or even if you’ll have any at all. Many women have gone through menopause without even noticing they did other than their lack of a period. If you have any symptoms that hasn’t been covered or that you find odd that is happening in your life now it never hurts to consult a physician about it and see if it’s something that needs looking into. So having this many symptoms of menopause onset might make you scared, don’t be just use these as possible ways of noticing it before, during and after it happens.
