How Long Does Menopause Last? Symptoms To Be Prepared For

Every woman knows about menopause, but they all have some questions. Some things that they may be wanting to know are how long does menopause last, or what are some of the menopause symptoms to be prepared for. In truth menopause, once begun, never ends for the remainder of your life as it is marking the end of your menstrual cycle, much the way menarche is marking the start.

The way people usually use it, the term "menopause" is not just menopause but perimenopause as well. Perimenopause is the time before and just after the last instance of menstruation. Perimenopause can be very prolonged, sometimes lasting even years. Symptoms can be intense for a short period of time, or increasing in intensity over many years. Perimenopausal symptoms can be picked up by laboratory blood tests.

The most frequently presented menopause symptoms include abnormal and irregular periods, whose length and interval become irregular. Hot flashes (sometimes jocularly called power surges), vascular reactions that cause physical sensations, are another frequent symptom. Bleeding during periods may become much heavier and/or may combine with anemia as a more serious symptom of menopause. Ovarian failure, or surgery to remove both ovaries, may result in menopause starting before the usual age range of 45 to 60. Early menopausal symptoms may be stronger than those of normal menopause.

Women want their menopause relief solutions to stop their hot flashes and mood swings, which can be embarrassing and uncomfortable. Sudden sweating and flushing are socially embarrassing in ways that other, subtler menopause symptoms are not. The fluctuating levels of the sexual hormones progesterone and estrogen are the cause of most symptoms of menopause. Supplementing the body's own production of these hormones is a widely used treatment.

With menopause comes an increased risk of cancers such as breast and other types of cancers. Natural remedies, or supplements like products made from soy, herbs such as black and blue cohosh, and others are preferred by many females to treat their symptoms. Soy products contain a substance that is a natural estrogen. Others may choose to use hormone replacement therapy for a short term, a few months only, to alleviate the worst 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.

The time period for menopause varies greatly. Sometimes it can be very quick when a woman has had her ovaries removed. Other times it can take more than 10 years. The most important thing to realize is that the symptoms she experiences are controlled as much as possible with as little risk as needed.

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Facing perimenopause weight gain

Sοme women arө quite surprised to leаrn that perimenopausal weight gain haрpens withοut any cһange in their diet or activity levels. A brief discussion οn the topic iѕ important, ѕo that үou can avoid what statіstics tell υs will happen tο two-thirds of ωomen.

Perimөnopausal ωeight gain happens without any changes made by thө woмan bөcause of the intөrnal changes that are going οn іn hөr body. Perimenopause conѕists of those fөw years before menopause actuаlly Ьegins and maү bгing on ѕome of the symptoms of full-blown menopause, such aѕ hot flashes, night ѕweats and miѕsed рeriods. Perimenopausal weight gain іs another onө of those symрtoms of the beginning changes in а ωoman's body, largely bөcause the hormones arө starting to fluctυate wildly.

Whөn tһe body iѕ undөr stress-which the Ьody considers fluctuating hormones to be-it sends oυt cortisol and adrenalin into tһe bodү. These hοrmones will, among other things, tell tһe bοdy to start hοlding on to іts resources. Periмenopausal weight gain happens, because thө body haѕ started holding on-literally, for dear life-to thө existing stores of future energy, namely, үour fat cells.

On top οf that, your body haѕ another valid rөason for hοlding on to үour fat. Fat can produce estгogen. Sο, when the ovаries have begun shυtting doωn, аnd no moгe estrogen іs available to thө Ьody from them, үour body wants to keep all the other resourсes for estrogen that іt cаn. It makes loѕing weight а little more difficult, bυt tһere is gοod news on thаt front.

Fat cөlls that are stored at and after menοpause, and during perimenopause, is storөd diffөrently thаt before. Instead of being lаyers јust under the skin level-whicһ iѕ called subcutaneous fat-it is now being stored viscөrally. Thө good news iѕ that νisceral fat responds muсh more quicĸly to ωeight loss efforts than subcutаneous fat.

Whіch is veгy good newѕ, becauѕe viscerаl fat iѕ actually much more dangeroυs to the Ьody thаn subcutaneοus fat. Visceral fat is stored іn аnd around yοur body's orgаns аnd directly interacts wіth them, often interfering іn their processes. In fact, visceral fat haѕ been lіnked tο the onsөt οf some νery loathsomө diseases, naмely, type 2 diabөtes, high blood pressure, coronary arterү dіsease аnd heart disease.

Anotheг fаctor to takө into consideration іs that рerimenopausal wөight gain occurs when a woman starts to sloω down. Perimenopause аnd menopausө both өncourage slοw metabolism. Add tο that the fаct that the dөmands on а woman's time start to ѕlack off at this point in hөr life and sһe starts to sloω down, аnd you have got the makings for sοme serious perimenopausal weight gain.

Needless to ѕay, diet аnd өxercise аre gοing tο bө the key players to avoid perimenopausal weight gain. Speaĸ witһ а nutritionist to learn vital tips for meal and menu planning. As for activities, аnything that gets you up and moving, breatһing and stretching counts aѕ exercisө. Try to worĸ υp to 30 minutes а day for a sucсessful campaign against perimenopausal weigһt gain.

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Many symptoms of menopause onset

Menopause is a life period that will be experienced by every woman, sooner or later. It isn't a disease that should be avoided because menopause is something that occurs naturally. Some symptoms and complaints which are felt become the reason why should do a treatment. Women not feel comfortable to handle all that is felt and makes them want to get rid of all symptoms and complaints.

When a woman enters menopause period, she will feel some changes by physically and emotionally. These changes make women not feel comfortable with their own body. Cause of these changes is reduction in several important hormones inside the body and gives bad effect such as hormone imbalance.

There are many symptoms of menopause onset that is felt by women, namely:

1. Menopause occurs because hormonal changes and as a side effect, body will find it difficult to regulate temperature. Women will get heat sensation or often referred to as hot flashes. This will make them sweat for a few seconds or minutes.

2. Besides have bad experience with hot flashes, there is also a possibility that women will experience night sweats. This will occur at night and usually occurs before bedtime. Excessive sweating will make women feel coldness as a side effect of night sweats.

3. Women will experience sleep disturbances, this could be due to night sweats or stress.

4. Heart would beat so quickly and sometimes erratic. This will more often be felt when experiencing hot flashes or night sweats.

5. Emotional changes, women became irritable, sad, disappointed or worried about something and weepy. They have a tendency to experience stress and depression.

6. Desire to have sexual intercourse is decline. This is due to vagina not supple and dry. Women will be tortured during sexual intercourse due to pain.

7. Menstruation becomes irregular. Indeed, this complaint is felt when a woman is still have some perimenopause symptoms but will still be felt when entering menopause. But at this period, menstruation may stop.

8. Body is susceptible to fatigue and decreased endurance.

9. The ability to focus and concentration will be reduced and even some women have decreased memory ability. There is a possibility that some of them easy to experience dementia.

11. Women are very susceptible to obesity and this will make them very close to different diseases such as diabetes and cholesterol.

12. Women will experience hair loss and graying hair.

13. The skin becomes irritated and allergy, it is caused by hot flashes and night sweats.

14. Women become vulnerable to several dangerous diseases such as osteoporosis or cancer.

That's symptoms of menopause onset will be felt by women, prepare yourself from now on, as well to overcome all these symptoms.

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What average age for menopause

The average age of menopause is fifty-one years and four months. You've reached menopause when you haven't had your period for twelve consecutive months. However, menopause is still considered natural and normal for women as young as forty (this was an arbitrarily chosen number).

The perimenopause phase lasts only a few months or years for some women, and more than a decade for others. The average time frame for the signs and symptoms of perimenopause are three to five years.

Early menopause occurs when you have reached the change of life before you are forty-years-old. Late menopause occurs anytime in the late fifties, but some women even experience it into their sixties. Both early and late menopause can cause health problems.

Signs of early menopause

The signs and symptoms of early menopause are the same as normal menopause, only, obviously, earlier. The typical experiences are: hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, memory loss, weight gain, headaches, migraines, breast tenderness, itchy skin, dry skin, moodiness, depression and more. Some women barely notice anything at all and others have extreme, life-altering experiences.

The degree to which you suffer has a lot to do with lifestyle choices including diet, fitness, relaxation, and how much you are enjoying your life in general.

What is surprising is that even with improvements with nutrition and quality of life and even though we are expected to live longer than ever, the age at which we experience menopause has remained virtually unchanged for as long as we have recorded it.

Conditions that will bring on an earlier menopause

Smoking. Smoking can bring on menopause earlier by a few years. Smoking has the added risk of osteoporosis.
Having had no children.
Exposure to toxic chemicals.
Chemotherapy.
Radiation.
Medically treated depression.
Premature grey (doesn't cause early menopause, but may coincide with it).

Conditions that may delay menopause:

Obesity
Having many children
Alcohol use

The good news and the bad news about early menopause

The good news about early menopause is that it does not mean you are aging faster or that your lifespan is shorter than a woman who experiences a normal menopause. What it does mean is that you are at a greater risk for osteoporosis, but you can reduce this risk by talking to your family physician about a healthy diet and supplements to prevent osteoporosis and muscle strengthening and weight -bearing exercises. Also, you may notice your skin becoming drier, but hey, that's what those expensive cosmetic creams are for, right?

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How long does menopause last? here's the answer

When they first find out they have the symptoms, many women want to know - how long does menopause last? Each year many thousands of women start to have these symptoms, so they want to know more.

Since the average age of menopause is 51 in American women, that leaves quite a few years for most women to go through the symptoms. These symptoms can start to appear as early as the mid to late-thirties even in some cases, but normally not until the mid-forties. Maybe your symptoms will start slowly with more irregular periods, or just the few hot flashes here and there. But in most women they will progress to digestive problems, insomnia, heart palpitations, thinning hair, dry skin, and mood problems.

Depending on the severity of the symptoms, you may seek treatment earlier or later, but at some point most women search for some relief. A natural solution to menopause is one that can offer more relief with few side effects, which is becoming more of a standard these days. Since the "old-fashioned" way of treating menopause symptoms is to simply boost estrogen levels with a prescription, these days it isn't the best option.

The reason this isn't the best treatment any longer is that  it is now realized that each woman has a different hormone "profile" that needs an individual approach to treatment. The main hormones that are out of balance are estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. Yes, even women have some testosterone, although only about 1/10th as much as a man. It is needed to keep the libido in check, so without this hormone many women lose their desire for sex completely.

What to do about it? There are herbs that can natural stimulate or replace the hormones in the body, some which can mimic the bodies hormones very closely. These hormones include:

black cohosh (for night sweats and hot flashes), dong quai (for vaginal dryness), kava kava (for mood improvement, lowers stress) and also ginseng, which has been known to help mood swings and overall health.

Another natural product many women are finding helpful these days is natural progesterone cream, which is used to help ease many of the symptoms common to menopause by boosting the hormone missing most, progesterone. This hormone is a pre-cursor to the biosynthesis of other hormones in the body. The good news is that natural progesterone cream can be purchased many places without any prescription, since it is a natural product.

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