Is it all down to the menopause?
The average age in the UK (similar in the US) for the menopause is about 51. For some women periods stop at 45 and others at 55. Premature menopause can happen suddenly before the age of 40, this situation can be caused by a number of things. The supply of eggs in the ovaries have run out, we are born with a certain number of eggs once they run out that is it. If you are advised to have a hysterectomy, it’s important to find out if your ovaries are going to be removed as well. If so, find out the reason why. Some doctors routinely remove healthy ovaries as a preventative measure in case of ovarian cancer at some later date. It is important to be aware when your ovaries are removed you will go into surgical menopause overnight, a situation that normally takes 10 to 15 years to develop. In this situation HRT (hormone replacement therapy) with be needed depending on your age of course.
So what can encourage an early or delayed menopause:
• Smoking tends to bring on the menopause about 2 years earlier than average.
• A hysterectomy, without the removal of the ovaries can bring on the menopause about 5 years earlier.
• Women with fibroids often have a delayed menopause due to higher levels of oestrogen maybe 5 or more years.
• Poor nutrition can bring on an earlier menopause.
• Women who have never been pregnant can experience an earlier menopause.
• Women who are overweight might experience a later menopause because their fat cells are producing oestrogen.
If you are still menstruating regularly (and especially heavily) at 52 or 53 you should consider getting yourself thoroughly checked out as it might be due to fibroids for instance. Fibroids maintain high levels of oestrogen.
Modern medicine has advised oestrogen because the levels of this hormone is falling around this time of life. However, nothing is that simple there is much more going on. Progesterone has stopped altogether and the FSH levels have soared, there are many many other changes but are too subtle to be measured. Taking HRT may cause other imbalances, which the body tries to compensate for, causing its own set of stresses.
Ask yourself, what can be done to help my body go through the change naturally and comfortably? Firstly and importantly by increasing your health by using whole foods, natural remedies, and possibly treatments encouraging the body to balance itself, as the menopause is a natural occurrence just like going through puberty. It’s never too early or too late to start getting healthier no matter your age.
What are the symptoms?
Hot flushes
Declining libido
Weight-gain
Tiredness
Crying over just about anything
Night sweats
Vaginal dryness
Aging skin
Headaches
Depression
Joint pains
Irritable (wouldn’t you be irritable with those symptoms to put up with)!
Some of the symptoms mentioned above may not be totally and wholly due to the menopause. I know younger women and middle aged men who suffer a lot of these symptoms. During our early forties to early fifties a lot of other things are happening that can cause some of the above symptoms. Some people find it really hard to cope with the children leaving home, or there are expensive weddings to pay for, then there is the fact that our parents are not getting any younger and they need much more attention. Questions about early retirement or not, as this is an age where there is uncertainty about career and pensions, the mortgage, whether to down size your home. Marriages can begin to show cracks. This is an age when health problems begin to show up for the first time as that lifestyle of yours is catching up. Taking maybe medication for the first time and dealing with the side-effects and and on top of all that there is the menopause and the middle aged spread to contend with.
This is not to say the menopausal symptoms are not real, some women have a really terrible time of it, while others sail through it with few problems. Whichever way you look at it it’s a stressful time of life for many reasons.
In America they are called “power surges” we call them “hot flushes” being a Brit – most women complain about this symptom, more than any other. The main problem is feeling too hot, some women get very red others don’t, some sweat a lot, while others experience palpitations. Some women find the hot flushes very uncomfortable, while others find them a mild inconvenience. For some the heat last seconds, others have to put up with it for 30 minutes at a time occurring many times a day. Some women say the worst thing is the night sweats, disturbing their sleep on a regular basis leaving them tired, depressed and irritable.
If you are some years away from the menopause but suffer symptoms of PMS (pre-menstrual syndrome) you need to sort out these symptoms sooner rather than later.Generally speaking if your periods are troublesome the chances are the menopause will be too.
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