Janet Martin asked:


The mere mention of menopause can bring images of hot flashes or mood changes in a lot of women. Most women, even men, think that menopause is just that – the manifestation of several irritating symptoms. However, menopause is actually a process in which the ovaries start to lessen the production of sex hormones progesterone and estrogen. And this difficult phase ends when a woman’s monthly period finally ceases.

Although women in their 50s are usually the ones experiencing menopause, others find themselves having bouts with hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms even when they are just in their 40s. This stage is what is commonly known as pre-menopause or perimenopause. When a woman is around 40 years old, changes in her monthly periods are already apparent.

There are also cases when menopause is induced or experienced by younger women. This is usually due to surgical removal of ovaries, cancer therapies, or ovarian failure.

The Common Signs of Menopause

Bladder And Vaginal Problems

Incontinence or the inability to hold urine and urinary tract infection seem to be common in women who are in their menopausal stage. In some women, incontinence can be severe such that they have to wear adult diapers in order to avoid embarrassing situations, like pissing on their pants during meetings.

Aside from urine-related woes, menopausal women also experience itching, dryness, redness or burning sensation in the vagina. As a result, sexual activities may be quite painful and unenjoyable. Vaginal infections are also common during menopause.

Hot Flashes

The most infamous symptom of menopause is having hot flash. This is usually characterized by abrupt and unexpected bursts of heat from the center of the body which spread to the limbs. Hot flashes manifested at night during sleep are called night sweating.

Altered Menstrual Cycles

Since the number of eggs inside your ovaries is already dwindling and your sex hormone levels are diminishing, there will surely be changes in your monthly periods. You will notice that the flow of menstrual blood is becoming either lighter or heavier. Many women even experience absence of monthly periods for up to six months before having another menstruation. As a result, a lot of women find themselves bearing babies even at this stage. So unless you are absolutely sure that you have already completed your menopause, it would be wise to use contraceptives, such as condoms, to prevent unwanted pregnancies.

Changed Attitude Towards Sex

Due to vaginal dryness and irritation, women who are in their menopausal stage usually are not in the mood for sex. Others, however, become more active because they are no longer burdened or worried about becoming pregnant. Whatever your reaction to sexual intercourse is, it is important to remember that you can still be prone to getting sexually transmitted diseases if you are not careful. Thus, practice safe sex all the time.

Sleep Woes

A number of women complain about either not having enough restful sleep or finding it quite difficult to fall asleep during this phase. In fact, you might find yourself waking up in the middle of the night because of profuse sweating caused by hot flashes.

Mood Changes

Scientists found that the low levels of estrogen during menopause may be the cause of mood changes in women. It seems that the sudden drop in estrogen can create havoc in women’s emotions. Thus, depression and anxiety are common problems facing menopausal women.

Hormone Replacement Therapy is one of the most popular treatments for menopause. However, many women who tried HRT experienced a lot of side effects. In fact, some studies are linking HRT with the development of severe illnesses including cancer.

One safe alternative in alleviating the symptoms of menopause is the use of phytoestrogen supplements, such as Menersa. Phytoestrogen is a plant substance that mimics the role of estrogen in the body. If you want to know more about phytoestrogen and Menersa, visit http://www.menersa.com/.



Kyle

Muna wa Wanjiru asked:


Menopause is a period in woman’s life time when her ovaries stop to produce eggs and when her menstrual cycle stops. Early menopause occurs to most of the women in their 30s or even in 20s. If your period cycle stops before the age of 45, then it will be known as early menopause. If your ovary stops producing eggs before this age or if you are experiencing hormonal changes or if your ovaries have been damaged or removed by surgery for any other reason, then you will have early menopause.

If you do not have periods for more than a year, then you will be considered as a woman undergoing menopause. The premature ovary failure surely results in early menopause. Premature ovary failure does not mean that your ovary stops producing eggs but it generally means that your ovary is not responding to hormone changes. So even if you experience early menopause, there is chance of getting pregnant. It is proved in research that 20 % women who had early menopause had become pregnant.

Early menopause may produce physical as well as emotional symptoms in the woman. Irregular periods, night sweats, vaginal dryness, sudden weight gain in hip, skin irritation and itching, hair loss, hair growth in face, severe head ache, body pain, joint pain, dryness in mouth and change in the smell of the body are the physical symptoms of menopause.

The woman experiencing menopause may have memory loss, irritability, anxiety, confusion, lack of concentration and some other emotional symptoms. She may feel deserted and get angry soon. Most of the American women who experience early menopause are suffering from hot flashes. Hot flash means a hot prickly feeling in the back. Vitamin supplements can reduce the hot flash.

Another important thing in early menopause is that many women are facing infertility problems. Even if you do not have any other symptoms, you will not be able to get pregnant due to early menopause.

Some women are experiencing the trouble of vaginal dryness in early menopause. This is very uncomfortable. Vaginal dryness occurs because of the decreasing level of estrogen. The estrogen decreasing may also cause abnormal hair growth in face. This will upset most women.

Most of the women experience bladder control problems. That means most women experiencing early menopause may want to pass urine frequently and most urgently. If you face any serious problem in bladder control, you should consult the doctor. Frequent urine passing may be a symptom of Diabetes also. Some women face sleeping problems in their early menopause period. Some others feel nervousness and heart beating faster. Sudden weight gain in the waist and tenderness in the breast may also be the symptoms of early menopause.



Melanie

Muna wa Wanjiru asked:


Sometimes menopause may occur due to surgical removal of ovaries. When uterus has been removed and the ovaries remain then menopause may occur. Even a younger woman may experience menopause due to surgery. As a result she may face number of problems like osteoporosis and arthritic problems. If she is too young to get menopause then she will face more problems. She may have hormone imbalance problem. So treatment should be given to her to get the right balanced hormones.

If the woman is too young when her uterus is removed by surgery then she should consult the experts who are up to date in this issue. This will help her to get hormone replacement. But it is proved that a woman face more problems in surgical menopause than a woman who has undergone natural menopause. Some symptoms of surgical menopause includes hot flashes, night sweats, hair loss, sleeping disorder, increased appetite, weight gain, suicide thoughts and attempts, depression and so on. They may get sudden anger and they will have decreased sexual interest. Thyroid problems and urine infection are common in surgical menopause.

Surgery induces early menopause particularly ovary and uterus removal by surgery can lead to menopause definitely. More symptoms are possible immediately after surgery.

When only one ovary is removed by surgery then there is a chance of getting menopause as naturally. But when the uterus is removed and the ovaries remain, the menstrual cycle stops and the symptoms of menopause will be experienced in normal age only. When both the ovaries are removed, the woman may experience harsh symptoms.

Surgical menopause at younger age leads to many diseases. Such women face more severe hot flashes than natural menopause woman. The hot flashes are frequent and last long. They often face the problem of head ache, body pain etc. they have the risk of heart diseases and osteoporosis. They feel more depressed than other women. There are no certain reasons for these severities. But the surgical menopause woman suffers a lot than other women.

Younger women who undergo surgery of uterus or ovary never have the chance of getting pregnant. This will upset them more and may cause stress and depression. There are several reasons for uterus or ovary failure that leads to surgery. Genetic reasons, cancer, smoking, irregular food habits may lead to premature ovarian failure and that in turn lead to surgery.

The ovaries are the main source of estrogen. The removal of ovary will definitely decrease the level of estrogen. That in turn leads to many symptoms of surgical menopause. Yet you may consider some positive aspects of surgery. You may never have the painful or heavy bleeding periods. There is no chance of getting pregnant again. There is no chance of ovarian cancer. You should set your mind before and after surgery by just thinking some positive aspects of the surgery. This will help you to reduce the emotional symptoms of menopause.



Erik

AIM+e plus a Melody asked:


My mom is 48 and going through menopause. She gets these horrible hot flashes and I would like to know of something she can take “AT HOME” that could possibly help. I’m sure she could get prescribed something and all, but her appointment for the doctor isn’t for another 2 months, so just wondering if anyone knew of something she could take or use?

Justin

PATnikissietaneka asked:


say you marry after menopause and then the husband wants to have a baby, how best can one deal with this kind of situation?

Ronnie

I am Me asked:


Just curious for the responses. I realize I could have asked this under another Category.

Thank you in advance for taking your time to answer.

Allan

pretty but plump asked:


I’ve been dieting my whole life and know most of the traditional diet tips. My eating habits are not always the greatest - I nosh “healthy” foods between meals (boredom, emotions) in addition to 3 low fat low carb meals. I count calories and do 1200 on a good day, 1600 on an off day. I exercise fairly regularly 3x weekly walking 1 hour, 2x Pilates and 1x exercise class with weights. I feel good but haven’t been able to take off the middle age “tires”. Last year I managed to take off 10 pounds, but seem to have put them back on again. I feel discouraged and don’t like the way I loook in clothes now. Any ideas?

Arnold

allicatmeowhisspurr asked:


I started my period at 14. Someone told me a long time ago, that I will start menopause early because of this…. Is this true?

Debra

Christine K asked:


I am 45, diabetic, going through menopause and have almost no sex drive. My blood sugar is under control. What else can I do to increase my libido?

Serious answers only please. Proven homeopathic remedies? Links where I can learn more. Real life experiences would be great!
Thanks in advance.

Ricky

Sharon Bell asked:


Everybody knows the story of Rip Van Winkle, the guy who had slept for twenty years. He went away from home to escape his wife who nagged at him on a daily basis. It is basically a good story about laziness and the hate for profitable labor; it could even be the best vacation story ever! But how would the story go if Rip Van Winkle were a woman?

Assuming you are in your twenties and you sleep for two decades. As a woman, when you wake up, you will already be in your forties. It may sound good for you because by then you will have most likely avoided all the travails of the world and thereby retain good health. But have you thought about menopause?

If you do not want to be Rip Van Winkle, then you can think about his wife who tormented him day in and day out. She was the main reason why Rip went away and left everything in his life. Instead of being a loving amiable wife, she was a quarrelsome old woman. So who can blame Rip?

But today, readers of the story can contend that if Rip Van Winkle had been a woman, she would be in a menopausal stage; and even if she had slept for twenty years, she would still be under a fit of mood swings and a lot of pain. Alternately, if you put yourself in the wife’s shoes, you can infer that all the nagging was caused by some hormonal changes that women experience later in life.

Indeed, things get a little more complicated when you are a woman; particularly if you are in your late thirties or fifties. True, you have heard all the comments referring to the age of fifty as the new thirty. For one, the modern woman of today who belongs to the age bracket of around forty to fifty experience better health and greater wealth than women in the past fifty years. But one thing remains: menopause!

If you are in the pre-menopausal or menopausal stage, you are experiencing big changes in the body. And more often than not, these changes can be very uncomfortable. As your body’s reproductive capacity permanently elapses during this stage, you can encounter a lot of mood swings, weight gain, pelvic pains and even osteoporosis.

These changes are brought about by the shifts in your hormones. Although the menopausal stage is a natural phase that every woman has to go through, the symptoms that accompany this hormonal change can bring about problems emotionally and physically. So, you must prepare yourself for when menopause finally arrives.

Any preparation for the occurrence of menopause must start with learning all the important facts about this episode in your life. You can do this by consulting with your doctor and reading articles and books about menopause. Since there is nothing you can do to stop menopause from happening, you can focus your defenses on the symptoms.

You will have a better chance to bear up against all the manifestations of menopause if you live a healthy lifestyle. So as you approach the age in which menopause will set in, try to eat good nutritious food, avoid smoking, and do a lot of exercise.

To fight off the symptoms brought about by menopause, you can take various relief formulas available in the market today. You can choose from a wide variety of natural or synthetic remedies so that you can maintain physical activity and overall health even if you are well into the menopausal stage.

And to retain the hormonal balance in your body, you can try Zalestra. This product is specifically formulated for women who are in their pre-menopausal or menopausal stages. For more information about this product, check out www.Zalestra.com.



Jessie