What is menopause? This question is something that is often frightening for women because they have heard so many other women talk about all of the problems that come with menopause. They hear other women talk about the fact that they will experience weight gain because of menopause. They will often hear other women talk about vaginal dryness due to menopause. Most of the time women do not get the factual information when they ask this question of people without a medical background.

A Medical Answer Is Probably Best for the Question What Is Menopause

When posed to other women, the answer to this question is often based on the personal experience of those women. The information is not often relevant to the woman who asks the question. The information on the experience of individual women is probably somewhat useful, but it should be viewed with the background in mind. Answers from individuals will be interesting but not necessarily informative. The best source for answers remains those with much experience on the topic.

There are many books that provide insightful information on menopause. These books usually discuss the scientific information on the changes in the body during menopause. These books will often provide information on the different experiences of different women. These personal experiences will demonstrate that menopause is not the same for everyone. Menopause is a transition that all women will experience if they live into their forties or fifties. This can be a very difficult and stressful transition, but it does not have to be terribly distressing. Gathering relevant information from physicians and reading materials will probably make this transition less stressful and uncomfortable.

What’s The Difference?

Most of the hormones put out by your ovaries controls your menstruation cycles. These hormones are estrogen, progesterone and testosterone. In normal menopause, this diminishes gradually, since the ovaries are still chugging away. But when the ovaries are completely removed, a vast majority of the hormones are gone. There is some evidence that your adrenals and even your belly fat puts out traces of hormones, but not enough to stop surgical menopause. It takes about a month for all of the hormones put into your body before your operation to disappear. Considering that you’ll be recovering from major invasive surgery, you shouldn’t notice any changes for several months due to your painkillers.

Is It Hot In Here?

You’ll know when surgical menopause really takes a hold of you. You get the hot flashes made of in comedy routines, your body hair grows even crazier than usual, your voice may deepen, you may get insomnia and your sex drive will go up and down like a rocket. Just like with your period, some women get more cramps than others. It can be really annoying to be going through surgical menopause and know a woman who shows barely any symptoms whatsoever.

This Pill Is Made Out Of Horse Pee

Many women going through surgical menopause find relief with hormone replacement therapy. These come in pills, patches and creams. The most infamous drug is Premarin, which is made out of pregnant mare’s urine. There are many questionable practices in the making of Premarin, so many women want an alternative. If you have ever used a patch successfully to get your medication, hormone replacement patches may be for you. Patches react differently for different women. There is also a cream available. These hormones are made from plants. Before taking any of these, discuss it with your doctor.

Sadly, you still need to take mammograms, cervical smears and eat healthy even without the ovaries. You can’t get out of that. Being physically fit can help reduce the discomfort of surgical menopause.

Spotting after menopause could also be a sign of ovarian cancer which is often very difficult to cure. Ovarian cancer is not always difficult to diagnose and cure but if discovered early there is a better chance of controlling this condition. There are several ways that a qualified physician can figure out the reason for spotting after menopause. Often the physician can scrape the surface of the uterus to find the cause of spotting after menopause. Sometimes the physician will recommend a hysteroscopy to determine the cause of spotting after menopause. This procedure allows the physician a view of the uterus to determine if there is a serious problem.

Spotting After Menopause Should Never Be Ignored

Women should not ignore any spotting, but they should not panic either. The physician will determine the nature of the problem after taking the proper tests. Then the physician will know what measures should follow. The spotting could be caused by hormone replacement treatments, and this will become clear to the physician who does the tests. The physician will also know if there is any cancer present by the tests that are conducted. Once the physician decides on the cause of the spotting, the physician will be able to recommend the treatment. The cancer can be treated successfully if detected early so women should never ignore spotting in hopes that it will go away naturally.

Menopause causes many changes in the body of each woman. The hormonal changes can affect the body in many ways. This transition can be very stressful for women because some of the symptoms are most uncomfortable. Women should work closely with their gynecologist during this time to make sure that the transition goes as smoothly as possible. Women should not feel intimidated by these changes during this time. Although menopause can be difficult, this transition will be much easier with the compassionate guidance from a knowledgeable gynecologist.

Asian Cultures Have Lower Incidences Of Menopause

The reason why women from Asian cultures do not suffer so much from menopause can be attributed to the dietary differences that include consumption of soy products. Soy and menopause are good for one another, as soy will help in relieving the symptoms of menopause. This is a good reason why you should include soy in your dietary intake and this has been borne out by studies conducted on soy and menopause.

The majority of studies conducted on soy and menopause show that the intake of soy in a woman’s diet such as soy pasta, noodles as well as soy milk and cheese as also other soy products will help in decreasing the possibility of their suffering from the symptoms of menopause, which should then become infrequent. There is a major linkage between the consumption of soy and menopause symptoms though it is not necessarily able to act as a substitute for Hormone Replacement Therapy. It is nevertheless a viable option that does not want to take Hormone Replacement Therapy.

Soy and menopause are a good combination and taking soy pasta twice a week in your diet can help to lower and even do away completely with menopause symptoms. Soy contains phytoestrogens as well as isoflavones, and so soy is often recommended for consumption during menopause due to it being a good source for isoflavones. In addition, the phytoestrogens contained in soy will help reduce symptoms of reduced production of estrogen. Soy and menopause are also closely associated given the fact that soy also has low fat proteins, iron as well as many other nutrients that are ideally suited for treating symptoms of menopause.

There is no doubt that soy and menopause go hand in hand and it will provide relief from symptoms of menopause. In addition, both estrogen replacement therapy and hormone replacement therapy put women at risk of getting breast cancer, which is another good reason to try out soy for menopause relief, which more and more women are now trying with considerable success.

About the Signs of Menopause

When you were younger, chances are that when you first began menstruating you were wondering why you were experiencing so many mood swings and, worst of all, those cramps. There are many different signs of PMS that are unique to each woman, and the same is true for the signs of menopause.

For example, if you have been suffering from mood swings more and more often, and you were not the type to be like that before, that is one of the most common signs of menopause. At one moment you can be perfectly happy, and the next you could be crying over nothing!

Some women go through menopause rather quickly. However, the signs of menopause usually come at a natural progression, starting at middle age. Some of the signs of menopause do tend to come on rather quickly, and as a result the women experiencing those signs get nervous.

One of the signs of menopause that women have the hardest time dealing with is the temperature changes in the body. Although some women experience the feeling of always being cold, it is the hot flashes that become the problem. Out of nowhere a woman, no matter what the weather is, might begin fanning herself and sweating.

Another thing that women might experience is migraine headaches. Although these kinds of headaches might be brought on by stress or dehydration, they can also be a sign of menopause. Along with the headaches can also come a feeling of fatigue.

If you as a woman are wondering when you will be starting menopause, all you have to do is find out when your mother or your maternal grandmother started menopause. It will probably be the average between those ages.

Of course, you can also talk to your doctor or your gynecologist. Medical technology is becoming more and more advanced, and as a result you have the advantage of preparing for menopause. When menopause comes, be aware that there are many different ways to make this an easier process for menopausal women.

Complimentary To One Another

Some of the alternative practices can involve taking to exercising, avoiding beverages as well as foods with caffeine in them, and also steering clear of alcohol and spicy food, which should help them avoid hot flashes. A good alternative is Prozac for menopause, which is known to be helpful. According to studies, Prozac and menopause are complimentary to one another.

Prozac for menopause is known to relieve hot flashes especially in the case of women that also have breast cancer, or who may be at risk of contracting the disease. However, Prozac for menopause may benefit all women with hot flashes problems and it is not confined only to those with breast cancer problems.

An antidepressant like Prozac for menopause has been known to alleviate the sudden temperature changes experienced by women having menopause, and this is why many doctors prescribe Prozac for this condition, though more data is required on the subject of treating menopause with Prozac. Because many women may be somewhat reluctant to use estrogen to treat their hot flashes, Prozac provides an excellent alternative.

According to certain studies, women that have taken Prozac for menopause have reported back that it helped in decreasing the frequency as well as severity of their hot flashes by as much as half, while women in the placebo group only had thirty-six percent decrease in the symptoms. This shows that Prozac for menopause is effective though it has yet to be ascertained how Prozac helps in alleviating the symptoms.

Further studies are ongoing on this subject who will also study how much dosage should be ideal, and also how effective the different dosages are going to be. For more information about treating menopause it may be a good idea to study the Menopause Guidebook which will contain useful information that has been compiled by the North American Menopause Society, which touches on all aspects of menopause such as hot flashes as well as various options regarding getting treated for the condition.

Call The Doctor Symptoms

Although these pre-menopause symptoms are normal and usually harmless, sometimes they may also be warning signs about other health problems. These are especially alarming if you’ve never had them before. Pre-menopause symptoms worthy of a doctor’s appointment include heart palpitations, tingling in your hands or your feet, suicidal thoughts, severe headaches and fainting.

Milder Symptoms

No, it’s not hot in here and yes, it is you. Hot flashes can happen anytime, even when you are sleeping. Your face turns red; you feel as if you’ve suddenly stepped into Atlanta in August and you sweat suddenly so much that it often saturates or stains your clothes. The first ones are alarming, but after a while you get used to their length and severity and you become like people who live next to a railroad – you stop noticing the trains going by after a while. If, however, you faint or the sweats give you insomnia or panic attacks, see your doctor.

Other symptoms include sudden cravings for junk food, especially chocolate, more mood swings than usual, spotty or irregular periods, forgetfulness, feeling very tired for no reason in the afternoon, sudden inexplicable weight gain, aching joints, problems sleeping (especially waking up a lot), skin complaints (especially itchy skin, whether all over or in patches) and depression. Some women also get extremely heavy periods when they never have before, have tender, swollen breasts all of the time, and loose their sex drive. Some women feel overwhelmed and scared. Some women don’t have a darn thing happen to them.

Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One

The two major things you can do to ease the severity of pre-menopause symptoms is eat a healthy, balanced diet and exercise regularly. You can never get away from the dieting and the exercise anywhere, can you? You need more water and more calcium because your bones will be getting weaker as a side affect of less hormones. You also should cut down on caffeine, smoking, the sweetener aspartame and alcohol, which can aggravate all of these pre-menopause symptoms.

What Do I Need To Worry About Now?

Usually, you don’t need to see a doctor about pre-menopause. If you start getting some of the symptoms of menopause but still have a mostly regular period, you’ve got pre-menopause. Symptoms include hot sweats, mood swings that are stronger than usual, insomnia, a deeper voice, forgetfulness, inexplicable afternoon fatigue, an increase in tension headaches, strong cravings for sweet or fatty foods and having a drier vagina, no matter how turned on you are. You can have some symptoms or all of them. There are many websites, publications and organizations that help those with menopause. There are also free checklists of pre-menopausal symptoms to help you diagnose yourself. Checking their information about symptoms and suggestions for menopause is just as helpful for those going through pre-menopause.

Basically, what is happening to your body is that the baby-making hormones are decreasing. These hormones are estrogen, progesterone and testosterone. These hormones also affect other parts of your body. One part they assist is in keeping your bones strong. You may wish to take more calcium, whether in food or as a supplement, to help offset this side effect of pre-menopause.

If symptoms and side-effects of pre-menopause really detracts from your quality if life, then contact your doctor. He or she might be able to suggest forms of diet, exercise and medicines that can ease your symptoms.

You Are Not Alone

So you have pre-menopause. You are getting older. It’s not the end of the world. There are many online or offline menopause support groups you may want to talk to when you feel like no one could possibly understand what you are going through. Even talking to your doctor may ease your anxiety. And sharing your new pre-menopause symptoms can be a great subject of conversation with your older female relatives. They’ve gone through it – so can you.

And above all, take time every day for a good laugh!

Increased Risk Factors

After menopause, many women have an increased risk for cardiovascular disease. Because heart disease is the leading cause of death in women, you will want to do some things to reduce your risk of this potentially life-threatening condition. The first step that you can take to lower your odds for this post menopause problem is to stop smoking. You can also begin a daily exercise program, and increase the number of fruits vegetables and whole grains in your diet. By following these lifestyle changes, you can keep your blood pressure and cholesterol in check, and your risk of cardiovascular disease will remain lower as well.

Another common post menopause problem in women is osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is the condition that results from a decrease in bone density, which is a common occurrence after menopause. Osteoporosis leads to weaker bones that can break more easily, causing plenty of post menopause problems for women. You can do much to reduce your risk of osteoporosis after menopause by following a regular exercise program that includes strength training, and by taking a calcium supplement. Talk to your doctor about what type of supplement will be best for you.

Other post menopause problems can include weight gain, which is common during this time of life. To reduce your chances of gaining weight after menopause, it is a good idea to cut back on your calories by 200-400 calories each day, and increase the amount of exercise that you do. The good news is that this increase in exercise will help you to reduce the risk of other post menopause problems like heart disease and osteoporosis. It will also work wonders in controlling your mood swings during this time. Try to fit in an extra walk around the neighborhood each day, or take up a new activity like swimming or cycling.

While there are a number of post menopause problems that you need to think about as this phase of life approaches, there are many things that you can do to reduce your risk of some of these problems. If you are concerned about issues like cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis, your doctor can help you determine exactly what your risk factors are and what you can do to reduce them.

I Can’t Wait

It can be hard to tell f you’ve moved from menopause to post-menopause. The body always seems to try to surprise you. If you had a dollar for every time you heard a doctor say, “I’ve never seen this before”, you could buy your own island. Even if all of the other symptoms of menopause have gone for years – the hot flashes, the mood swings, the food cravings, the headaches, the insomnia, whatever you had — you could still have a period and still be considered menopausal.

Post-menopause begins a year after your last period. But was your last period your last period? It can be hard to tell. Was that spotting I had last month a period or something else? Unless you had a hysterectomy, it can be hard to determine when your last period was. This is normal.

The only somewhat reliable medical test to determine if you are, indeed, into post-menopause is called an FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone) level blood or urine test. This checks how much of each hormone is still left in your body. This is a controversial test as it doesn’t seem to be accurate for a lot of women, especially if they were or are still on any kind of hormone replacement therapy.

One of the big advantages of post-menopause is that it usually is no big deal when you start. It doesn’t require a huge change of lifestyle. If you’re not sure if you are still in the least bit fertile, don’t take any chances. Still use birth control.

Party On

So, you have no more eggs for babies. So what? You are still a worthwhile and valuable member of society. Many women love their post-menopause years. They have more freedom to be themselves, to pursue hobbies and volunteer work because they don’t need to worry about keeping children or a boyfriend safe. The sex drive doesn’t go entirely away during post-menopause, but your knowledge of sex leads usually to better quality sex, if less quantity. Your sex life is only a fraction of what you are.