Menopause

July 17, 2009

What To Expect During Menopause

Due to estrogen and progesterone levels shifting, the body experiences a lot of different symptoms. With any luck, you may have little or no difficulty with menopause. Some women get lucky and have a very easy menopause and others have a bit more trouble with much more severe symptoms.

Common signs of menopause are:

A change in the menstruation cycle is reported frequently. Regular periods becomes irregular with more or less bleeding. During menopause, periods become more irregular, sometimes periods come more frequently with break through bleeding in between actual periods.

Hot flashes are by far one of the most common symptoms of menopause. Hot flashes demonstrate with a sudden heat flushing over the torso and redness in the face and neck. You may also have hot flashes while trying to sleep and these are called night sweats. Both hot flashes and night sweats vary in severity from woman to woman, they usually disappear a few years after menopause.

Many women also have urinary tract infections, trouble holding urine and a more frequent need to go to the rest room.

Vaginal dryness is also quite common, as the tissues of the vagina become thin and less elastic, and sex can feel unpleasant. Menopause symptoms also include changes in sexual drive and desire; many women experience a sudden loss of sex drive.  For many women, losing their fertility is actually a liberating feeling and they have more sex since they don’t have to deal with the possibility of getting pregnant. One of the joys of menopause is not having a period or having to worry about getting pregnant anymore, but if you are sexually active, you should still use a condom to protect yourself against sexually transmitted diseases.

A lot of women experience general mood swings and exhaustion. Some women feel a lot more additional stress and anxiety. Women in menopause also tend to get easily tired, sometimes having major fatigue. A full eight hours of sleep many be tough to get because of night sweats and a lot of women report feeling tired.

Another symptom of menopause is changes in weight; in some cases the midsection may become thicker, while fat levels tend to increase. Skin begins to lose some of its elasticity. You will have to work a little harder at staying fit as the body’s metabolism changes a little, it becomes harder to lose weight.

During menopause, many women get heart palpitations or irregular beating, this is commonly a short term symptom. In some cases though these symptoms may mimic symptoms of other diseases, therefore you should consult with an expert to avoid complications and additional problems.

Each woman will experience menopause differently. One thing to keep in mind is that menopause has been experienced by millions of women throughout history and, if you can control your symptoms, you too will survive if you can maintain a sense of humor about it. The best thing to do for yourself during menopause is to just take extra good care of yourself. Sometimes it’s the easiest things that work the best. Things like reducing your stress levels, getting sleep, and exercising, all these will make your transition through menopause much easier.

 

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July 7, 2009

Changes to Expect and Do After Menopause

Usually at the age of as early as the late 30’s to the late 50’s, women are prone to having their reproductive capabilities checked and halted with the onset of menopause. During this time, certain changes both internal and external occur both for the body and mind. Women are subjected to mood swings brought about by the fluctuating hormonal levels in the body. Coping strategies are compromised because of both lowered estrogen levels and altered feedback mechanisms.

Easier said than done, coping with it and having some tips on how to handle them may help one enjoy living through this stage in life without much complications.

Learn To Accept First

The very first thing that anyone should do is to learn to accept that having menopause occur to the self is a natural thing. Even if the normal norm for such a stimulus would be to deny then accept things, any woman has a lot of time to deny during normal reproductive days. By having to formally accept that this stage is bound to happen, the mind would be set to anticipate things associated with it such as the different signs and symptoms evident.

Being in this stage is not that difficult and worrisome as most people would say. Simply put, this stage is when the body just steps down in being a reproductive existence. The stage of productivity was during the long years of menstrual cycles. At this stage of non productivity, women should then focus more on late stage parenthood rather than on the self. It may be easier said than done, but then again, there are different ways to take the mind off these troubling thoughts.

Disengage To Engage

One of the hardest things for any woman to do during an onset of signs and symptoms of menopause is to disengage from the thought of having to deal with them. Practicing the attitude of quickly disengaging with the perceived symptoms would be good, but having something else to engage in would be better.

Diversionary tactics such as being engrossed in hobbies and anything that catches the fancy of each individual undergoing different menopausal symptom is a good and highly successful way of alleviating the current discomfort.

Practicing may take some time and may be frustrating at times. However, it would be nice to have the support of the family in helping out with this challenge, or perhaps an emotional support group of other women having the same trials to cope up with.

This stage in life is something that should not be totally dismissed and ignored during early life. Women of younger generations should find themselves fortunate enough that many studies and researches have been allocated to understanding this phenomenon, and have come up with ways on helping deal with them.

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Benefits of Hormone Supplementation on Women in Menopause

Women in perimenopausal stages may seek out the help and advices of doctors in preparation with the upcoming menopause. More often than not, a preemptive means of trying to address the issue of an imminent change in a woman’s life may be in the form of birth control pills. This method is usually utilized because the pills have hormones in them which may help in the overall reproductive process of a woman about to undergo menopausal syndrome. It is believed and tried that these pills help alleviate the occurrence of hot flashes, and reduces the risk of ovarian cancer and the uterus.

Encounter And Onset

As soon as the main stage occurs, women are subjected to a gradual diminishing amount of estrogen and progesterone. The real stage does not occur and may only be considered after a full year after the last known menstruation. During this stage, the reproductive cycle has totally ceased to be susceptible for production, uterine muscles shrink, and lubrication and protection for the vagina and internal areas are compromised. Any woman having this menopausal stage may experience amplified hot flashes, sleep disturbances, mood swings, and occasional discomfort.

At this time, it would be wise to seek the help of the doctor on alternative ways of trying to replace the lost hormones to achieve an optimal level for easier internal system functionality.

Hormonal Replacement Therapy

Hormone replacement therapy or HRT is an alternative solution given by doctors to women having menopause. The concept is simple in a way that estrogen and progesterone are reintroduced to the body as part of regaining the levels to what it was before. Much easier said than done, this method has met many criticisms and counter productive studies which say that this method is quite dangerous and potentially fatal.

However, much debate has been done over the past years since HRT became a known medical intervention for women of menopausal stage. There are synthetic and natural hormone replacements for estrogen and progesterone. Like any other drug, there are pros and cons.

The Benefits Of Replacement

The body is able to cope up with different stimuli and reacts in different manners. Nevertheless, it may be a good idea to consider taking HRT to lessen the complications associated with it and focus more on the other lifestyle changes to be coped up with.

During the first few years of menopause, it may be alright to use HRT to regulate the symptoms associated with it. With the sound advice and proper medication regimen, symptoms would be brought down to a minimum. However, it is advisable to slowly have HRT regimen lowered until to a complete stop until the body is able to fully cope up with all symptoms effectively.

Remember that artificial replacement of hormones is still different from the originally produced ones. Having a dependence on it may produce unexpected results or erratic body reactions if given for a very long time.

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Coping With Menopause - Adapting With the Changes For a Better You

There are two ways to deal with menopause — one is to ask your health care provider to offer you hormone treatments and therapies to alleviate some of the signs and symptoms attributed to this condition. The other is through natural treatment methods that helps you accept and deal with the problem and integrate it as your own to start a new life after this process has passed.

Medical or Natural Treatment Method

Many consider the medical or synthetic method in alleviating the pangs of menopausal signs and symptoms to be a hindrance to the grown of an average female psyche. Keep in mind that pre-menopausal signs are said to be mild compared to the full effects when the real deal comes along. Not adapting to the condition will only make it hard for you to accept, as well as bearing the burdens later on.

The natural treatment method is considered to be purely mental rather than opting for synthetic strategies. It helps women accept the assorted effects of menopause and dealing with it thoroughly using their own capabilities. Though there are herbal supplements that help deal with other discomforts, such as hair loss, weight loss or weight gain, vaginal dryness, and sleeping disorders; the emotional aspect is dealt with using your own capabilities.

Dealing With Emotional Problems

A physical burden that comes with menopause is quite easy to deal with, but the emotional problem that is attributed to it is another matter entirely. One way to cope is to accept that it is coming; understand that you will undergo sudden bouts of sadness, anxiety attacks, irritability, unexplained anger, and depression. Knowing this in advance will help you formulate ideas to help you handle it when it comes up.

For starters, women are advised to look for an outlet for their emotional stress. Venting out unexplained anger and irritability to your friends and families is not a positive approach to this problem. Physical exercise helps a lot since your thoughts is diverted to sweating out your problems than experience it while doing nothing. Calming exercises also helps as well, such as meditation, Yoga, and Pilates.

It is also a good idea to start squeezing out your creative juices and push out your anger and irritability to more productive use. Get in touch with your artistic side by doing home improvement projects, cleaning house, doing laundry, practice your cooking skills, or even spend some time out with your friends to do window shopping — the point here is to avoid going down the wrong path of wallowing in depression but using your pent-up energy for a more productive results.

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July 6, 2009

When Menopause Strikes - Distinguishing the Signs and Symptoms

There are many thoughts that come into play when the term menopause is stated. Many misconceptions and errors regarding the facts supporting the whole idea of this stage in a woman’s life are being entertained as valid facts and figures. These may ultimately mislead women into the wrong way of thinking about this phenomenon, and actually may have biases prior to the actual event.

Physiological Alterations

The actual phenomenon is only considered as such after a full year of the last menstrual period. At this time, it would then be safe to determine that there has been a consistent alteration in the reproductive system in which the capability to produce and support life through conception.

There are several signs and symptoms which would indicate that the fateful day is fast approaching.

Bleeding Duration And Frequency

Probably the most common sign to look out for in an upcoming menopause is to check for the bleeding pattern of menstruation. A persistent irregularity in menstrual pattern from a previously regular interval and duration is a strong indicator that the person is on her way to being in that stage. Some bleeding patterns include episodes of excessive bleeding, bleeding between periods, and decreased bleeding output.

Hot Flashes And Chills

Another common pre emptive symptom is the mild hot flashes. Unlike the full blown hot flashes experienced once it has fully set in, these mild hot flashes are slight feelings of internal warmth originating from any part of the body, and are potentially spread to nearby body areas. Furthermore, another difference would be that the duration of such sensation occurs only from a few seconds to a few minutes as opposed to several minutes. Chills, which occur after the main episode of a full blown hot flash, are not expected to be present during the preemptive stage’s similar symptom.

Reproductive System Slowdown

Vaginal changes are becoming more and more evident as one reaches menopause. For one, the changes in hormonal levels at this stage are altered. One of the most important hormones responsible for a sound menstruation is Estrogen. Since its production is significantly lessened, the activity of the reproductive organs such as the uterus, ovaries and the vagina are allocated with less focus. This in turn would cause the uterus to shrink a bit in size, the ovaries to stop working and producing egg cells, and the vagina having a harder time producing lubrication.

There are other symptoms which may also occur such as bone loss, increased cholesterol levels, weight gain, and the popular mood changes. However, these are not directly and solely linked to this condition, and are considered to be more of lifestyle related outcomes.

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July 5, 2009

Menopause and Sex - Why Do You Lose Interest in Sex During Menopause?

All women suffer from changes in their sexual patterns when under menopause. There is no way to avoid it and understanding what they are going through helps eliminate potential conflicts that can become a threat to the relationship. Keep in mind, however, that some women might find this new inability as an advantage and refrain from resorting to treatment to counter this symptom.

Less Sexual Activity

One thing we should know about menopausal women is that they show less sexual advances as compared to before they reach the condition. Estrogen is one of the hormones produced in a woman’s body that maintains the health of your reproductive system — like your vagina, as well as making sure that your sexual interest is at its peak. Once the level drops, then you can be sure that their interest towards sexual intercourse drops as well.

The hormonal imbalance caused by the gradual decline of their reproductive system results to a decrease in their libido that makes them less enthusiastic to sexual intercourse. This doesn’t mean that they are unable to have sex; it’s just that it harder for menopausal women to reach a climax or find the drive to go into a satisfactory orgasm.

Menopausal women are also prone to sudden weakness or fatigue that also comes with the hormonal imbalance in their system. Let’s face it; it wouldn’t be much fun to have sex when you’re body is dead tired.

The Pain Involved

Women under menopause might encounter some pain and bleeding during sexual intercourse, which may be one reason why they try their best to stay away from the activity. Decrease in estrogen levels causes the vagina to dry up and become less lubricated that might cause lacerations which can be very painful during intercourse. After all, who can enjoy a good sexual activity when things start to become painful?

Emotional Changes

Menopause women are always under emotional stress, experiencing sudden bouts of sadness, anxiety attacks, depression, anger, and the likes. It is quite possible that men who are making sexual advances to their partners might encounter animosity or irritability that might make them think that they don’t love you anymore.

Keep in mind that it is hard to concentrate with sex when you are depressed or sad about something that you can’t explain. It might take a while for your female partner to rise above the emotions, but you need to understand that their conscious mind is dominated by their emotional experience due to the condition and your drive to win them over to your way of thinking might only make things worst.

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Understanding Menopause - Symptoms You Should Know About

Understanding menopause is one way to prepare for the discomfort and agony that most women face. Knowing in advance the signs and symptoms that is related to this condition will help you prepare for the worst, as well as making sure that everyone around you knows what you will be going through when it arrives.

Physical Change

Women undergo physical and emotional change when they are under the throes of menopausal. Not all, however, suffer the same thing and may vary depending on how their bodies adapt to the hormonal imbalance that comes with the condition.

For starters, menopausal women may suffer from skin dryness and hair loss. Most, however, are known to experience weight gain as their metabolism slows down or indulge in food just to keep their emotional discomforts in check. Some women might suffer from weight loss, but most find this an advantage than not.

Also, women under the menopausal stage might have sleeping problems as their body clock change due to their hormonal imbalance. Weakness and fatigue might cause them to sleep early during the day and stay up and awake at night.

Emotional Problems

Menopausal women are also known to experience emotional and behavioral changes — both to their discomfort, as well as to those around them. These women may experience sudden bouts of unexplained sadness, extreme anxiety attacks, and depression.

Women under menopause might get angry on the simplest of pretext or show irritability to almost everything they see or hear. This can be very inconvenient to your partners, family members, or even friends — but knowing these in advance help brings understanding when you’re showing the symptom, as well as making sure that you’re not putting yourself at risk with sudden suicidal impulses that is usually a result of these negative emotions.

Changes to Your Sexual Behavior

Women, as well as their partners, might experience some change to their sexual behaviors when under the throes of menopause. They might be afraid to have an intercourse with their partner considering that it is going to be very painful — hormonal imbalance might result to the vagina being less lubricated and make it prone to laceration and bleeding. Other sexual changes might include low libido, as well as the inability to reach an orgasm.

Precautions:

Women are advised to seek the aid of their health care provider to make the condition more bearable and painless as possible. There are certain methods to counter some of the common signs and symptoms, such as moisturizing creams to counteract dryness, herbal supplements to help you relax or to normalize metabolism, sleeping pills to help you sleep, and so on.

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When Menopause Starts - So Does Your Life Begin

Women should do well to educate themselves in menopause to know all about the signs and symptoms that come with it, as well as the discomfort and pain that is attributed to this condition. Since there is no way for you to avoid this hurdle in your life, the only way you can do is to arm yourself with the knowledge on how to live with it.

Simple Facts

Menopause starts when you reach the age between 40 and 60. The signs and symptoms are different for each individual which solely depends on how their body can adapt to these changes. This condition happens when the female reproductive system gradually slows down until it no longer functions. The process lasts for 12 months.

Women will be experiencing various signs and symptoms as they go through perimenopausal and the actual menopausal stage. Some of these symptoms can be considered as a minor irritation but sometimes can be very uncomfortable or painful. Knowing what will happen to your body during this condition will help you take the necessary steps to make it more tolerable and painless as possible.

The Changes That Comes To Your Life

Women should understand that the signs and symptoms of menopause is a one-time deal. The condition only happens once when you reach a certain age and you’re free from it forever. There will be quite a few changes to your body — physically, emotionally, and sexually; and knowing in advance these changes will help you cope with the stress that comes with it.

The hormonal imbalance that comes with the gradual shutdown of your reproductive systems does some abnormal changes to your body — especially on your mental and emotional capacity. Women who are under the throes of menopausal are known to suffer from memory loss and lack of concentration — far from amnesia, women become forgetful or spacing out in the middle of conversation without them knowing about it.

Emotional change is very noticeable as well. Women under this condition are prone to suffer from anxiety attacks, sudden bouts of sadness, irritability, unexplained anger, and depression. In most cases, women become a risk to themselves, as well as to those around them at this point in time.

There were instances wherein menopausal women become suicidal when they cannot explain why they are having these emotional changes and known to become violent to anyone in the vicinity.

A woman’s sexual behavior also changes when under menopause. They show less enthusiasm to the activity due to a drastic decrease in their libido and having a hard time reaching their climax during intercourse. Partners are advised to understand that this phase is temporary to avoid misunderstanding and ruining the relationship.

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Signs of Menopause - Knowing When it Happens

Every women will eventually enter menopause, especially when the reach the age of 40 and above. There is nothing you can do to avoid it so you might as well know its effects so that you can find ways to counter or cope with them. Here are some of the signs and symptoms attributed to this condition.

Hot Flashes and Emotional Change

One of the most common signs of women going into menopausal is hot flashes. Women tend to go into extended period of blushing, like feeling warm all over with no reason at all, ranging from a full minute to an hour. This is one reason why some women sweat a lot when in this condition.

Women under the menopausal stage suffer from emotional and physical changes. The drastic fluctuation in a woman’s estrogen levels tends to affect their mood, as well as their physical outlook so it shouldn’t be a surprise when you change into another person when under this condition.

Mood swings, anxiety, and depression are common emotional changes that everyone should look out for. This might not look like a big risk, but may eventually become one when proper steps are not taken. Menopausal women suffer from sadness that eventually leads to extreme depression or anxiety attacks.

Changes in Sexual Behavior

Menopause can also affect a woman’s sexual behavior. The dryness that is often attributed to this condition might cause the vagina to be less lubricated which makes sexual intercourse more painful than normal. There were even cases that woman find it hard to go into orgasm even when the intercourse has reached its peak.

Men have also observed menopausal women to be less interested in sex than normal. This is one reason why there have been plenty of cases of cheating when their wives are at this phase of their life However, this can be easily avoided when information about the condition is known before the onset of the period.

Change in Sleeping Patterns

Aside from the physical and emotional change brought upon by menopause, there is also the problem of changes in sleeping patterns that many find to be annoying. Imagine your body clock perpetually changing — like getting sleep in the middle of the day and wide awake at night even when you want to get a good night’s rest.

One of the reasons that brought about the change in sleeping patterns is the way your body becomes tired or weak when under this condition. Decrease in estrogen levels is said to contribute to this factor that affects sleep — one minute you’re up and active, but down tired the next; though it is quite possible to counter this condition with a healthy dose of exercise, prescription drugs, or even herbal supplements that helps you sleep if you’re desperate to get a good night’s rest.

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July 4, 2009

Menopause Facts - Is it Same in All Women?

What All Women Have To Go Through

All women who go into menopausal all suffer from hot flashes and mood swings. The decrease in estrogen production during this condition causes hormonal imbalance that makes their body go haywire. Hot flashes happen when the entire body starts to warm up without any particular reason, same as you would feel when you blush. Associated with the increase in body temperate is night sweats — sweating profusely even on cold nights.

Emotional imbalance is observed on women who are under menopause — sudden bout of sadness, anxiety attack, irritability, anger, and even depression. But aside from being a danger to their own, menopausal women might also become a trigger for problems with their friends and families. Erratic mood swings may cause conflict, or even destroy a relationship if not tightly controlled or when both parties are not informed properly of this condition.

Women might also experience some changes to their sexual behaviors as well. Low libido might cause their sexual capacity to decline, as well as dryness to their vagina causing too much pain during intercourse. There is a possibility that they will shy away from the activity in the future. There were also cases that women have problems reaching orgasm even when the intercourse is dragged on for a long time.

Possible Signs and Symptoms

Now there are some signs and symptoms of menopause that only some women go through during the condition; one example is hair loss. There are some women who are losing hair as they experience this stage of their life. This might entail only a few strands of hairs for some, but there might be others who are losing hair faster than they grow them.

Aside from hair loss, weight gain may also be observed on some menopausal women. Some may not have sufficient explanation as to why their waistline is increasing, but there were cases that excessive eating is seen on some women who find comfort in food when experiencing mood swings attributed to this condition.

Bleeding may also become a problem as well. Dryness on the vagina might cause it to lacerate and bleed during and after intercourse. There might be some bleeding involved but there were cases of urinary tract of yeast infection when left unchecked. It is advisable for these women to visit their doctor or health care expert to determine the exact cause of the problem and have it treated before it gets any worst.

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