Women experience multiple signs and symptoms of menopause after an age. Each woman will have different combinations of symptoms and also, they may vary in intensity and duration and impact on her health. The degree and type of symptoms also vary across the world depending on race and ethnicity.
Some women may have no symptoms and are actually in a comfortable zone in midlife, while others have mild symptoms that do not need any medical treatment besides lifestyle measures. But there will be some women who have severe symptoms that impact their daily routine and require medical help.
Some common signs and symptoms of menopause and some are a part of aging:
Periods
The ovary is gradually depleted of the follicles. Therefore, the periods become irregular. They may become gradually less in duration, frequency and quantity. But for some, they are frequently erratic and heavy causing anemia.
Hot Flashes
Many women have hot flashes, which may last from a few months to a few years after menopause. They occur due to changing estrogen levels in the body which affects the thermoregulatory system.
A hot flash is a sudden feeling of a heatwave which starts in the core of the body and moves towards the head and is followed by a flushing of the face and upper body and then breaks into a sweat.
It can last from few seconds to few minutes. They can occur at any time of the day but are more common at night. It can be severe enough to break the sleep thus leading to sleepless nights, tiredness and drowsiness the next day.
Sleep Disturbance
Some women have difficulty in falling asleep, or they wake up early or they may have disturbed on-off sleep. Hot flashes may also contribute to disturbed sleep.
Read More about Menopause and Sleep
Mood Swings
Some women feel irritable, depressed and may have crying spells. They may have low self-esteem and feel the loss of feminity. These symptoms may be due to a lack of estrogen or circumstantial (social factors) or multiple factors playing a role together.
Vaginal Dryness
The vagina becomes very dry due to a lack of estrogen. This can lead to severe pain during sex. Women then tend to avoid sex.
Sex
Menopause may affect an interest in sex. Some women feel free from the stress of getting pregnant and are therefore able to enjoy sex, whereas some have a loss of interest in sex. For some, the vaginal dryness becomes a very important limiting factor in enjoying sex.
Urinary Issues
Some women have multiple urinary symptoms like frequency, urgency, difficulty in holding the urine, and leaking of urine while coughing, sneezing, bending or during activities that increase the intra-abdominal pressures.
There are other changes such as absent-mindedness, drooping of the breasts and skin in general, a shift of fat on the abdomen and back. These may be part of aging and lack of hormones probably contribute.
For more details on how Dr. Sangeeta Agrawal can manage your menopause better, please write to us.
