Menopause
Menopause As women, we all know that at some point, we will stop undergoing menstruation. This process has been scientifically coined as menopause. However, what exactly happens during menopause, and when does it begin?
Menopause occurs when the ovaries stop producing the high levels of female reproductive hormones needed to release an egg and prepare the body for pregnancy. The main hormone that sees a major shift is estrogen.
As estrogen levels begin to drop off, you may experience irregular periods, which will eventually cease to exist all together. This process is broken up into 3 main stages.
3 STAGES OF MENOPAUSE
- Perimenopause is the first stage of menopause and can occur up to 10 years before a woman undergoes menopause itself. Oftentimes, women will begin to notice slight changes in their body due to hormonal shifts during perimenopause.
- Next comes menopause, the time where a woman’s body stops having a monthly period. Since everyone is different, some women may not notice any changes in her body; however, others may experience drastic symptoms, such as a decrease in metabolism, libido, and energy.
- The final stage women enter is postmenopause, which is marked by when a woman has gone over a year without a period.
when does menopause occur?
Many believe that menopause occurs in women around the age of 50 – causing emotional and physical discomfort – and then vanishes after a couple of years, leaving women period-free and feeling aged.
In reality, it is not that straightforward. In fact, menopause can happen in a woman’s 40s or 50s, with the average menopausal age being 51. Meanwhile, perimenopause can begin anywhere between the mid-30s to the mid-40s.
So, how can you tell if you are going through menopause?
common menopause symptoms in women
Typically, menopause is accomplished when a woman does not have a period for 12 consecutive months. In other words, you can feel confident that you have reached menopause if you are period-free for a full year.
During this time, you may begin to experience negative symptoms that indicate you are undergoing perimenopause and menopause. These symptoms include:
- Weight gain
- Reduced libido
- Moodiness
- Post-Menstrual Syndrome
- Sleep Issues
- Sexual dysfunction
- Hot flashes
- Loss of memory
- Thinning hair and dry skin
- Here’s the good news: since many of these symptoms are caused by the gradual shift of hormones in your body, Integrative Wellness has the ability to restore these hormones and balance your body through a treatment called bio-identical hormone replacement therapy.