Many women still remain in the dark about the details of menopause. One survey, for example, found that most women think the average woman experiences menopause at age 45, when the actual average age is between 50 and 51. Also, most women significantly overestimate the length of time the average woman experiences hot flashes, believing it to be five years rather than two.
Although most women experience similar symptoms of menopause, not every woman experiences all the symptoms. Some women may have frustrating symptoms that start during perimenopause and continue once they have reached menopause. Hot flashes have become the hallmark symptom of menopause. Hot flashes are a feeling of sudden flush or warmth, often followed by sweating. They can cause serious discomfort and sleepless nights for some women.
Other symptoms that can start in perimenopause, but also might continue once you reach menopause include:
1. Bouts of rapid heart beat (Palpitations).
2. Vaginal Dryness.
3. Bladder Control Problems.
4. Breast Tenderness.
5. Sore Joints/Muscles.
6. Headache increase or decrease.
7. Weight Gain (especially around your waist and abdomen).
8. Irritability.
9. Mood swings.
10. Irregular Periods (changes in frequency, duration, skipped periods, phantom periods etc.).
11. Loss of libido.
12. Insomnia/Disrupted Sleep.
13. Unreasonable fatigue.
14. Feelings of dread, apprehension, or doom.
15. Anxiety.
16. Depression.
17. Difficulty concentrating, disorientation, mental confusion.
18. Increased memory lapses.
19. Tingling or itchy skin.
20. Gastrointestinal distress (including indigestion, flatulence, gas pain and nausea).
21. Bloating.
22. Exacerbation of existing conditions.
23. Increase in allergies.
24. Hair loss or thinning (anywhere on the body).
25. Increase in facial hair.
26. Dizziness/lightheadedness, loss of balance.
27. Changes in body odor.
28. Electric shock sensation under the skin and in the head.
29. "Buzzing" in your head, ringing in ears (Tinnitus).
30. Tingling in the extremities.
31. Dry Mouth and Other Oral Symptoms (gum bleeding, bad taste in mouth, change in breath odor).
32. Changes in fingernails (softer, crack or break easier).
33. Skin Changes (dryness, thinning look).
34. Osteoporosis.
35. Water retention (swollen ankles or feet).
36. Blood sugar imbalance.
37. Fibrocystic breasts.
38. Uterine fibroids.
39. Hypothyroidism.
40. Infertility.
"Spotting" and abnormal bleeding (although this is common in perimenopause), once you've reached menopause you should be reported to your physician to rule out serious causes, such as cancer.
There's no way of predicting exactly when your menopause will occur. In other words, each of us has an internal biological timer that is programmed before birth to set off the hormonal events that trigger both the start and the end of menstruation. It seems most likely that our individual genes determine the age at which we experience menopause.
What you should do is not being stressed out about it. Just be prepared and stop worrying too much.
