Menopause Signs Symptoms

If you are a woman in her late 40s or early 50s and have begun to notice changes in your body, chances are that you are seeing signs of menopause. Generally, the first thing a woman will notice is that her normal menstrual cycle is irregular. Then, this could be followed by a number of other signs to include problems sleeping, joint aches and pains, headaches, vaginal dryness, thinning or unwanted hair, hot flashes, night sweats, and probably the worst of all symptoms, psychological changes. With this, you typically notice an increased level of irritability, difficulty with concentration, moodiness, and a lack of motivation. To understand each of these signs of menopause, we have broken them down in greater detail.

With the change in monthly cycle, any number of things could happen. For example, light bleeding, heavy bleeding, or light and heavy mixed, longer time between cycle, and even cycles that last longer than 10 days are all common. Disruption of sleep is a common sign of menopause that can leave the woman feeling fatigued and weak. This too varies from trouble getting to sleep, waking early, or waking and then not being able to get back to sleep. Hot flashes are annoying and can be overwhelming at times. These menopause signs symptoms are some of the major complaints made by women.

In fact, it is estimated that 80% of all women going through menopause experience hot flashes. The sensation is as though just stepping into a furnace, affecting the chest, upper back, arms, and face. Sometimes, red splotches can accompany the hot flash. This coupled with heavy sweating is common, usually lasting anywhere from 30 seconds to five minutes.

As a woman ages, her physical makeup changes, meaning that body tissue found in the genital area thins and becomes dry caused by lower estrogen levels. Because of this, sexual intercourse can be very uncomfortable. During menopause a woman will also battle more often with vaginal infection as well as incontinence, meaning the bladder is not working as well as normal. With this sign of menopause, coughing, sneezing, lifting heavy objects, extensive walking, or even heavy laughter can cause slight to heavy leakage. If a woman has trouble with this or any symptoms, she should work with her doctor to find the right treatment. The last symptom tends to disrupt normal life more than any other - psychological changes. Women typically become moody, depressed, and irritable for no reason whatsoever. She will often become angry, sulky, or start to cry out of the blue. Again, a gynecologist can recommend the proper treatment to make every symptom better.