Menopause
Learn about Menopause
If you are reading this guide it is likely you, or someone you know are affected in some way by menopausal symptoms. You are not alone. Until recently, when celebrities like Davina McCall, Cameron Diaz and Gillian Anderson started speaking out about their experiences, menopause was often hidden. Yet, evidence suggests 80% of individuals experience negative symptoms during menopause.
You might be suffering greatly, or perhaps you’ve just started noticing a few changes. Everyone’s experience is different – both physically and mentally. The most commonly known symptoms are hot flushes, memory loss, brain fog, anger issues, fatigue, aches and pains. However, people have reported up to 40 or 50 symptoms.
Fluctuating hormones are the cause of all these symptoms, but help is available. Finding ways to rebalance your hormones will help you take back control of your life. Given increases in life expectancy people can expect to spend at least a third of their life being ‘menopausal’, so it’s really worth getting the help you need. Despite what you might fear menopause can be the start of some of the best and most powerful years of your life.
What is Happening?
You may not have given your hormones a second’s thought before, but given the rollercoaster you are on right now, it’s worth understanding what’s going on chemically inside you and the impact it’s having. Progesterone levels fall rapidly as you stop ovulating as regularly. Although oestrogen is likely decreasing too, it’s falling slower, meaning you can become oestrogen dominant (that’s a ratio of too much oestrogen to progesterone).
This is usually what’s behind many of the typical symptoms experienced during the transition to menopause. The stress hormone cortisol can also increase (particularly if you are used to spinning too many plates) making sleep more difficult and leading to weight gain.
The thyroid comes under increased pressure, and lower levels of thyroid hormones can bring mood changes, weight increases, constipation and a sluggish feeling.
Your hormones work together and when one or more is out of kilter, there is an effect on the others too.
Menopausal Facts
The term ‘menopause’ is technically the day that you have not had a period for 12 months. However, we use this term to describe the entire period of peri-menopause. This can last anything from two to ten years and is the stage that most individuals struggle with menopause symptoms. The average age of menopause is 51.
Women’s experiences vary wildly and from country to country. For example, hot sweats are very common in the West, but very few Japanese individuals experience them. Or, as previously mentioned, there is no word for menopause in Bangladeshi.
The age your mother was when she reached menopause, can indicate when you might do so, but it won’t necessarily tell you about the symptoms you might experience or the severity of them.
Your health is no longer something you can just take for granted, but you do have some control over managing symptoms. It’s all about making some changes to your diet, stepping up your self-care and taking actions to reduce stress, and moving gently.
Symptoms
| Night sweats |
| Erratic menstrual cycle |
| Stubborn weight gain (particularly around the middle) |
| Insomnia |
| Bloating |
| Cravings |
| Headache/migraines |
| Overwhelm |
| Joint pain |
| Fatigue |
| Irritability |
| Mood swings |
| Anxiety |
| Depression |
| Brain fog |
| Poor memory |
| Loss of sex drive |
| Vaginal dryness |
| Ageing skin (and hair) |
Taken from the NICE guidelines (National Institute for Health & Care Excellence)
If menopausal symptoms are affecting you day-to-day life, you should see your GP. Your GP should be able to tell you if you are perimenopause or menopause based on your age, symptoms and how often you have periods, so you are unlikely to need tests. You may be offered a blood test if you are between 40-45, have symptoms, including changes in you menstrual cycle. The blood test measures a hormone called FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone). FSH is found in higher levels of menopause.