Signs of Menopause

Are you starting menopause? Do you know the signs? Many people refer to it as symptoms, but to me that sounds like an illness or disease. Menopause is neither—although it can feel like it.

Here are some common signs that you may be entering menopause:

Irregular periods: Maybe you’ve had a normal period all your life and all of a sudden, it’s not normal anymore. It can go from being light to being extremely heavy or vice versa. Either way, changes in your menstrual cycle often indicate that you’re starting menopause.

Hot flashes: Oh there’s a fun one. Until you actually have one, you can’t imagine what it’s like. And more often than not, hot flashes are not the first signs. Changes in your monthly cycle are usually one of the first things to change, with hot flashes showing up later. When hot flashes do start, you will spend a lot of time in front of the refrigerator with the freezer door open. You will freeze out everyone in the house because you can’t get cool.

Night sweats: This isn’t an early sign for most women either, but like hot flashes, all women are different and you may very well start with hot flashes and night sweats. You’ll know it’s night sweats because, well, you’ll wake up in a sweat. I personally don’t wake up until afterwards when I get cold from being wet. For other women you may wake up sooner.

Emotional changes: People are going to love this one. Not. You can be nice one minute and irritated the next and you may very well bite someone’s head off. But, if you’re aware that your mood is changing a lot, please be kind and don’t take it out on others. They can’t help it anymore than you can and taking it out on people who are clueless is just cruel.

Vaginal dryness: It’s going to happen, you might as well get used to lubricants if you intend to have sex, or if you’re still even interested in sex. This is due to estrogen levels dropping. But luckily, it’s not the worst sign of menopause or premenopause.

Sexual desire: With all the other “new” problems we have to contend with, it looks like we could at least keep our sex drive. Not so. For many women it drops off completely, and for others it just takes longer to get them interested. If you have a loving, supportive husband—try to work with him on this. He doesn’t understand what’s going on with you and unfortunately a lot of men take this one personal—they think your sex drive gone because of something they’ve done.

Urinary woes: Expect them. Chances are you’ll have them. You may have leaking or feel like your bladder never completely empties.

Please read as much as you can on this subject because these are just the basic signs. Don’t be alarmed if you have different signs than other women; new signs that haven’t been experienced by many women. Rashes can be one of them.

Stay informed and tough it out as best you can. This won’t last forever.

Related posts:

1. Menopause: The Dreaded Word
2. Slow the Signs of Aging