The peri-menopause is
the stage in a woman’s life when she begins the long journey into the
menopause. The menopause is also called the transition or the change of life.
The peri-menopause ,
when the production of the female hormones estrogen and progesterone
begins to decline starts from the age of forty and can last for as short as 5
years or as long as 10 years. Though the menopause is a new phase in a woman’s
life and every woman should look forward to it, the perimenopause however is something else because it comes
with a lot of symptoms that could be
both disturbing and debilitating if not
well managed.
Some of the symptoms associated with the perimenopause are
well known, such as the irregular or missed periods, hot flushes, vaginal
dryness, and mood changes. Many of these symptoms are however not common and
will come as a surprise to even women themselves.
Symptoms of the Peri-menopause
·
Irregular/missed periods
The pattern of your menstrual circle
changes so that your circle becomes shorter
or longer, lighter or heavier, longer in duration or shorter than it had
previously been.
·
Women with uterine fibroid may experience
increased bleeding, and may feel as if she may hemorrhage to death.
·
Hot flushes
This is an outbreak of sudden heat with
sweating. This may be mild for some women and severe for others.
·
Dizziness
This is a feeling of lightheadedness and
loss of physical balance. You might even
wobble at times and will have to pause your movement to prevent yourself from
falling.
·
Vaginal dryness
Irritation of the vagina, as well as a
consistent unusual discharge which is odor
free.
·
You may feel a bit spastic, clumsy, awkward and
less graceful.
·
Any chronic illness or condition you had before
may become exacerbated as your hormones decline or deviate from their normal
balance.
·
Insomania, difficulty falling asleep, and
dropping off to sleep for a few hours and then awakening and finding it
difficult to fall back to sleep.
·
Lethargy
This is a persistent feeling of
sluggishness that does not allow you to do much.
·
Physical Exhaustion
Very terrible fatigue that can come on you
suddenly and grips you, so that you feel you might collapse.
·
If you are a woman in your forties and you suffer
splitting headaches, it could be a sign you are in perimenopause.
Headaches, migraines may become debilitating before, during or at the end of
your menses.
·
Snoring
Many
women start snoring more seriously in perimenopause and
once they hit the change of life. The
onset of snoring is partly due to
falling levels of female sex hormone oestrogen which plays a role in keeping
the muscles and soft tissues around the windpipe strong. When these be come
more lax, the tissues collapse and women start snoring.
·
You have trouble remembering things even when
your other thought processes remain as strong as ever. When estrogen levels
fall, it is more difficult to build connections between brain cells and to
store and recall things.
·
Scalding feeling on the lips, gums, tongue, or
other parts of the mouth. Oestrogen’s
effect on the nerves that control taste causes the burning mouth
syndrome which is a type of mouth discomfort, as well as having a metallic
taste in the mouth.
·
Your orgasms are less intense
When oestrogen levels start to fall during
the perimenopause, the blood supply to the genital area also diminish, making
for less powerful orgasms. The tissues
and muscles around the clitoris become weaker, making orgasms harder to achieve
and shorter in duration.
·
Formication
This is a feeling or sensation that ants
are crawling all over the body, or an itchy skin attack. This tingling is
caused by zig-zagging oestrogen levels affecting receptors in the skin’s nerve
endings.
·
Night sweats
This may occur a couple of days before the
menses. A woman wakes up from sleep to find herself drenched in sweat.
·
Inability to recall dreams.
·
Low progesterone level causes cramps on th leg, back, neck, or any part of the body.
·
Low hormone level brings on low back ache which
worsens before or during the menstrual period.
·
Your inability to sleep may be as a result of
nightmares, night sweats, or just from pure restlessness which keeps you awake.
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