What is meno-pause?
Menopause occurs naturally when your ovaries stop producing estrogen. This can also occur due to medical or surgical conditions, such as removal of your ovaries (oophorectomy) with or without the removal of your uterus (hysterectomy), due to chemotherapy or pelvic radiation, or some medications. If someone transitions from female-to-male sex using hormones or other medications and/or surgery, they will also experience menopause.
Menopause is clinically diagnosed as 12 months without a period (when it occurs naturally). There are no blood, saliva or urine tests that can predict when you will complete the menopause transition, nor any testing that will predict what symptoms you experience or how severe/frequent those symptoms will be.
The time leading up to your Final Menstrual Period (FMP), often marked by irregular periods and symptoms such as hot flashes/nights sweats (AKA “Vasomotor Symptoms” or “VMS”) is known as perimenopause.
Perimenopause can last up to ten years in some women.
When does menopause happen?
The average age in developed countries of menopause is 51, but keep in mind this is the average, meaning some women will complete their menopause transition much later or much sooner. If menopause occurs prior to age 40, it is known as “Premature Ovarian Insufficiency”. If it occurs ages 40-45, then is is known as “early menopause.”
“Menopause is not the end; it’s a new beginning.”
What are the symptoms of menopause?
Symptoms of menopause may occur anywhere in the body or brain, because women have estrogen receptors throughout their bodies. There are 34 officially recognized symptoms of menopause, though some studies quote up to 70! Click below for more information on some of the most common complaints during peri/menopause.
