Menopause

This is something different than the normal for me to write about, but I think that Women's Health is important.  As Women, we often take care of everyone but ourselves, and that should change.  We need to know our body's and be educated on what happens as we change/age.

What is Menopause?

Sadly, I had to look up the definition for this one because although I know a little about it, I didn't know enough, and wanted to assure the information I was providing was accurate!  When I searched Google for the definition of Menopause, this is what I got...

men·o·pause

ˈmenəˌpôz/

noun

1. the ceasing of menstruation.

   • the period in a woman's life (typically between 45 and 50 years of age) when this occurs.

Menopause is something that I have been giving a lot of thought to lately, and discussed it a little bit with my mom and aunt whom have experienced it (both a little differently though, surprisingly).  My aunt said that she never had the hot flashes until she had had stopped her menstrual cycle for years, yet my mom said she had them from day one; and my aunt expressed how she never had the mood-swings and irritability that so many others had told her about.  Personally, I always thought that menopause was losing your period and having hot flashes, not much more; but I was wrong!!

When do Women usually go through Menopause?

After researching this on many websites, it appears that the normal age is around 45, but can start years before or could be older as well depending on a few things in family and medical histories.

I read one article (sorry, can't remember where) that said the age our mother's went through menopause had a lot of barring on the age we do; and that smoking and other unhealthy habits could bring it earlier as well...

I didn't really like reading that considering that my mom and her sister went through menopause at the age of 42; and I am over weight & smoke... which means, if this is fact, that I could be experiencing this sooner than I thought, since I am already 38.. and notice that many of the symptoms listed for this are things I am already seeing.

Symptoms of Menopause

There are more symptoms than I ever knew for Menopause! I want to list/discuss a few of them (you can get the whole list and details in the PDF file linked in this post).

• Menstrual Cycle Stopped
• Hot Flashes
• Lack of Sleep: This can be caused by the hot flashes, anxiety, being wide awake, etc.   
• Hair:  Being dry or losing it.
• Intimacy:  Sex Drive can slow down, pain during intercourse, dryness, etc. 
• Mood:  Being moody, sad, depressed, anxiety, etc.
• Memory-Loss: Many women say that they experienced memory loss while going though menopause, I seen this a lot while reading up... I wonder why!?  I have this, not sure if it has to do with menopause or too much stress, but it is nice to know it's a symptom that I should be aware of in the future.

*You can view and download the pdf file on Google by searching the word Menopause (or) Read more at the link below, it has a lot of valuable information about menopause facts and symptoms.   Consult your doctor if you need to know for certain.

https://www.gstatic.com/healthricherkp/pdf/menopause.pdf

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Menopause is something that all women need to know more about, I'm sure glad that I researched it more so that I am prepared and know what is happening when it comes time!!

Research it, talk to your doctor or healthcare provider... better yet, talk to the woman closest to know about what they know and what to expect!!

Hope this was helpful!