Help! I Have Menopause

The truth is many people believe that missing periods is menopause, however the actual menopause is not just missing periods, but missing 12 consecutive periods. Simply missing one or two periods may mean another problem (see your doctor) or it could indicate the onset of perimenopause.

Perimenopause onset may include having lighter or more irregular periods, problems sleeping, hot flashes, loss of sexual drive and extreme mood swings. However just because you have reached this point does not mean you cannot conceive a child, so be sure that if you don’t want to get pregnant that you are protected even if you think you have perimenopause.

If you think you are perimenopausal get to a doctor, because there are some problems such as thyroid disease that gives you some of the same symptoms of perimenopause. You will want and expert opinion to ensure this is not the case in your situation.

In my research I found that menopause is simply the time when a woman is no longer producing eggs in her ovaries and when she experiences a decline in the amount of estrogen and progesterone both womanly hormones. In most cases the women who get menopause are older, usually between 45 and 55. However younger women may also get menopause if they had their ovaries removed or if they are experiencing a premature form of menopause, so here I am a 38 year old woman with menopause or actually I have a form of menopause called perimenopause which means that the periods are beginning to taper off. For me they have actually stopped, however you are not considered fully in menopause until you have missed 12 full months of periods. While having menopause early is one thing, it is not common, normally women don’t get this until they have reached on average about 51 years of age. So if you are 38 don’t worry you may very well have plenty of time left before you actually get it.

In the next blog we will talk about the perimenopause symptoms and what you can expect from getting this stage of menopause.