How to Know When Menopause Will Begin

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By Mitestarossa
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Menopause will begin later if you have had children.

No one really knows when menopause will begin but you can get a general idea of when menopause will begin. Many factors contribute to when menopause will begin. Menopause begins when a woman does not have her period for more than one year. Women who have given birth, are of Japanese decent or have taken the pill start menopause later. Women who smoke, are unemployed, have heart disease, and have not graduated from college begin menopause sooner. Most women will usually begin perimenopause (irregular periods) sometime in their forties and approximately 2-4 years before menopause begins. Half of all women begin menopause by the age of 50.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Step 1

HORMONE CHANGES - Recognize that all women start to biologically change around the age of 40. This decline in hormones create changes in the menstrual cycle, vagina and uterus.
Step 2

UNDERSTAND SYMPTOMS - Look for symptoms that normally occur before, during and after menopause.

MENSTRUAL CYCLE - Changes in your menstrual cycle may begin at age 40 or 2-4 years before menopause begins. Changes may include lighter periods, missed periods, irregular periods or periods stopping altogether.

HOT FLASHES - Varying degrees of sudden hot flashes may begin to occur. Hot flashes can last for several seconds to several minutes.

BLADDER - Frequent urination and difficulty holding in urine.

SLEEP - Many women experience sleep disturbances. Frequent urination or hot flashes may wake you up or prevent you from falling asleep.

VAGINAL DIFFICULTIES - Dryness can make sex difficult. You may experience more infections.
Step 3

HRT - Ask your doctor about treatments for your symptoms. One common treatment is hormone therapy. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) adds back some of the hormones lost during menopause.