How to tell if you are suffering from the Menopause
Menopause is normally brought on by a woman’s periods stopping but sometimes it can be brought on earlier if a woman has had to have a hysterectomy. Usually when you have been without periods for a year a woman is said to have reached the menopausal stage.
The saying at this current time is the new medical research is suggesting that the menopause symptoms are due to a lack of oestrogen.
In the UK around eight out or ten women suffer from the symptoms they go from mild to severe.
You can go to the doctors and get a blood test done to confirm this but saying that when I first went for a test it came up negative even though I was having quite severe symptoms and this has happened to a few women I have spoken to so you may have to have a second test .
The average age in the UK is normally around 52 years of age .
The type of symptoms you should look out for are-:
Hot flushes.
The only way I can describe this is a feeling of intense heat rising through your body on the top half of your chest continuing to rise up through your neck and up to your face.
This can be very uncomfortable and really distracting if you are trying to work when it happens.
If you work in an office it helps to keep a fan directed onto your face and this can apply to other places of work too.
Night Sweats.
You can get really hot during the night and find yourself throwing the covers off even if its really cold in the room and you will be wet through with sweat .
Mood Swings.
Sometimes you may not notice these your self at first but other people will you may become a bit snappy or short tempered and not got the same patience as you had it may be totally out of character for you..
Recurrent Urinary Infections.
One of the other symptoms is urinary infections you may find yourself visiting the loo more frequently or may have itchiness or strong coloured urine.
If your test proves to be positive your doctor will probably put you on HRT
A lot of women have reported to have a feeling of a new lease of life and lots of energy after taking HRT but there is also a down side some but not all women have also reported to have gained weight.
Nowadays a lot of the new HRT product have become more refined to minimise the side effect so it would be best to ask your doctor for the right one to suit you.
The other alternative is to go to the health food shop and see what they can offer you for the symptoms some of the remedies vary quite a lot in strength and content so ask for advice to get the best product
Black cosh and sage have been said to help control the hot flushes but they now also have some multi vitamins that are specially made for menopausal women to help combat the symptoms and the usually also help to prevent osteoporosis which is usually associated with the menopause.
