34 Menopause Symptoms
Menopause is not an illness, but a natural process for every woman. In a woman's life, there comes a phase when her reproductive cycle and system will be slow down and ultimately shutdown. This is normal and natural phenomenon. However, this phase is one difficult phase in the life of a woman. There are indications of underlying hormonal imbalance or damage to the body from poor eating habits, stress, obesity and other factors. Generally they are referred to as 34 menopause symptoms. Millions of women in the industrialized countries experience one or more of these 34 menopause symptoms many years before the normal age of menopause, which is about 51 years of age.
There are several reasons for 34 menopause symptoms. Women have demanding and stressful careers. There are family responsibilities. The relationships with family members may not be the best. All the responsibilities are cumulative in the toll they take on the body and health of a woman. Poor eating habits, lack of exercise, obesity, excess caffeine and alcohol add to the problem instead of helping the body cope with the demands placed on it. This lack of balance between the demands made versus support given contributes to many of the 34 menopause symptoms.
One of the influencing factors is the issue of the menstrual cycle and hormone production in the body. Many women in their 30's and 40's are actually having fewer ovulations, creating hormone imbalance, resulting in many of the 34 menopause symptoms. And once ovulation ceases at menopause, progesterone levels fall to virtually zero. At the same time, estrogen is still being produced, again leading to hormone imbalance and the resulting symptoms. If a hysterectomy has happened, surgical menopause means the woman no longer produces progesterone.
The 34 menopause symptoms - to name a few - hot flashes, mood swings, fatigue and foggy thinking, to name a few - often bring physical and emotion stress to women.
There are 34 menopause symptoms typically listed. How intense and frequent women experience some or all of the 34 menopause symptoms are highly individual.
The 34 Menopause Signs and Symptoms:
- Aching joints and muscles.
- Allergy symptoms.
- Breast tenderness.
- Chronic fatigue and morning sluggishness.
- Cold or tingling hands or feet.
- Craving sweets, caffeine, carbohydrates and unstable blood sugar levels.
- Depression, anxiety and mood swings.
- Dizziness, lightheadedness.
- Dry, thin or wrinkly skin.
- Endometriosis.
- Facial hair growth
- Fibrocystic breasts.
- Hair loss, thinning hair
- Headaches, migraines
- Heart palpitations
- Heavy or light periods
- Hot flashes
- Incontinence
- Irregular periods
- Irritatibility, inability to handle stress
- Lack of concentration, foggy fuzzy thinking, memory lapses
- Leg cramps
- Low metabolism
- Lower sex drive, loss of sex drive
- PMS and menstrual cramping
- Night sweats
- Osteoporosis
- Ringing or buzzing in ears (tinnitus)
- Sleep disturbances, insomnia
- Spotting, light bleeding
- Symptoms of hypothyroidism with normal T3 and T4 levels
- Urinary tract and yeast infections
- Uterine fibroids
- Water retention and unexplained weight gain, especially in hips, waist and stomach
Full-swing menopause symptoms can last from six months to two years. Most of the 34 menopause signs and symptoms are caused by the decrease and fluctuation of reproductive hormones in a woman's body. Other menopause signs and symptoms are part of the natural aging process, which can accelerate as the body goes through menopause.