Sunday, August 06, 2006

menopause symptom : Early Onset Symptoms

Irregular Vaginal Bleeding

Irregular vaginal bleeding may occur during menopause. Some women have minimal problems with abnormal bleeding during perimenopause whereas others have unpredictable, excessive bleeding. Menstrual periods (menses) may occur more frequently (meaning the cycle shortens in duration), or they may get farther and farther apart (meaning the cycle lengthens in duration) before stopping. There is no 搉ormal?pattern of bleeding during the menstrual transition, patterns vary from woman to woman. It is common for women in perimenopause to get a period after going for several months without one. There is also no set length of time it takes for a woman to complete her menopausal transition, as all women are different. It is important to remember that all women who develop irregular menses should be evaluated by her doctor to confirm that the irregular menses are due to menopause and not as a sign of another medical illness.

Hot flashes & night sweats

Hot flashes are common among women undergoing menopause. A hot flash is a feeling of warmth that spreads over the body. A hot flash is sometimes associated with flushing and is sometimes followed by perspiration. Sometimes hot flashes are accompanied by night sweats (episodes of drenching sweats at nighttime). The cause of hot flashes is not yet understood. Recent research theory suggests that women with hot flashes seem to start sweating at a lower environmental temperature than women without hot flashes. There is currently no method to predict when hot flashes will begin and how long they will last. Hot flashes occur in up to 40% of regularly menstruating women in their forties, so they may begin before the menstrual irregularities characteristic of menopause even begin. About 80% of women will be finished having hot flashes after 5 years. Sometimes (in about 10% of women), hot flashes can last as long as 10 years. There is no way to predict when hot flashes will cease, though they tend to decrease in frequency over time. On average, hot flashes last about 5 years. For more, please read the Alternative Treatments for Hot Flashes article.

Mood Symptoms

There is considerable controversy about exactly which behavioral symptoms are due directly to menopause. Research in this area has been difficult for many reasons. First, mood symptoms are so common to begin with, that it is sometimes difficult in a given woman to know if they are due to menopause symptoms. Also, women who have been diagnosed with depression in the past may be sensitive to a recurrence of depression toward the time of menopause, but the menopause isn抰 really 搕he cause?of the depression, strictly speaking. To further complicate matters, mood swings could actually be linked with the sleep disturbance triggered by menopausal night sweats. Researchers are now trying to determine what factors can influence mood symptoms during menopause. Factors that have been suspected and are being analyzed for their impact on menopausal mood symptoms include education level, exercise level, familial support system, and history of depression.

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