SureFire Women Health

Some women would expect that the starting menopause would be clearly identified, but it is not always easy to do so.

Even after you have explained your symptoms to your doctor, he or she might not be able to tell if menopause is starting or not. This may be due to the fact that the symptoms of menopause can be confused with the symptoms of other conditions. In order to find out exactly what your condition is, your doctor may want you to have a hormone testing done. This is simply a blood test.

Menopause may not start at a definite time in your life and is very difficult to predict. In some women it may start as early as the age of thirty while in others it may wait until they are over sixty. Family history is one of many factors that can indicate when a woman will start menopause. If you would like to know when you will more than likely start  to go through menopause, you can ask your mother or your grandmother when they started  to go through theirs. If your mother started her menopause at the age of thirty five, then more than likely you will start yours at an early age. This information can be helpful to you, but you have to remember that it may not necessarily be accurate. It may help you to know that the average age for women to start going through menopause is around the age of fifty one.

There are other factors that help determine when a woman will start menopause and cigarette smoking is one of them. Some studies conducted show that women who smoke start menopause earlier than women who do not smoke. Studies show that most smokers will start menopause an average of two years before non smokers. Although further studies have to be undertaken it is something you must keep in mind. It is not determined that the start of a woman’s menstruation has anything to do with the start of her menopause. Your race, height, whether you  have any children or not has no effect on menopause.

To really understand the process of menopause you have to try to recognize the transition period which is called perimenopause and can occur about six years before full menopause begins. During the perimenopause period your hormone levels will begin to fluctuate causing you to have irregular periods. During this time the length of the period and the level of the flow will vary. You may start experiencing hot flashes too. Your mood might also be affected, and you may start experiencing night sweats or changes in your libido. At first these changes might not be too significant but are experienced in some way or another by most women. During perimenopause one of these symptoms may be felt once a month or perhaps once every few weeks on an average, but during full menopause they may be felt more frequently or almost every day.

Even though it is difficult to tell when menopause has started, experiencing these symptoms is a sure indication that menopause has begun. It is a good idea to start to keep a diary of your menopause symptoms, in that way you can write down the time and the date you have a symptom. You can also keep a record about your periods, the dates you have them, how long they last and the level of the flow. In this way, whenever you discuss menopause with your doctor you can provide him with the information that will help him to know the different symptoms that you are experiencing.

You should now be prepared to know when you are starting menopause.

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