Recognize and Cope With Menopause

Menopause is a different situation for each woman. This can be a difficult time for women to experience. Don't worry, at this phase of your life it doesn't mean that you are going crazy. Your body is just changing as you grow older, and the problem is normally biological. What exactly is menopause? It is a time in a women's life when her menstruation period stops, and her child bearing years are over. This normally happens between the ages of 45 years old and 50. With some women the end of menstruation can happen quickly, ending a period and never getting another. Others can find that it can be unpredictable. When a year goes by without a woman having her period, she can than realize that menopause happened at the time of her last menstruation.

Whether it be illness, stress, medications, can influence the time that it occurs. Research indicates that women who smoke get menopause earlier, and women that are overweight tend to have menopause at a later time. At birth a women's ovaries hold all the eggs she will ever have, several hundred thousand. During her menstrual cycle, twenty to one thousand eggs mature. Then one, or sometimes more than one, is released from the ovary for fertilization. The other eggs fade away. Also in the process of the eggs maturing, the levels of estrogen and progesterone hormones will decrease and increase.

When a women leaves her late thirties, the levels of estrogen and progesterone fade off gradually, and the release of the eggs may not happen with every cycle. Her periods will become not as regular, usually happening at longer intervals, and her period flow will be lighter or heavier. Then eventually there are no eggs released, and her period will stop.

At the final period of menstruation, changes in the hormone levels and ovarian function may take up to ten years. But small amounts of estrogen continue to be made by the ovaries for at least ten to twenty years after menopause.

There becomes many changes in a women's life at this time. She normally experiences hot flashes that happens from hormonal effects on the part of the brain that is responsible for controlling body temperature. The precise mechanism is not known, but what happens is, that the body's thermostat is adjusted downward, so that the temperatures you felt comfortable with before, suddenly become too warm, and then the body acts to perspire and cool itself.

Hot flashes can happen while a women still has her period starting as early as forty. Research has shown that many women experience hot flashes for at least 2 years. Other symptoms that women have during the menopause stage are sweating at night,lack of sleep, crying for no apparent reason, bloating, temper tantrums, migraine headaches, and a lack of memory. The symptoms of menopause can be different for every woman. Some women may not even experience all the symptoms. This is because hormone levels are different with each woman. Also, women have different coping skills as the near the menopause stage.

What can you do to cope with menopause?

1. Pay your Doctor a Visit. He will discuss with you helpful information that will help you to better cope with your menopause.

2. Eat Foods Rich In Calcium. A women's bones lose calcium during the body's changes.

3. Keep Yourself Active. Take a walk, read, or visit a friend.

4. Take Vitamin B Complex. This can help reduce hot flash symptoms.

5. Exercise. This can help reduce mood swings.

• Alcohol consumption will bring on hot flashes.
• Stay away from salt, this will cause more bloating.
• Make time for relaxation.

If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.

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