Menopause and its related conditions are not actually disease states, but are the process a woman goes through during the time she is ceasing to have periods. Let’s define what menopause and its related states actually mean. Premenopausal Symptoms involve the milder symptoms occurring up to 15 years before actual menopause when a woman has some of the symptoms such as irregular cycles and is a period where estrogen dominates. Weight gain, mood changes and other symptoms can appear. Perimenopause is the time around 2-3 years before actual menopause where the menstrual cycle can become further disordered, resulting in skipped periods. Hot flashes can also occur during this time. Menopause happens when a woman stops having periods altogether for a period of one year. She can continue to have hot flashes and mood swings; these symptoms can last longer than a year and can occur up to 8 years after the cessation of menstrual periods.
Many people, including healthcare providers, are under the mistaken impression that the ovaries completely shut down after menopause. In fact, ovaries continue to make enough female hormones in the body their entire life. Other body areas, such as the adrenal glands, skin, fatty tissue and the brain make hormones as well. Progesterone, thought to be made inside the corpus luteum exclusively, actually is made in the absence of regular ovulatory cycles. Progesterone is also made from the adrenal glands. It is imperative that you have your adrenal glands tested, especially if you are under stress and have fatigue. By keeping the adrenal glands healthy, this will provide a natural transition in to menopause.
There are three ways in which a woman can arrive at the menopausal state. She can do this naturally through the gradual alteration in hormones that occurs between the ages of 45 and 55. Some women can go through menopause even later than that. The entire process happens over a 5-10 year period of time and includes the lowering of the absolute estrogen and progesterone in the body. The FSH and LH rise and stay elevated for the rest of a woman’s life. The rise, however, isn’t steady and can fluctuate during the perimenopausal state. In addition, a woman may experience subtle changes in her brain function as both male and female hormones have a direct effect on brain function.
A woman can experience premature menopause. This occurs as early as the early to mid-thirties or in the early 40s. I can be a hereditary issue or can occur as a result of autoimmune disease, nutritional problems, illness, adrenal stress, emotional stress or through the use of either oral or injectable contraceptives.
Artificial menopause occurs suddenly as a result of an abrupt loss of ovarian function. Some factors behind artificial menopause include having the ovaries removed during surgery, loss of blood supply following a hysterectomy, chemotherapy, radiation, tubal ligation or when taking certain drugs, such as Lupron-Depot. These drugs will generally only temporarily cause a loss in ovarian function.
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