Coping With Menopause

Coping With Menopause

Menopause is the time in a woman's life in which the menstrual cycle ends. It refers to that particular point of cessation of menstruation in women. In medical terms this is called Climacteric. In this health feature and the upcoming health features, we shall deal with all that concerns Menopause, the symptoms, pains, remedy and the sociological effect. You need this, because your mother or grandmother or aunty maybe undergoing this stage in life. It usually happens to women from age 35 to 60; some women it comes early, others it comes later in life.

Symptoms of Menopause

At puberty, eggs start forming inside a girl, and the girl starts menstruating, this means the girl is old enough to become pregnant. Two hormones help the body do this, the oestrogen and the progesterone. It is these hormones that allow the release of the eggs. As of the age of 35, the production of oestrogen begins to decline, which means fewer eggs are released each month. In the coming years, menopause begins. This doesn’t apply to all women, as some women do not see the menopause until they are their late fifties. These are the symptoms of menopause:

1.       Irregular Menstruation

The first symptom of menopause is irregular menstruation. As a woman reaches 35 to 40, the woman finds out that her period becomes irregular. The period may come bi-monthly rather than monthly, or it may even come every two weeks. This is actually to remind women that they would not be fertile forever, although the menopause might still be 10 years away.

2.      Hot Flashes

You are sleeping peacefully in your bed, and suddenly you wake up sweating and feeling as if your body is on fire, this is hot flashes; it is a symptom of menopause. This can disturb most women, and it can cause insomnia.

3.      Aches and Pains

Another symptom is aches and pains all over the body, especially at the body joints. The pains are because of the decreased oestrogen; oestrogen nourishes the body and strengthens the body tissues. With the decline of oestrogen, the tissues become weaker and are prone to infections, especially the female genital track and the breasts.

4.     Sensations

At menopause a woman begins to experience some sensations all over the body. Some feel as if ants is crawling up their body, others feel as if sweat is trickling down their head, others feel tingling sensation all over their body; these are all symptoms of menopause if you are a woman within the menopause age range. The declined oestrogen causes this.

5.      Vaginal Dryness

Shortage of oestrogen makes the vaginal wall become dry and stiff. The walls become thin and the lubrication disappears. As time goes on, the vagina becomes shorter and narrower like that of a little girl and sexual intercourse becomes very painful.

These are the symptoms of Menopause. If you experience one of these and you are within the age range of the menopause age, you can go see a doctor or a psychologist on how to cope with it. It gives psychological problems and may make the person hate people around her. In the next health feature, we will talk about the psychological effect of Menopause and how we can cope with it.

Reference: Nature Power by Anselm Adodo, OSB.

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