Monday 1 June 2009

34 Menopause Symptoms - Are You Suffering From One Or More Of These?

by: Olinda Rola
34 menopause symptoms? Really? It is a logical question to ask. After all, millions of women are experiencing one or more of the 34 menopause symptoms right now! What is going on? We all remember a grandmother or older aunt, how they made the transition into menopause. The so-called change will happen, but something tells us that experiencing many of the symptoms of menopause as early as ages thirties or forties is not normal. 

First, here is a list of the most common 34 menopause symptoms. Take a moment to consider each one, as some are subtle and at first glance may appear to have no relation to being menopause symptoms: 

1 - Aching joints and muscles 

2 - Allergy symptoms 

3 - Breast tenderness 

4 - Chronic fatigue and morning sluggishness 

5 - Cold or tingling hands or feet 

6 - Craving sweets, caffeine, carbohydrates and unstable blood sugar levels 

7 - Depression, anxiety and mood swings 

8 - Dizziness, lightheadedness 

9 - Dry, thin or wrinkly skin 

10 - Endometriosis 

11 - Facial hair growth 

12 - Fibrocystic breasts 

13 - Hair loss, thinning hair 

14 - Headaches, migraines 

15 - Heart palpitations 

16 - Heavy or light periods 

17 - Hot flashes 

18 - Incontinence 

19 - Irregular periods 

20 - Irritatibility, inability to handle stress 

21 - Lack of concentration, foggy fuzzy thinking, memory lapses 

22 - Leg cramps 

23 - Low metabolism 

24 - Lower sex drive, loss of sex drive 

25 - PMS and menstrual cramping 

26 - Night sweats 

27 - Osteoporosis 

28 - Ringing or buzzing in ears (tinnitus) 

29 - Sleep disturbances, insomnia 

30 - Spotting, light bleeding 

31 - Symptoms of hypothyroidism with normal T3 and T4 levels 

32 - Uninary tract and yeast infections 

33 - Uterine fibroids 

34 - Water retention and unexplained weight gain, especially in hips, waist and stomach 

Menopause is a natural process for a woman, not an illness. As a woman ages, there will be an expected slowing and ultimately shutdown in the reproductive cycle and system. This is normal. However, most of the 34 menopause symptoms are indications of underlying hormonal imbalance or damage to the body from poor eating habits, stress, obesity and other factors. Millions of women in the industrialized countries experience one or more of these 34 menopause symptoms many years before the normal age of menopause, which is about 51 years of age. 

Why? There are several reasons. Women often put tremendous demands on their bodies, much more stress than it was designed to handle, and then do not give it the support it needs. Women have demanding and stressful careers. There are family responsibilities. The relationship with the spouse or partner may not be the best. Aging parents can add to the burden. All of these and other responsibilities are cumulative in the toll they take on the body and health of a woman. 

And at the same time, the womans body may not be receiving the support it needs to function as it was designed to do. Poor eating habits, lack of exercise, obesity, excess caffeine and alcohol add to the problem instead of helping the body cope with the demands placed on it. This lack of balance between the demands made versus support given contributes to many of the 34 menopause symptoms. 

Then there is the issue of the menstrual cycle and hormone production in the body. In the normal menstrual cycle and a healthy woman, estrogen is the dominant hormone that is produced for the first 10-12 days following the previous menstrual flow. If ovulation occurs, ovulation then signals the female body to produce progesterone, which happens for the next 12 days or so. If pregnancy does not occur during ovulation, progesterone and estrogen levels will drop at around day 28, allowing menstruation to begin. However, if you do not ovulate, you will not produce progesterone that month. This event, called an annovulatory cycle, is a typical occurance today for women even 10 to 20 years before the normal age of menopause. This leaves the woman with an excess of estrogen and a deficiency of the vital hormone progesterone which can only be produced if ovulation occurs. 

Many women in their thirties or forties are actually having fewer ovulations, creating hormone imbalance, resulting in many of the 34 menopause symptoms. And once ovulation ceases at menopause, progesterone levels fall to virtually zero. At the same time, estrogen is still being produced, again leading to hormone imbalance and the resulting symptoms. If a hysterectomy has happened, surgical menopause means the woman no longer produces progesterone. 

Besides the problems created by missed ovulations or hysterectomy, excess estrogen is regularly obtained from other sources. Birth control pills, household chemicals and pesticides, certain foods that have been sprayed or given chemicals and many construction materials used in homes are all sources of unhealthy estrogen. Doctors call this hormone imbalance condition where excess estrogen exists - estrogen dominance. What are the symptoms of estrogen dominance? The symptoms are nearly the same as the 34 menopause symptoms! 

When your estrogen and progesterone hormones are balanced, you feel more alert and energetic. And balancing family, career, stress and your own needs becomes much easier to do, like it was when you were younger. 

How can a woman tell if the symptoms being experienced are because of hormone imbalance? One easy and effective way is to take an online test for early signs of menopause and the 34 menopause symptoms. Used daily in their practice by a leading womens health clinic, the health test takes just a few minutes online and the test is free. By taking the clinic health test, you can find out more about your health, symptoms you have, what the symptoms are telling you and what to do about it. Take the online hormone health test and read more about hormone imbalance, estrogen dominance symptoms, hysterectomy side effects and physician-recommended treatments for premenopause symptoms and the 34 menopause symptoms. 

Copyright 2005 InfoSearch Publishing 

About the author:
Olinda Rola is President of InfoSearch Publishing and webmaster of http://www.safemenopausesolutions.com where you will find physician-recommended natural treatments for premenopause and menopause symptoms. Visit the website and learn more about ways that really work for improving health. 

No comments:

Post a Comment