As we all aware of, menopause is a fully natural phase every woman has to go through that starts typically around mid forties. Typically defined, early menopause is the period when there is an occurrence of the complete cessation of the menstrual cycle of woman for a whole year before she hits forties.
It is also known as premature menopause and according to the factors that cause it, this phase can be broadly classified as natural or induced. While recent studies have shown that one sixth of women go through early menopause, it is much quicker than the normal menopause duration.
Let us explore early menopause symptoms…
Early Menopause symptoms
Woman suffering from early menopause experience the same symptoms like the woman going through normal menopause. Like menopause, women experience varying levels of severity of such symptoms.
- Hot flashes and night sweats – A characteristic symptom in which woman feels sudden rise in body temperature that often results in heavy sweating. Occurrence is mainly during night, hence called as night sweats.
- Loss of bladder control – There is a disruptive urinary function is observed during early menopause often accompanied with water retention.
- Vaginal dryness – Due to hormonal imbalance, interior lining of vagina loses its elasticity resulting in vaginal dryness and itching. This condition is more prone to vaginal diseases.
- Weight gain – This phase is characterized by more accumulation of fats. Even water retention and increased possibility of diabetes make the matter worse.
- Skin itching, hair loss – In some cases, feeling of itching, awkward feeling like ants creeping beneath skin is witnessed. Some women may experience hair loss.
- Loss of sex drive – The main cause is being the changed levels of hormones and increased vaginal dryness making intercourse often painful
- Psychological problems – Early menopause can bring plethora of problems like mood swings, feeling of irritability, depression. You often feel no desire for doing any normal activity and experience fatigue.
Causes behind early menopause symptoms
Diverse factors like hereditary reasons (if you have family history of early menopause, you are more susceptible to the same), result of poor lifestyle (habits like excessive smoking or alcohol consumption or malnutrition), Chromosome alterations (conditions like Tuner’s syndrome, Fragile X syndrome), surgeries like total hysterectomy and bilateral oophorectomy, autoimmune diseases like Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis and Rheumatoid Arthritis, exposure to certain therapies like radiotherapy and chemotherapy can be responsible.
Diagnosis
Usually a diagnosis is done by a blood test detecting FSH levels. Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) is predominantly responsible for estrogen production. Usually amount above 40 mIU/mL of estrogen serves as good indicator.
