What are the first symptoms of menopause

Menopause does not happen overnight. It is a process that in some women can last up to a decade, made up of small changes, some noticeable and some not so, with some more annoying. The variety of symptoms is explained by the fact that estrogen, one of the hormones whose gradual decline begins to herald the menopause, is involved in many processes in the body, from the quality of sleep to the smoothness of the skin or the hydration of intimate areas, and even memory and mental alertness.

“Menopause is a natural process that occurs in women as they age and marks the end of the reproductive stage. Hormonally it is marked by a decrease in the production of reproductive hormones, mainly estrogen and progesterone, produced by the ovaries. These hormonal changes can have various effects on a woman’s body,” explains Cinthya Molina, Head of the Sexual Health Unit at SHA Wellness Clinic.

Molina points out that although the symptoms of menopause can vary from one woman to another, some that are very common such as:

• Irregularities in the menstrual cycle: periods may become irregular, shorter or longer, and the amount of menstrual flow may change
• Hot flashes: sudden surges of heat that spread through the body, often accompanied by sweating and reddening of the skin
• Night sweats: similar to hot flashes, but occur during the night, which can disrupt sleep
• Mood swings: some women may experience mood swings, which can cause them to experience a change in their mood, irritability, anxiety or depression
• Vaginal dryness: the menopause can lead to a decrease in vaginal lubrication, which can cause discomfort during sex
• Sleep problems: many women have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep due to hot flushes, night sweats or hormonal changes”.Cinthya Molina reminds us that these symptoms can vary in intensity and duration from one woman to another, and it is therefore essential to seek the advice of a multidisciplinary team of experts in the field.

  Perhaps the first and most obvious sign is the change in menstruation. They may no longer be so predictable and regular when you least expect it. You may bleed more than usual, and your periods may be longer and more painful, or your periods may start coming too close together, or last longer than a week. For people with regular menstrual cycles, these changes almost always herald the onset of menopause.

  Hot flashes and night sweats are perhaps the most visible symptoms. They come without warning, faces flush, heart pounds. The best thing to do is to take it with humour and find a good fan. Hiding it is not a good idea; menopause is a normal physiological process. Hot flashes come as a sudden warmth in the upper part of the body, and sometimes the whole body. Red spots may appear on the chest, back and arms, followed by heavy sweating and shivering. They can be very mild or strong enough to interrupt sleep during the night, hence the term night sweats. These episodes usually last between 30 seconds and 10 minutes. And their frequency can vary from several times an hour, several times a day, while some people notice them only once or twice a week.

  The vagina also announces the drop in estrogen levels by becoming drier and tighter. This sensation can make sexual intercourse painful. Sexual desire also drops. Some women suffer small episodes of urinary incontinence when they sneeze or laugh out loud. Vaginal infections can be common.

  Falling asleep starts to become an impossible mission as does having uninterrupted sleep; you may wake up in the middle of the night and find it hard to get back to sleep. Irregular sleep in addition to the roller coaster of hormones around menopause causes mood swings, aggression and irritability.

  The body changes, fat starts to accumulate where it never was before, the waist widens, the skin becomes thinner and muscle mass is lost, joints start to rattle, they can become stiffer and sore. Some women suffer from severe migraines, experience a foggy mind and find it difficult to remember names or details of well-known events.

  Some of these symptoms when bothersome can be relieved. In SHA´s new Sexual Health Unit, Dr. Rafael Navas, an expert in integrative and hormonal health, explains that a complete study is carried out to balance the organism at an orthomolecular level. “Digestive and immunological health is studied and the parameters of low-grade inflammation are analysed. Once the body is in balance, replacement treatment with bioidentical hormones is applied once a day in the form of creams. The formula is analogous to human hormones, and they are not given orally to avoid the hepatic passage. Effects start to be noticed after the first month”.

  In her book Disfruta tu menopausia (Enjoy your menopause), nutritionist Marta Marcé recounts the story of the day it all began for her. In her case, she suffered from early menopause at the age of 26 because of ovarian cancer, which was removed. “I felt it was unfair and experienced a huge loss at having to say goodbye to youth at such a young age,” she says in the foreword to her book. But the illness helped her turn the changes of menopause to her advantage by learning to understand and take advantage of her new hormonal environment. “Estrogen, she writes in her book, the dominant hormone during our fertile lives, makes us more attuned to caring for others, to our more maternal outlook. The transition to menopause involves a greater dominance of androgens, male-type hormones, which help us redirect attention to ourselves, set more boundaries and engage in self-care. Regardless of how each of us may feel in each phase of our lives, the invitation of menopause is to prioritise ourselves more, to take better care of ourselves and to put ourselves in the number one position in our lives. “