Womens Health Blog

The symptoms of menopause and its severity can vary from woman to woman. Some women do not report any troublesome symptoms while some others report severe symptoms that adversely affect their day-to-day life.

• Irregular bleeding: Most women identify the onset of menopause because of irregular periods. Changes in the menstrual patterns vary from woman to woman. There may be shorter or longer periods, increased or decreased menstrual flow and varying periods of time between two menstrual cycles. You need to consult your doctor if:
  1. the duration between two menstrual cycles is less than twenty-one days;
  2. the bleeding lasts for more than eight days;
  3. there is increased blood flow per day irrespective of the duration of menstruation; and
  4. you have bleeding six months or more after the last menstruation.
• Hot flushes: These are typical and most common symptoms of menopause. During a hot flush, you will have a sudden sensation of warmth or intense heat that spreads over various parts of the body, especially the face, head and chest. Sometimes there may be associated sweating and a feeling of chill. Some women feel very anxious at the time of hot flashes and may have increased heart rate or palpitations. Palpitations is the term used for awareness of heart beats that feels like thumping in the chest.
  The exact mechanism of development of hot flushes is not yet clear. It is believed that it originates in the brain in response to reduced estrogen levels in the blood. However, not all hot flushes are due to deficiency of estrogen.
  Some women believe that hot flushes are due to release of accumulated heat in the body. This is not true. Hot flushes are the result of sudden and abnormal stimulation of the heat release mechanisms in the body. During a hot flush, the skin temperature increases and the conduction capacity of the skin also increases. This is why the body temperature falls at the end of the hot flush. Hot flushes seconds to few minutes. The frequency of hot flushes and its duration vary from woman to woman. They are more common at night and during stress.
• Changes in the structure of the reproductive organs: Estrogen not only plays a very important role in maintaining normal structure and functions of a woman’s reproductive organs but also those of the surrounding tissues and organs such as the urinary bladder and the urethra. When the estrogen level declines after menopause, the tissues of these organs including their inner lining become weak and shrink. Urinary bladder is a muscular bag-like structure that stores urine for discharge through the urethra. Urethra is a small tubular structure that drains urine from the bladder. It opens outside the body just in front of the vagina.
  Thinning of the lining of the vagina leads to pain during intercourse and increased dryness. There may also be itching and irritation in the vagina and external genital organs such as the vulva. The thinning of vagina and dryness continue to worsen even after menopause. This is why many women have troublesome vaginal irritation and pain during sexual intercourse after the age of fifty-five to sixty years. Regular sexual intercourse can help maintain the moisture and tone of the vagina.
  Thinning and weakening of the urinary bladder increases the risk of urinary infections and pain while passing the urine. It can also lead to involuntary leakage of urine, especially when you cough or sneeze or strain to pass the stools. This is because these actions increase the pressure in the abdomen and push the urine out.
• Mood changes: Estrogen plays a very important role in memory and maintaining normal functions of the nerve cells in the brain. This is why some women believe that decreased estrogen levels during menopause cause mood changes, depression and anxiety. However, several psychiatric studies have failed to establish a definite relationship between estrogen levels and emotional disturbances. It is therefore believed that emotional disturbances during menopause may be largely due to various other factors such as: pressures of career, marriage, increasing demands from growing children, especially adolescents, and responsibilities towards ageing parents.

Most of the breast lumps are benign and can be merely a symptom of the menopause. That entails being sure about the actual occurrence before thinking to go for any breast cancer treatment at all. Hormones play more of a diverse role than generally known during conditions such as menopause and pregnancy. Women’s breasts can grow larger and they may feel rather uncomfortable in an underwire bra.

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