PRE-MENOPAUSE SYMPTOMS

This is probably the most common question I am asked and as I alluded in the section titled Pre-menopause Symptoms, there are a large range of possibilities as well as some confusion over definitions. Pre-menopause is the phase leading upto the Menopause and can last for 10 years, generally at the end of this phase a woman will not have had her period for a whole year. At this point, she has reached menopause and henceforth is in the post-Menopausal stage of her life, which tends to be far more comfortable as the symptoms mentioned in the Pre-menopause symptoms section tend to subside and often dissappear.

So when I am asked, “How long does the menopause last?” I assume the question is about the pre-Menopause stage. Ten years is generally the longest that women can trace back their first signs of the change. I have met many women who’s periods seemed to retain their normal pattern then suddenly stopped, implying their pre-menopause did not happen at all. Whilst I have met plenty of women who had an easy run they would be a very small minority. An average expectation it seems is mild irritation initially growing slightly over a period of 3 to 4 years culminating in no more menstrual cycle. That is not to say that the average expectation doesn’t go back further than 3 or 4 years, but that any slight changes before that were put down at the time to the variations in one’s feeling and wellbeing that life brings.