Menstruation Towards Menopause: What to Expect?

You sweat, have joint pain, pelvic pain, bleeding disorders, reduced sex drive, sore breasts, dry mucous membranes or perhaps you experience vision disturbances. There are over 34 different symptoms of menopause. You may experience some symptoms - and others not at all. The symptoms may also come and go. But they can be early warning signs that you are on the way to menopause.

At first you don't necessarily think that's what's at stake. There are a few inconveniences here and there. If you go to the doctor, your perhaps minor symptoms could easily be confused with other ailments, whereas Other symptoms can feel completely overwhelming, as if you can't recognize yourself, so burdensome and disruptive to everyday life it is. 

But what is menopause, and what can you expect from the time?

Menopause typically occurs between the ages of 45-52 in Denmark. When you have not had a period for 12 consecutive months, you are in menopause. This also means that you are no longer fertile - your ovaries no longer have eggs and will gradually stop producing estrogen and progesterone. 

But pre-menopause (pre- or peri-menopause) starts up to ten years before. It happens, when the hormones estrogen and progesterone in the body begin to fluctuate, i.e. have fluctuations, and the other hormones, cortisol and insulin, try to compensate for the fluctuations. So it is believed that the symptoms come from the fact that the hormonal balance has begun to change - as happens towards menopause. For some, the symptoms will begin around the age of 35, and for others it can happen both earlier and later. 

And what changes can you experience around your period? 

In general, bleeding disorders are very common in pre-menopause. This usually means a lighter period. It can also mean that it fluctuates a lot - that you can experience both a shorter cycle with fewer days between your bleeding and then suddenly a longer cycle with more days between bleeding - and then return to normal. 

But there are also some who will experience longer periods or heavier periods.

The common denominator is: Change. That something is not as it used to be, that something you know so well is changing. However, it must also be said that more menstruating women in their 30s experience, if they have given birth to children, that their menstruation has become heavier after giving birth - without it being a sign of pre-menopause. 

As you approach menopause, you may also experience menstrual-like spotting, which can be a bit confusing. Is it there or isn't it there? 

Spotting can even be experienced a few years after menopause has occurred, but if you start having regular bleeding again, it may be a good idea to contact your doctor to make sure that nothing else is going on. 

Menopause is still hugely under-exposed and the symptoms are very individual, but fortunately things are improving. 

See menstrual panties for adults here.

Sources: Søs Wollesen “Free us from more hot flashes”, sundhed.dk, menokind.dk