Menopause is a natural event that every woman comes across in her life. It is reflected by the cessation of her period or “menstrual cycle” for about a twelve month period and it marks the end of her reproductive life. Perimenopause is described as the interval in which a woman’s body makes a natural shift from more-or-less regular cycles of ovulation and menstruation toward permanent infertility, or menopause. Usually, it arrives when a woman enters her mid thirties, although most women start to realize it in their mid to late forties. At that time women start to experience hormonal fluctuations and “hot flashes or “hot flushes”. However in some cases there are incidents in which a woman reaches the phase of menopause quite earlier than usual. This phenomenon is called “early menopause”. It is very important to understand the early perimenopause symptoms in order to be able to overcome perimenopause physically and mentally.
Technically, early perimenopause is different from menopause and premature menopause. In early perimenopause the cessation of periods takes place before the person attains 45 years, whereas menopause happens at around 50 years and premature menopause before 40. The early perimenopause symptoms are quite similar to those of the normal menopause. They are physical as well as emotional. The most common and important symptom is irregular periods and hot flashes. Irregularity can be in terms of frequency, duration, skipping periods etc. Frequent and sudden hot flashes are usually a clear symptom. The female firstly experiences heat waves across her back, then it tends to spread to the chest, neck, face, scalp and every where. The peripheral temperature of the body increases. The skin turns reddish pink and profuse sweating occurs. Often, this heat flash is followed by a cold, shivering feeling. Other physical symptoms include infertility, night sweating, vaginal dryness, weight gain, reduced energy levels, dryness in skin, headaches, breast tenderness, dizziness, muscular and joint pains.
The emotional tenderness experienced by a female in this phase is very deep and intriguing. She tends to feel depression, lethargy, irritability, mood swigs, reduced sex drive, high anxiety, extreme fatigue, lack of self confidence and concentration, absent mindedness and memory lapses etc. She feels emotional detachment and as a result her social ties tend to get jeopardized. Due to the early arrival of this phase, the early perimenopause symptoms tend to affect both the physical and the mental health of the female severely.
Every eight out of a hundred women in America experience early perimenopause. Although it is not very easy to cope up with it, it can be handled with proper understanding of the early perimenopause symptoms. However having the symptoms does not necessarily mean that a female is experiencing early perimenopause. They could also be caused by hypothyroidism, diabetes, depressions or even some medical implications as well.
