Menopause is the stage in women’s life when menopause begins. This stage lasts about 2–4 years and occurs when a woman’s hormones drop dramatically, including estrogen levels.
During this time, women experience dry, wrinkled skin, hair loss, difficulty sleeping, increased body discomfort, and an increased concern about age spots and breakouts.
Of these symptoms, sleep is the one that may be the most missed out on. With no sleep to enjoy, your morning shower may be spent in a bedlam of shampooing or mopping up any remaining shampoo or soap.
This is why so many new mothers look forward to their first shower as they know how bothersome being clean feels.
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Hot flashes and night sweats
Night sweats are fairly common at menopausal stage. If you are having night sweats, you are definitely going through the menopausal process and increasing your risk of hot flashes and sweating.
Many women at this stage report feeling tense and worried about hot flashes and sleep disruption. This is a very valid feeling!
As we age, our hormones decrease which can reduce sex drive and even menstruation. This can have a negative effect on health as older women tend to be more dependent on sex drive and menstruation.
Only take a women’s hormone replacement at this stage to avoid any possible side effects. Most doctors recommend taking a low-dose estrogen at this time to reduce chances of osteoporosis or dryness.
Hormones and their effects
Women after menopause who don’t want to wear a bra can be confusing. Some women feel restricted, uncomfortable, and or have trouble getting and wearing them when they are needed. Others don’t mind as long as it does not hurt their modesty.
Many people think that if a woman doesn’t wear a bra that she is not going to get any exercise, but this is not the case. While keeping a nice shape in the bra can be an issue for some, reading how high or low the underwire sits can help with this.
Some brands of bras are set at a higher level of modesty according to company policy, which makes it hard to determine if you have one of these bras or not. It is also important to check whether or not this style of bra works for you because different women require different shapes and sizes of these pieces.
What are the long-term effects of menopause?
More than half of women experience some degree of menopause, where the female body stop producing estrogen and other hormones. This includes women who never had a menopausal year (when the average woman reaches her middle age) or who began their period after the traditional start, which is around 50 years of age.
The remaining people who go through menopause are very rare, occurring in about 10% of women every decade. Even then, it is usually not until late middle age that people notice a difference in their self-confidence and overall quality of life.
People describe it as a time when you think you might die, because of symptoms such as hot flashes and dryness. It can also be painful, due to muscle atrophy and stress on the bones and muscles.
What are the short-term effects of menopause?
There are two main factors that cause women to go through menopause: changes in the structure of the body and changes in the function of the body.
When either of these changes, namely the decrease in estrogen levels in the body and increased use of testosterone, respectively, it can be problematic.
But even after both of these changes have occurred, some women remain on a steady maintenance mode for years until hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is introduced. Hormone replacement therapy is a way to keep your womanhood fresh into old age.
Some effects of low estrogen can be annoying or funny. For example, your pants can get loose or they can smell like cheesecloth. Or you can sleep better because your mind does not focus on how old you are because it does not have access to enough stuff to do that.
Will I get menopause?
Do women go through menopause when their periods stop? The answer is no, you do not go through menopause when your periods stop.
While some women do experience a decrease in estrogen levels during menopausal years, this does not mean that they go through menopause.
For one thing, estrogen can still be made by the body, even though it may be decreased. For another, there is still a chance that a woman can become pregnant while post-menopausal.
Diet and exercise
If you’re woman after a few years without men, you might be thinking, does a woman dry up after menopause? Does exercise make me fat?
Well, thankfully no! Thebenefits of exercise continue even into your post-menopausal period.
But even if you’re not concerned about weight gain, being able to move your body daily can be therapeutic. Plus, it helps with self-esteem and general sense of well-being.
In fact, a 2011 study found that women who exercised more during their post-menopausal period had less muscle damage and bone loss than women who didn’t exercise at all.
Do yoga
Yoga is a very popular exercise method these days. There are more and more yoga studios opening up every week.
Yoga is a great way to strengthen your body and mind. It can also help you relax, which is always nice.
Some people find the workouts too intense and/or the breathing techniques too slow, so they do not stick with it. Other people do not like the breathing techniques due to past breathing difficulties or disabilities.
Yet, other people don’t find any of the various styles of yoga comfortable and/or don’t get any benefits from it.
Take hormones
If you’re currently on hormone therapy, you may need a break from it for a few weeks after surgery. Some doctors recommend having your hormones checked to see if they have changed since the surgery, or if they have decreased since.
Dry estrogen and testosterone can change when people take their medication, so check to see if those have changed since the surgery.
If you have had a baby, your breast tissue may not be as receptive to hormone therapy and may not function as well. Check with your doctor about whether or not you should still take hormones after giving birth because of the risk of dryness.
Dryness can also happen faster than usual while some women are on their period of menopause, which can be uncomfortable. A doctor can check whether or not this is happening for you to determine whether it needs treatment.