For women, there is no good time for the signs of perimenopause to emerge. In fact, for many moms, adding perimenopause to the mix of midlife is like a perfect storm as they are suddenly juggling high-stress responsibilities and hot flashes.
Apart from managing their teenager's mood swings, they are also dealing with their own emotional highs and lows. Some women are also dealing with their aging parents and the very clear signs that they are getting older, too. Dealing with perimenopause also means having lots of sleepless nights, irregular periods, brain fog, and low libido.
Unfortunately for women, this is not like pregnancy or puberty. There is not a lot of support for them during this stage of significant hormonal change, according to UVA Health. In fact, many of them are hesitant to admit that they are experiencing the early signs of menopause at all.
There is a stigma associated with perimenopause
OBGYN JoAnn Pinkerton, MD, said that around 42 percent of women have never talked about menopause with a doctor. She added that there is a stigma associated with this phase in a woman's life and they don't want to admit that they are showing symptoms of perimenopause because it means that they are aging.
Pinkerton, who is the director of UVA Midlife Health and executive director emeritus of the North American Menopause Society, said that women fear others may see them as less capable, particularly in the workplace, thus resulting in many of them suffering in silence. The thing is they don't have to as there are treatments to help them cope with the many symptoms of perimenopause.
So what is perimenopause? It is sometimes called the menopause transition, early menopause, or premenopause. According to the Cleveland Clinic, it is the time when the woman's body naturally shifts into menopause. A woman's ovaries produce fewer hormones and release fewer eggs during this time. Periods are often irregular for them and eventually they stop altogether. When a woman has gone a year without a menstrual cycle with no other cause, she has reached menopause.
Pinkerton said that the average age of menopause is around 51 or 52 with most women having early symptoms of perimenopause in their late forties. Perimenopause symptoms last for about four years but they can last longer for some women.
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Common signs of menopause
So what are some of the most common signs of menopause? Missing one's period is typically the first sign of perimenopause. Bleeding may be heavier than normal for women in some months, according to Mayo Clinic. Abnormal bleeding is often best controlled with low-dose contraceptives such as a pill, patch, or ring. These contraceptives stop ovulation to regulate cycles.
Hot flashes are the most common symptom of menopause and hormone therapy (HT) is used to treat them. HT is safest for women within 10 years of reaching menopause or women who start the treatment under the age of 60.
