What are the first signs of menopause?
January 10, 2009 Women's Health
polkae6036 asked:
I am 47 years old and my periods have become very heavy. They have always been very light. Is this a sign that I am starting to go through menopause? What can I expect next?
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I am 47 years old and my periods have become very heavy. They have always been very light. Is this a sign that I am starting to go through menopause? What can I expect next?
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Comments (5)
Mine got very heavy before menopause.
Each woman reacts differently to it. There’s some combination of hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, memory loss, weight gain, and calcium deficiency. Have fun!
That is one of the symptoms along with feeling that the bells and whistles are beginning to fall off. Hot flashes and confusions are the fun symptoms. Also check with a gynocologist as there is treatment for the symptoms or whatever may be causing the heavy periods. Heavy periods can also come from fibroid tumers that may need to be removed.
Usually irregular periods are the first signs of menopause…. Although a change in weight, mood, and hot flashes can also occur.
If they became heavier you need to go in to the OBGYN and have them rule out any sort of pathological cause… besides menopause.. to be on the safe side.
Please go in as soon as possible to get a work up… They can run tests on your hormones to see where you are at in the change.
it could be…everyone is different when it comes to the first stages of menopause – usually you have changes in your cycle (some get heavier and more frequent, some are the opposite) accompanied by symptoms of hormonal changes (moodiness, achiness, fatique, hot flashes, sweating). Talk to your doctor – if you’re interested in hormonal replacement therapy (HRT), this can relieve some of the symptoms you’re experiencing (as well as help to prevent bone loss that can occur during menopause). Some women will continue to have abnormal, irregular periods for years before they actually hit ‘menopause’. Others will progress quite quickly…again, talk to your doc, they can give you an idea of where you are by testing the functioning of your ovaries (which excrete estrogen), as well as give you some treatment options.
here’s some general menopause info:
I would get checked out and rule out fibroid tumors (they’re not cancerous).
Most women who have them fall in your age range. I am 32 and have known I had mine since I was 23, which is super young for them.
Usually, at your age, if you have them, they just wait for menopause to start, because as estrogen goes away, they will reduce or go away, too.