About menopause

Also called the climacterium, and is loosely defined as the time around when you get your last period. The time when you have your last "natural" period is called menopause.

After puberty, the ovaries produce the hormones estrogen and progesterone, and at menopause the production of these drops significantly.

The average age for the last menstruation is 52 years.

Symptoms

Some have no symptoms, but most have symptoms that can be mild to significant. The most common symptoms are:

Irregular bleeding.

Hot flashes where you suddenly feel hot and your face may turn red.

Night sweats and worse sleep. This often comes in connection with hot flashes.

Mood changes, irritability, worse mood and increasing restlessness.

Less sex drive.

Muscle and joint pain.

At menopause, 80-85% will have hot flashes, 30% to a pronounced degree. These usually disappear within five years, 10% have hot flashes after 10 years.

In addition, many eventually experience long-term effects of lower estrogen levels. These are symptoms that often do not improve with time. The most common symptoms are that the mucous membrane in the vagina becomes thinner and drier. This can cause discomfort and make intercourse painful.