Perimenopause, Menopause and Postmenopause

December 14, 2020

4 min read

Perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause are stages you, as a woman, go through in life when your monthly period becomes irregular and/or stops. During this time, you're getting to the end of your reproductive years.

Perimenopause is the first stage of the entire process and can begin around eight to 10 years before menopause. Menopause is where you stop getting your menstrual periods for at least a year, and postmenopause is the stage you experience once you've transitioned through menopause.

What Is Perimenopause?

Perimenopause is the period before you reach menopause when you're experiencing biological and hormonal changes and you start having physical symptoms. This stage typically lasts for around three to five years.

You generally transition into perimenopause during your late 40's.

Symptoms of Perimenopause

You may begin experiencing irregular periods and symptoms like:

Night sweats
Hot flashes
Elevated heart rate
Sleep disturbances-insomnia
Urinary issues
Mood changes - depression, irritability, anxiety
Vaginal discomfort or dryness during sexual intercourse

There's still the possibility of becoming pregnant during perimenopause and if you wish to avoid this, you should use some type of birth control until one year following your last menstrual period.

Treatment for Perimenopause

Treatments for perimenopause may include:

1. Hormone Therapy: This is systemic estrogen therapy. It comes in a:

Skin patch
Pill
Cream
Gel

It is still a highly effective option of treatment to relieve menopausal and perimenopausal night sweats and hot flashes.

2. Antidepressants: Specific antidepressants in the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) class of drugs might decrease your menopausal hot flashes.

3. Vaginal Estrogen: This is used for relieving vaginal dryness. It delivers estrogen directly to your vagina using a ring, cream, or tablet. Small amounts of estrogen are released which your vaginal tissue absorbs. It helps with vaginal discomfort from sexual intercourse, certain urinary symptoms, and dryness.

4. Gabapentin: This is an approved medication for treating seizures. However, it's been shown to help decrease hot flashes. It's useful if health reasons keep you from using estrogen therapy.

What Is Menopause?

Menopause is a natural, normal transition in life beginning usually when you're between 35 years old and 55. Your ovaries become smaller during this time and stop creating the hormones progesterone and estrogen that control your menstrual cycle. Also, your fertility starts to decline and your eggs are depleted. Eventually, you won't be able to get pregnant any longer.

Following menopause, your body starts making less of the estrogen and progesterone hormones. When you have extremely low levels of estrogen after menopause, it could impact your health, causing symptoms like hot flashes.

You might be transitioning into menopause if you start to experience some or all of these symptoms:

Cold flashes and/or night sweats
Hot flashes (Sudden warmth feeling spreading throughout your body)
Troubles sleeping (insomnia)
Vaginal discomfort during sex and dryness
Dry eyes, dry skin or dry mouth
Urinary urgency (you need to urinate more often)
Emotional changes (mood swings, irritability, mild depression)

Treatments for Menopause

Menopause treatments are the same as those for perimenopause. They focus on easing your symptoms as well as managing or preventing chronic conditions that could occur as you get older. Your doctor may also give you medications to prevent or treat osteoporosis.

What Is Postmenopause?

Postmenopause is where you haven't had your menstrual period for an entire year (and the remainder of your life after you've gone through menopause). In this stage, symptoms like hot flashes and night sweats might ease up for many women.

But, some women will keep on experiencing symptoms of menopause for a lot longer after they've transitioned into menopause. There are a few factors, which include a low estrogen level, that place postmenopausal women at a greater risk for numerous health conditions, like heart disease and osteoporosis.

Treatment for Postmenopause

Aside from the normal hormone therapy, your doctor might suggest other common treatments for postmenopause, including:

Vaginal estrogen for the vaginal discomfort, dryness, and urinary symptoms
Vitamin D and calcium supplements for bone strengthening with osteoporosis
Exercise to stimulate bone and heart health and maintain a healthy weight
Vaginal lubricant to help increase comfort during sex
Diet to help manage a healthy weight
Incontinence treatment for gaining bladder control

Before you decide on any type of treatment for either of these conditions, consult with your doctor about your treatment choices, and the benefits and risks involved with each.

Have You Found a Home Remedy That Works for Your Menopausal Symptoms?

Consider subscribing to Healthread if you're struggling with symptoms of perimenopause, menopause, or postmenopause. Healthread is chock-full of other women looking for symptom relief and tips for these conditions, as well as other individuals looking to feel more confident in their bodies and improve their health. You're not alone. Here you can connect with others going through the same thing.