Menopause & Post Menopause Phase .. useful info..

The Menopause And Postmenopause Phase

After you reach menopause (periods have stopped for 12 months) things start to calm down a bit. Hormone levels settle at a lower level, mood swings stabilize and hot flashes subside. Your body begins to accept its new level of estrogen production, although a small percentage of women continue to suffer menopausal symptoms for another few years. In the longer term, consistent lower levels of estrogen cause some new physical changes to your body. These include:

Menopause Symptoms

Vaginal dryness: Medically called vaginal atrophy, low levels of estrogen can cause the vaginal tissue to shrink and dry out. It is most noticeable when sexual intercourse becomes painful without lubrication. Vaginal dryness is the most common cause of painful intercourse in women.

Vulva itchiness: The skin of the vulva dries and can become itchy. However always ask a doctor to check any changes in your vulva, as there are many other causes. See reproductive system disorders.

Urinary incontinence: The muscles and tissues in the urinary tract become weaker, so you might have leakages of urine when you laugh or sneeze. 

Urinary frequency: The need to urinate more often than you used to.

Weight changes: Body fat shifts to the center of your body, away from the arms and legs to settle in the waist. This means you take on a more apple body shape appearance. This doesn't necessarily mean you gain weight, but a larger tummy may mean you still need to go up a dress size. See weight gain and menopause.

Low libido: Decreased sex drive is a common problem in menopause and it can usually be traced back to testosterone levels being too low. See low libido in menopause.

Depression: If you have been taking estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) to cope with the side effects of menopause (rather than going through the natural weaning process), you may find you are suddenly hit with a wall of depression when you quit. 

Extra Problems

Estrogen is a miraculous hormone (as no doubt you are beginning to notice) - as well as all the wonderful functions it controls in our body, it also acts as a protector. It helps protect against bone disease (osteoporosis), heart disease and a host of other medical conditions. Once we hit menopause, we are no longer protected in the same way, which is why the risk of heart attacks, coronary heart disease and osteoporosis suddenly increase. For this reason, regular health screenings become even more important, as well as taking regular exercise, maintaining a healthy body weight and eating a balanced diet. 

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