In your 40s, your menstrual periods may become longer or shorter, heavier or lighter, and more or less frequent, until eventually — on average, by age 51 — your ovaries stop releasing eggs, and you have no more periods.
Usually beginning in the mid-40s, women enter a phase called perimenopause. During this phase, hormone levels and the menstrual cycle begin to change. Perimenopause may last from ages 45 to 55, although the timing varies from person to person. During this time, the ovaries get smaller and make less estrogen.
Women usually stop menstruating or attain menopause in their 40 or 50s, the average age being 50 years old. Sometimes, menopause may occur earlier due to a medical condition, medication, drug treatment or surgery such as the removal of the ovaries. Menarche and menopause are natural biological processes.
Early Stage. Perimenopause can begin in some women in their 30s, but most often it starts in women ages 40 to 44.
The first sign of perimenopause typically a disruption of your menstrual cycle. For many women, your period starts earlier or later than normal. For example, if your menstrual cycle has always been 28 days, during perimenopause, your period could come as early as 21 or as late as 35 days.
Towards the end of your period, you should experience a decrease in the volume, or amount, of menstrual blood until it stops all together. You might also notice a change in color towards the end of your cycle and see brown period blood.
A period that is heavier or lighter than usual may be the last period, but it can be difficult to tell. Perimenopause is the stage that precedes menopause. Doctors consider a person to be in the later stages of perimenopause when their periods are more than 60 days apart .
Hot flashes are one of the most common signs of perimenopause, the years leading up to menopause. Menopause, when your period stops for good, typically happens between age 45 and 55. Some women experience the heat and flushing of hot flashes without sweating, while others sweat so much they need a change of clothes.
Prescription medications such as estrogen therapy (estrogen in a cream, gel or pill), birth control pills and antidepressants (SSRIs and SNRIs) can help manage symptoms of menopause like mood swings and hot flashes. Prescription vaginal creams can help relieve vaginal dryness.
During the menopausal transition, the ovaries begin to work less effectively, and the production of hormones like estrogen and progesterone declines over time. It is believed that such changes cause hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms. Hormone therapy steadies the levels of estrogen and progesterone in the body.
Heavier Periods
When your estrogen levels are higher than your progesterone levels, the uterine lining grows and leads to more bleeding. While heavy periods are a common symptom of perimenopause, they can be dangerous. Losing too much blood can lead to iron deficiency.
You're not alone. Occasional heavy periods, called menorrhagia, are common in perimenopause. One study of more than 1,300 middle-aged women reported that 91 percent of them experienced at least one occurrence of heavy flow lasting three or more days during a three-year timeframe.
“Yes. PMS symptoms may get worse as you reach your late 30s or 40s and approach menopause and are in the transition to menopause, called perimenopause. This is especially true for women whose moods are sensitive to changing hormone levels during the menstrual cycle.
Periods without actual flow, also known as phantom periods or phantom flow, have symptoms that are very similar to those of a normal periods except that there is no actual blood release. Phantom periods can occur due to a variety of reasons including stress and endometriosis.
It's not a syndrome or an illness. It's the stage of life leading up to menopause, which only officially happens once you've gone a full year without a period—the North American average is age 51—unless it's caused by surgical removal of the ovaries.
Periods will usually start to become less frequent over a few months or years before they stop altogether. They might be more irregular and become heavier or lighter. For some women, they can stop suddenly. Postmenopause is the time after a woman experiences her last period.
Menopause is divided into three basic stages: perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause. During this time, the ovaries begin to atrophy which causes a decline in the production of the hormones that stimulate the menstrual cycle; estrogen and progesterone.
As they get older, women may notice that staying at their usual weight becomes harder. It's common for weight gain to start a few years before menopause, during the time known as perimenopause.
No, there isn't a test to find out if you are in perimenopause. It is very difficult to get an accurate measure of your hormone levels during this phase as your hormones are constantly fluctuating. This is why it's not particularly useful to measure any of the hormones during perimenopause.