What Is Early Menopause?
Menopause is the body’s natural progression through age. After the child bearing years your body will naturally lower the hormone levels and you will start to go into early menopause and eventually full menopause.
Some of the symptoms of early natural menopause are:
- Decreased menstrual cycles
- Unpredictable menstrual cycles
- Weight gain
The fact that none of these symptoms are exclusive of menopause it can make it hard to diagnose a woman in early menopause. There are tests that can be run to check hormone levels which are the leading cause of early menopause. Another thing that can help doctors determine if you are having perimenopausal symptoms is a family history that includes information on when your grandmother, mother, aunts, and sisters started having menopause symptoms.
There are also certain medical conditions that will lead to early menopause:
- Untreated STD’s
- Endometriosis
- Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)
- Cancer of the reproductive organs
- Women who have had hysterectomies
Women who have some untreated STD’s can end up experiencing menopause at an earlier date, for this reason women should see a medical professional for regular exams. PID can cause an early onset of menopausal symptoms and is often caused by an untreated STD. PID is caused by an infection to the female reproductive organs. PID symptoms can mimic early menopause symptoms and thus a complete medical exam should be done to rule out PID when you have these types of symptoms. PID can be treated and cured, but the effects of a long standing infection may be permanent.
Endometriosis is a condition where endometrial stroma and glands, the lining of the uterus, are found outside of the uterus in other areas of the body. This condition is painful and often leads to many other health issues. The type of treatments vary with endometriosis, some include hormone therapy, pain killers, laparoscopic surgery, or endometrial ablation, and sometimes even lead to a partial or full hysterectomy. Another treatment often used by doctors to help endometriosis patients is induced menopause. This is done especially when fertility treatments are being sought to help control the amount of hormones in your body and give you a better chance of invetro working.
Cancer of the reproductive organs can lead to hysterectomy which will put you into early menopause. When a hysterectomy is performed the woman loses the ovaries which decrease hormone levels. Premature ovarian failure also mimics early menopause and is another possible diagnosis that will be further checked out by your doctor.
Often treatment of early menopause is limited by doctors. There are many natural extracts and herbal menopause relief options for you to consider. Some that can help diminish your symptoms, such as Hot Flash Freedom, are products that contain natural extracts in order to help cope with menopausal symptoms.