Spotting Premenopause Symptoms Early

You can start experiencing premenopause symptoms when you are still in your late thirties. On the average, most women start seeing the signs when they are about forty. However it is not uncommon to start seeing them as much as eight years before you actually enter menopause. This stage of the process is also known as perimenopause, which literally translates into "around menopause." This is not entirely true, since you are not officially considered menopausal until you have not had a period for at least twelve months. Clearly, then, premenopause can last for quite a while. That means those symptoms could be with you for quite a long time as well.

One of the most telltale signs of premenopause predictably concerns your menstruation cycle. Premenopause affects your cycle in several ways. For one thing, your period starts to become irregular. In addition, you may experience extremely light or heavy flows when you do have your period. It may last for a shorter or longer span of time.

Your ovulation cycle also undergoes a change. Namely, it becomes more erratic as well. You may not ovulate every month. This, in turn, has an effect on your period – just as the changes in your period affect the way you ovulate. Premenopause epitomizes the entire idea of a terribly vicious cycle.

Hormones are behind these – specifically, the lack thereof. It is at this point of your life that your body starts making less estrogen. That, in turn, slows down the production of a number of other essential hormones. As their levels decline, they cannot "power" your period and ovulation cycles. They begin by becoming irregular, then gradually wind down, before stopping altogether. That is the point at which you have truly reached menopause. After your period has been absent for twelve months or more, then you are truly menopause.

Of course, there are many other symptoms to be on the look out for as well. Then again, some of them will show themselves loud and clear – not to mention uncomfortable. There is really no mistaking blazing hot flashes and awful night sweats for anything else. Some of the signs are more innocuous though. For instance, you may start getting headaches, probably at such a gradual rate that you may not even be able to tell anything is different right away. Insomnia coupled with feelings of fatigue are more easy to recognize. You will likely experience assorted aches and pains as well, in addition to tenderness in areas such as your breasts. As your estrogen levels continue to decrease, you may notice a lot of things drying out – your hair, your skin, even your vagina.

Last but not least, there are plenty of emotional symptoms too. Mood swings have to be expected, along with feelings of increased irritations. Depression is not at all uncommon during premenopause. You should really expect to feel inexplicably anxious. In fact, in general, you may feel quite a lot like you did when – if ever – you were pregnant, and the way you did just before you began menstruating for the first time.