Does
“Premenopause” Exist? Yes, and it’s Called
Peri Menopause
As
your body makes the transition from your reproductive years
to menopause, you’ll notice some subtle changes in
your health, as well as some obvious signs that menopause
is on its way. The casual name for the time before menopause
is “premenopause,” but medically speaking, the
correct term is peri menopause or perimenopause. The prefix
“peri” means “around,” “about,”
or “near,” which is perfectly descriptive of
the events of premenopause. Peri
menopause is the second stage in the stages
of menopause.
Peri
menopause or premenopause occurs anywhere from two to eight
years before menopause, plus one year after your final period.
The symptoms of peri menopause are caused by changing hormone
levels in your body. Chiefly, your reproductive hormones
of estrogen and progesterone are rising and falling at an
uneven rate during premenopause, resulting in longer or
shorter menstrual cycles and possibly skipped periods. Other
symptoms of peri menopause include:
-
Menopause hot flashes
- Difficulty
sleeping
- Mood
swings
- Urinary
infections and urinary urgency
- Decreased
fertility
- Bone
loss
- Unhealthy
cholesterol levels
- Breast
tenderness
- Fatigue
Premenopause
or peri menopause is a completely natural transition as
your body prepares for a new phase of your life. To ease
the symptoms of peri menopause, many women concentrate on
making healthy lifestyle choices as a treatment
of menopause. These choices include sticking to a healthy
diet, getting regular exercise, staying at a healthy weight,
taking supplements, meditation and yoga for stress, drinking
plenty of water, and quitting smoking.
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