02/10/2023
Knowing what is happening to your body gives you an advantage. It helps you to know key areas you need to focus on to give yourself the best possible chance at a healthy pregnancy.
Brethren let talk about Menopause a bit. Please read to educate yourself.
The Menstrual Cycle in the Climacteric and Menopause Years of a Healthy Woman
Approximate age of 40-60 years for climacteric, age 40-55 for menopause, with menopause occurring within the climacteric years.
Now this may seem very confusing because most of us have very little education on what happens during “the change of life” a woman goes through as fertility declines. Most women begin the natural phase known as climacteric around the age of 40. Remember this is what is supposed to happen, it is part of the natural processes of life. At this time, the menstrual cycle length begins to shorten from about 28 days to around 26 days, this is because the ovaries begin to lose their ability to produce mature follicles, estrogen and progesterone. Cycle length may be different for each woman; these numbers are just averages.
Over the next many years, the decline in hormone release and mature follicle production causes even more menstrual cycle changes. Cycles may become shorter, longer, or the cycle may be skipped. Ovulation may or may not occur during any given cycle as a woman approaches menopause. Menopause is confirmed once a woman has not had her menstrual cycle for at least one full year, and is between the ages of 40-55. Menopause may take 1-7 years to complete. The changing hormone levels continue until climacteric is complete, which may last until around the age of 60.
There are 3 distinct phases of change for women in the climacteric phase of life.
Phase 1 Perimenopause: 2 to 8 years leading up to cessation of menstruation
Menstrual cycles become irregular
Hormone levels change
It is still possible to conceive naturally and carry a baby to term with help of fertility treatment which involves rejuvenating the ovaries and boosting the egg quality. Your
Doctor’s may suggest medical assistance options like IUI or IVF
Phase 2 Menopause: Defined by absence of menstruation for one year. Doctor’s may also use certain hormone testing to indicate menopause, they are as follows:
Elevated FSH level between 60 to 100mL/L on two tests done at least 1 month apart may indicate menopause
LH level greater than 50mIU/L and estradiol less than 50pg/mL
Some reproductive endocrinologists are willing to do IVF with an egg donor for women in menopause
Phase 3 Post-menopause: the first stage typically lasts about 4 years of continued physical symptoms of hormonal changes, with the second stage lasting for years until all symptoms of hormonal changes end. This last stage is different for each woman, but usually ends by age 58-60.
The human female body is designed to go through these changes very slowly over time. Sudden change in a short period of time may cause more severe symptoms in the body. This great shift in fertility, though it is long and drawn out, may produce many unwanted physical symptoms including:
Muscles of the va**na, cervix, uterus and ovaries atrophy
Muscles in the pelvic floor and surrounding supportive tissues lose tone
Lack of cervical mucus
Bone mass declines
Metabolic rate slows down
Breast shape, firmness, and size changes
Hot flashes
Mood changes, depression, insomnia, and anxiety
Mild incontinence due to weakening and shrinking of pelvic tissues
Heart palpitations
Though these symptoms can be uncomfortable, this process is completely natural and is what is supposed to happen to the body. It is a “rite of passage”. I know, this may not be comforting to hear, but it is the truth.
Menopause is not a disease that needs to be treated, it is a natural phenomenal.
