Are You Curious... How Long Does Menopause Last?
We've all wondered... When does menopause start - what's happening in our body during the process - and when does it end.
And we'd like it in language that's easy to understand and apply to ourselves!
So in this video I'll show you:
- What to expect
- What to watch out for
- And how to support your hormones
At each stage of the menopausal transition.
Because when it comes to menopause - it helps to know what to expect. (Let's save the surprises for another time, OK?)
The most information with all the details and explanation about the symptoms of menopause are in that video, so be sure to check it out. But here's a quick written summary.
Where in your menopausal transition are you now?
The Stages Of Menopause
What are the different stages of the menopausal transition you can expect - and what should you focus on to support your hormones during each one?
And what about after menopause - do you still have to worry about your hormones then? Let's find out.
Menopause is a transition, a process.
These are average ages - for some women these same stages happen when they're a bit younger or a bit older (easily ten years on either side.)
When you're in your late teens, your female hormones reach a lifetime high - you're at your most fertile.
When you're in your late twenties say 25 - 35 your hormones start to decline slightly - but they're still pretty high.
After 35 they start to decline more quickly. Once they decline to a certain level you're officially in peri-menopause.
They they decline some more until your period stops. How long does menopause last after your period stops? Well, when you've gone 12 consecutive months without a period - you're officially at the moment of menopause. Your hormones continue to decline for another year or two...
Then they even out at your post menopausal levels.
The ages can vary 10 years or more on either end from woman to woman, but we all go through the same change from:
- Our highest hormone levels when we're at our most fertile
- To our hormones leveling out again at our post menopausal levels.
During that time we go through peri-menopause (hormones are declining but we're still having our period - even if we're having it irregularly.)
Then when our period's been gone for 12 consecutive months - we're officially at the moment of menopause.
When does menopause end? Well when the hormones finish declining and even out again we're done with the active transition and are in post menopause.
So take a minute right now to think about which stage of this transition you're at
STAGE 1: You're still at (or close to) your highest fertility levels - you haven't started perimenopause yet.
STAGE 2: Your cycle and/or PMS have started to change or you've simply reached the point where your hormones are likely starting to decline... You're in perimenopause. You're working to keep things balanced and keep your cycle flowing smoothly without too much PMS or bleeding.
STAGE 3: Your cycle has stopped or become very irregular, you're just before or after the moment of menopause, and you're working to keep your hormone levels from dropping too low or getting out of the correct ratio with each other to minimize discomforts like hot flashes, insomnia, weight gain, mood changes.
STAGE 4: Your cycle stopped a while ago - and things feel like they've pretty much stabilized again. You're focusing on helping your body continue to make hormones - and you're giving them a little tweak if they've ended up out of balance. (More details on this in the video!)
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What to watch for What to Focus on
What to watch out for, and how to support your hormones - at each stage of the menopausal transition
It's easier to get pregnant before your hormones get to the part where they're declining more quickly.
At this time, before you enter perimenopause, it's great to focus on replenishing and "topping off" your hormone levels.
Watch out for burning the candle at both ends, which can deplete your hormones & energy reserves. This will help make sure you DON'T start perimenopause with hormone levels that are already lower than they need to be.
They're about to drop and we don't want them going to low - so get them as high as you can to begin with.
Support your hormones and help build them up with Chinese herbs used with a great diet & lifestyle. In fact, you can often help extend your fertility and put off the faster decline for a few years this way!
Once you're in perimenopause you can get worsening PMS with everything from mood changes to migraines to increased bleeding, fatigue, body aches, insomnia, night sweats, and more.
Often the discomforts will come and go cyclically (like PMS) or be worse during PMS.
Your bleeding may become irregular - closer together or skipping a few months here and there - and it could get lighter or heavier...
Watch out for:
Your bleeding becoming too heavy too often or too close together.
Support your hormones:
If this is starting to happen you can often balance this out with Chinese herbs, or talk to your doctor about progesterone supplementation. Don't wait to long to get help if this starts to happen!
Watch out for:
Any of the discomforts mentioned above becoming severe.
Changes in the length of your cycle are normal. But if you're having severe discomfort, in Chinese medicine that's a sign your hormones may be more out of balance than they need to be.
Support your hormones:
For severe discomforts, I highly recommend working diet, lifestyle, and natural remedies like herbs to help harmonize and support your hormones as they start to change.
This can help relieve discomforts now, but it's also setting you up to have milder discomforts in the years to come.
Once you're closer to the moment of menopause you're more likely to experience irregular bleeding, then no bleeding, dryness, hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, weight gain, and possibly mood changes.
Watch out for:
Any of these discomforts becoming severe. It's natural to have a slight warm glow occasionally, but if you're having severe discomfort, in Chinese medicine that's a sign your hormones may be more out of balance than they need to be.
Support your hormones:
A nourishing diet & stress relieving lifestyle are helpful, but combining them with herbal remedies or other menopause-specific remedies are going to give you the biggest results for severe discomforts at this stage.
Your focus is on using diet, lifestyle, and menopause-specific remedies to:
- Keeping your hormones levels in harmony with each other while they change so quickly - the ratios are very important
- Keeping your hormone levels from dropping too low
After you pass and get farther and farther beyond the moment of menopause, your hormone levels will stabilize and stop changing so quickly.
Watch out for:
For some women their hormones seem to stabilize (and get stuck) out of balance. This can leave you still having hot flashes for years - decades even! (Or if you're left wondering, when does menopause insomnia end?)
Support your hormones:
In this situation your hormones just need a little help - a little tweak - to balance out and get stabilized in a more balanced level and ratio.
Watch out for:
The other BIG (and more common) thing to watch out for here is your hormones levels dropping too low. This is something you want to work on for the rest of your life!!
In the image below:
The picture on the left is what you want! Your body was designed to keep your hormone levels about as high as they were when you were ten or eleven years old (this is much higher than zero.)
In the picture on the right, the hormone levels have dropped almost to zero after the menopausal transition.
Support your hormones:
You want to support your body in making as many healthy hormones as it can in all the postmenopausal years.
These naturally higher hormone levels will help you feel younger, stronger, and more vibrant, and you'll be protecting the health of your heart, brain, and bones.
It'll even help with skin tone and muscle tone (so you'll look younger) and it'll help prevent dryness in the skin, eyes, mouth, and vaginal area, so you'll feel moister, juicier, and more vibrant.
A healthy diet and lifestyle are important to give your body the basic hormonal building blocks it needs to make these hormones... Stress management is also key to helping your body continue to make hormones at this stage...
But often some targeted help is needed. Herbal remedies are your most powerful tool other than HRT for keeping your hormone levels from dropping too low in these post menopausal years.
Action Steps
NOW - make a list of 1-3 things you're going to start doing in the next week to support your hormones for the stage of menopause you're in.
Ask yourself this:
Are you on a good basic diet with plenty of veggies, healthy fat, and protein and not too much sugar?
Is your lifestyle healthy with stress management, plenty of sleep, avoiding the biggest hormone-disrupting chemicals, and the right amount of exercise?
Are you taking any herbs, supplements or superfoods specifically for your stage of menopause?
If your answer to any of these is NO - that's a great place to start.
Pick one thing you're going to bring closer to a YES in the next week.
How to supporting your hormones
For help getting started, use these free resources
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