If you are a woman and approaching midlife, you may be waiting for menopause to come crashing down on you. However, some menopausal signs are much more subtle than the hot flashes and mood swings we hear so frequently about.
Women of menopausal age should look for the following unusual symptoms of menopause when considering their health midlife:
For some women, menopause brings on a time when breasts lose their fullness and you may find your bra fitting looser than previously. While this phenomena is due to changing estrogen levels, most women need not worry about losing substantial size.
Another red flag of menopause is lack of sleep. With estrogen levels dropping, women’s temperature controls within the brain begin to function less efficiently. As a result, hot flashes may wake women up in the middle of the night, disrupting sleep patterns and making falling back to sleep difficult.
Regulating your sleep times can help. Plan to go to bed at the same time every night and get up at the same time every morning, keeping your place of rest cool. Do your best to limit how much you drink in the evening, to prevent the need to wake up and use the restroom.
It’s amazing what estrogen production does for our bodies, and how they change when levels drop. Dry skin often develops in menopausal women because the skin requires estrogen to remain soft and elastic. Daily moisturizers, the thickest you can obtain, will help to ease this symptom.
This especially rare symptom will cause women to feel a burning sensation or pain on the tongue, lips, gums, or other areas within the mouth. Another manifestation of this symptom is a change in the way foods taste. Because hormone production is on the decline, taste buds become extra sensitive to sensations of pain. Women who experience this symptom may want to try bio-identical hormone therapy to treat these issues.
The hypothalamus gland regulates heat in the body using the sweat glands. When estrogen levels drop, this gland starts to think the body is overheated and causes excessive sweating. During hot flashes, this release of fluid can cause body odor, as toxins release with sweat. One way to prevent this cycle of overheating and body odor is to eat healthy and practice stress reduction techniques, like meditation. Bathing more often and using stronger deodorant and antiperspirants, as well as wearing permeable clothing that encourages air flow, can help.
If menopause is causing your body to change in ways that feel uncomfortable and negatively affect your daily life, consider contacting Water’s Edge Natural Medicine. Our bioidentical hormone replacement therapy treatments, as well as nutritional therapy and herbal remedies, can help you feel your very best.
