Menopause should not be a cause for pause

Hot flushes, mood swings, vaginal dryness, and a tempered sex drive – these are just some of the popular symptoms of menopause. But what really is menopause? Is it truly something that women should dread about?

According to medical experts, menopause is a normal condition that all women experience as they age. The term menopause is commonly used to describe any of the changes a woman experiences either just before or after she stops menstruating, marking the end of her reproductive period. See, ladies, menstruation marks the end of a woman’s reproductive period, not necessarily her life. So relax and read on!

What causes menopause?

A woman is born with a finite number of eggs, which are stored in the ovaries. The ovaries also produce the hormones estrogen and progesterone, which regulate menstruation and ovulation. Menopause occurs when the ovaries no longer produce an egg every month and menstruation stops.

When it occurs after the age of 40, menopause is considered "natural" and is a normal part of aging. But some women can experience early menopause, either as a result of surgical intervention like hysterectomy or damage to the ovaries caused, for instance, by chemotherapy. If it occurs before the age of 40, regardless of the cause, it’s called premature menopause.

How does natural menopause occur?

Natural menopause is the permanent ending of menstruation that is not brought on by any type of medical treatment. For women undergoing natural menopause, the process is gradual and is described in three stages:

• Perimenopause. Perimenopause begins a few years before menopause, when the ovaries gradually produce less estrogen. It lasts up until menopause, the point when the ovaries stop releasing eggs. In the last one to two years of perimenopause, the decrease in estrogen accelerates. At this stage, many women experience menopause symptoms.

• Menopause. Menopause is the point when a woman has her last menstrual period. At this stage, the ovaries have stopped releasing eggs and producing most of their estrogen. Menopause is diagnosed when a woman has gone without a period for 12 consecutive months.

• Postmenopause. These are the years after menopause. During this stage, menopausal symptoms, such as hot flushes, ease for most women. However, health risks related to the loss of estrogen increase as the woman ages.

How do I know when I am going through menopause?

You begin to notice signs of menopause as your follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) levels dramatically rise and your ovaries begin to shut down; these levels are easily checked through one blood test.

In addition, your vaginal walls will thin, and the cells lining the vagina will not contain as much estrogen. Your doctor will simply take a pap-like smear from your vaginal walls – simple and painless – and analyze the smear to check for vaginal "atrophy," the thinning and drying out of your vagina. It helps if you keep track of your periods and chart them as they become irregular.

What can I do to ease vaginal dryness?

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is usually undertaken to treat symptoms brought about by menopause. But there’s also another cheaper, equally effective means to treat menopausal discomfort and this is through the use of lubricants like Felina.

A water-based lubricant, Felina relieves pain caused by vaginal dryness by providing a sensation of natural lubrication, unlike the heavy, sticky feeling women get with other lubricants. It gives women pleasurable intimate relations with their partners, without the anxiety due to dryness and discomfort. With Felina, menopause certainly need not be a cause for pause.