![\"\"](\"https:\/\/simplyhealth.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Night-Pain.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Could it be that you are suffering from perimenopause? Just in case you\u2019ve never heard of it and have no idea what perimenopause is, then let\u2019s define it for starters: Perimenopause is the period of time which most commonly occurs before a women starts undergoing menopause itself. Thus, perimenopause can be considered to be the pre-menopausal syndrome that affects most women before they start undergoing menopause. It\u2019s not a pleasant occurrence by any means but if you\u2019re a female then you can almost be certain that it will be happening to you in your life at some point. But it is a wide range of symptoms that not everyone might spot when it happens, and this can lead to a lot of confusion about what could be wrong. Here\u2019s a collection of twelve notable perimenopause symptoms, what they do and what you can do about treating them when they happen<\/p>\n
One of the symptoms of perimenopause<\/a> that you might experience, and sometimes often one of the first, is some kind of change in your monthly period cycle. The first thing that starts happening is irregular periods \u2013 that is to say that your period no longer follows the same cycle that it normally would have. This can be in the form of a period that you\u2019ve entirely missed that continues for a while \u2013 but happens only once every so often, or it can manifest in the form of periods that keep skipping and occurring on dates that aren\u2019t your normal cycle.<\/p>\n If you are experiencing irregular periods, the first thing you might think is pregnancy \u2013 but there are other causes for irregular periods, including certain diseases and disorders, severe anemia and stress that\u2019s associated with your regular day to day life. You shouldn\u2019t assume that you have perimenopause for one symptom.<\/p>\n Another common symptom of perimenopause that you might struggle with in the beginning phases of perimenopause is the sudden changing of your period cycle \u2013 as opposed to the irregular periods we\u2019ve just discussed in considerable length and detail in the last point, you might also experience periods changing in the form of your period flow instead of cycle: You might note that your period\u2019s flow has suddenly become lighter or heavier than you would normally expect.<\/p>\n This can also prove to be a symptom of perimenopause, or it can prove to be a symptom of a wide variety of other disorders, which can include endometriosis<\/a>, stress, changes in diet and a range of others. You should always rule these out as symptoms of other disorders before you attribute what could be wrong with you to perimenopause \u2013 assuming that it\u2019s one thing when it is not could be dangerous in itself.<\/p>\n Breast pain is another symptom associated with perimenopause and menopause<\/a>.<\/p>\n There is also a wide range of other things that breast pain and tenderness can be associated with, which includes signs that your period is about to occur and other changes in your body and diet. Breast tenderness is a symptom that most often happens to women when they are experiencing some kind of hormonal changes, so you should always take note of this as a symptom and mention this to your doctor \u2013 yes, even if you think that you already know what it is.<\/p>\n It could be a sign of perimenopause, but there are many other things that breast pain can signify, the most serious of which is breast cancer in its beginning stages \u2013 yes, sometimes cancer hurts and sometimes it doesn\u2019t. Every person\u2019s symptoms are different and should be taken into account when talking to their medical doctors.<\/p>\n Lowered sex drive is also sometimes experienced as a symptom of menopause and perimenopause.<\/p>\n The reason this happens to the body is because of the hormone<\/a> changes that your body experiences with going through perimenopause. Your hormone levels are naturally changing, and this means that the way your body reacts to different things is going to change and become different to what you are used to. Changes like this should most often be reported to your doctor so that your hormone levels can be tested \u2013 usually through a simple blood test.<\/p>\n This is the easiest way to figure out what is really going on in your body rather than speculating over what could or could not be the cause of your discomfort. Lowered sex drive is a somewhat embarrassing personal problem that means many people don\u2019t mention it to their doctor \u2013 but can you really afford to take that chance?<\/p>\n Anxiety<\/a> is a common symptom that many women experience when they are going through menopause or perimenopause. In fact, it is also a common symptom that women find themselves experiencing when they are going through any sort of hormonal changes which affect the body \u2013 and this can include the time before their period hits to the time they are pregnant. Or, it can be indicative of perimenopause.<\/p>\n It can also mean that you suffer from some type of mental condition that affects anxiety in your brain and this is something which you should always rule out first before you decide that your symptoms are most definitely due to perimenopause. Visit your doctor and mention your increased anxiety to them first, they will most likely do some tests to find out what the real cause of your anxiety is and be able to give you the best course of action forward.<\/p>\n Have you been feeling depressed much more often that you normally would lately? Depression<\/a> can be a very common symptom of menopause and perimenopause about to occur. This is, and you have likely guessed this by now, is because of the fact that your hormone levels are rapidly changing to prepare your mind and body for another phase of life \u2013 and this can manifest with symptoms such as anxiety and depression.<\/p>\n Again, you should mention these hormonal and mood changes to your doctor immediately when they occur, as they could well be a sign of perimenopause but could also signify that there are other very serious issues with your health that need to be addressed. And nobody really likes feeling depressed all the time, do they? A doctor is usually more than happy to prescribe something that will help and address the cause of what\u2019s wrong, not just the symptoms.<\/p>\n Do you find that you have been feeling more and more tired lately? This can also be another symptom of perimenopause, and it\u2019s one of the symptoms that\u2019s most commonly misdiagnosed as being part of something else \u2013 or just being general tiredness<\/a>, which means that an entire scope of disorders and diseases could be missed as a result.<\/p>\n If you are feeling more tired than usual, don\u2019t just try to live through it and stay awake for as long as you can \u2013 some people even choose to treat this symptom with the use of aids like caffeine, and that is very bad for your health in the long run. If you\u2019re feeling more tired than you normally are and you find that it\u2019s interfering with your daily life, you should go to your doctor and tell them to take a look at your hormone levels first. It could be perimenopause.<\/p>\n Have you been experiencing bouts of hot flashes<\/a>? This is a very common sign of perimenopause and menopause \u2013 even of early-onset menopause. This is the symptom that most people in fact associated with menopause; it\u2019s even the symptom that\u2019s most often mentioned in jokes about menopause. Why? Well, we\u2019d say just because pretty much everyone experiences it, and if you combine it with all the other symptoms on this list than the cause can\u2019t be much else than perimenopause or menopause.<\/p>\n Hot flushes can also be experienced with other disorders, though the warm kind of skin flush that women experience most commonly is a certain sign of perimenopause and happens because of the hormonal changes as well as relevant changes in blood flow. Overall, this changes the way that the body reacts to what\u2019s around it, leading to the symptom most people only know as hot flushes. Scientific, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n Weight gain<\/a> is an uncomfortable subject and it\u2019s one that women prefer not to talk about. Yet it\u2019s something that affects most women all over the world, and we would go as far as to say that there\u2019s not a single women on earth who isn\u2019t somehow uncomfortable with their weight \u2013 most women can say that they\u2019re unhappy with their weight on some or other level, whether they consider themselves to be too fat, too skinny, too prone to pick up weight, too easy to lose weight or any combination of those.<\/p>\n But weight gain and loss happens, and you should take note of any changes that happens to your weight. It could be a sign of perimenopause that occurs because of the hormonal changes that your body is currently going through. It could also be a sign of a wide range of other diseases and disorders, visit your doctor!<\/p>\n Nobody likes talking to everyone about what they most likely consider to be private. This includes vaginal dryness<\/a>, though can include a wide range of other things too. Is there anything that you consider too private or too embarrassing to speak to your doctor about? It\u2019s likely that vaginal dryness is considered one of these things. But it\u2019s a very important thing to mention to your doctor and a pretty huge change that you should always take note of.<\/p>\n It can be a symptom of many different things, including the hormonal changes that are associated with perimenopause or it can be associated with other conditions such as vaginismus or endometriosis. There is no overall treatment for vaginal dryness except treating the potential cause \u2013 and using alternatives such as lubricant when you find that you need it. It\u2019s a potentially embarrassing and personal symptom, but one that you should always mention.<\/p>\n Talking about embarrassing and personal symptoms, another common symptom that women with perimenopause might experience is the leakage of urine during things like coughing, sneezing and sitting down. This is partially because of the fact that during perimenopause and as the body gets older, the body starts to lose control over the muscles<\/a> that would have been particularly strong earlier on in your life, leading to embarrassing problems such as this \u2013 and others, like an impaired capacity to orgasm, or weaker orgasms than you are used to.<\/p>\n This happens, and while it\u2019s a little embarrassing it can be considered to be an entirely normal progression of age: It\u2019s something that happens to everyone, and while it might happen to some earlier than to others, you can know that you are not alone. This is something that\u2019s most often treated with kegel exercises that restore your muscles to their previous strength.<\/p>\n You shouldn\u2019t think that perimenopause is the exact same as what\u2019s commonly called premenstrual syndrome or PMS<\/a>. PMS commonly includes symptoms such as irritability, anxiety, depression, pain in the lower abdomen, pain and swelling in the abdomen, back pain and, of course, general discomfort. These are all symptoms that occur just before and during your normal period, and most women don\u2019t realize it, but the occurrence of perimenopause can make these symptoms much worse in the long run.<\/p>\n Perimenopause causes many changes in the body to occur, and many of these changes are related to hormone levels \u2013 these happen to be the exact same hormones that are affected when you undergo your period and experience PMS, and subsequently the symptoms are considered to be much of the same \u2013 though as we\u2019ve just said, can be considerably worsened by an occurrence of perimenopause. Consult your doctor if this happens to you.<\/p>\n\r\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/simplyhealth.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Worsens-with-movement.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n2. Changing Periods<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/simplyhealth.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Breast-or-chest-pain.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n3. Breast Pain<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/simplyhealth.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/pain-during-sex-1.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n4. Lowered Sex Drive<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/simplyhealth.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Change-in-behavior.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n5. Anxiety<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/simplyhealth.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Depression.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n6. Depression<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/simplyhealth.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Narcolepsy.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n7. Tiredness<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/simplyhealth.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Hot-flush.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n8. Hot Flashes<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/simplyhealth.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Weight-Gain.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n9. Weight Gain<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/simplyhealth.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Redness-Vulva_new.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n10. Vaginal Dryness<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/simplyhealth.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/increase-urination_new.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n11. Urine Leakage<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/simplyhealth.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Age_Endometrial-cancer.jpg\")
<\/h3>\n12. Worse PMS<\/h3>\n
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