Half the population will face the menopause – and usually the progress from perimenopause to menopause occurs for women in their 40s and 50s. can have many benefits, but as Fiona Russell looks back on the last decade, she reveals 13 of the things she wished she had known before running into the menopause. Menopause is a natural process and occurs when the ovaries no longer release an egg every month.
This results in the end of the menstrual cycle (periods) and, therefore, the opportunity for reproduction. At the same time, hormones including oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone, which are produced by the ovaries, decrease, while the cortisol level (known as the stress hormone) increases. In the UK, the average age for a woman to reach menopause is 51 and it is diagnosed as the cessation of menstruation for at least 12 months.
Meanwhile, peri-menopause, which are the years prior to menopause can last around five to 10 years. For most women, symptoms start in early to mid 40s. Before I discovered I was in the peri-menopause stage in my mid-40s, I knew of only a few outcomes of menopause and that was the end of my periods, as well as hot flushes and night sweats.
I quietly rejoiced that I would to longer face the monthly annoyance and reckoned I could deal with a few flushes. But then, peri-menopause arrived and I discovered that there are many more health-related issues connected to the changes in my hormones. The first symptom was muscle cramps so sore and long-lasting t.