Just For Women Tips
Read these 14 Just For Women Tips tips to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Each tip is approved by our Editors and created by expert writers so great we call them Gurus. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Emotional tips and hundreds of other topics.
Early Symptoms
One of the first symptoms of approaching menopause is hot flashes (see tip on hot flashes). Those infamous hot flashes usually last between three and six minutes and may occur up to several times a day. Hot flashes can be mild to physically draining. They may or may not include sweating and often can lead to insomnia. Associated with hot flashes might be headache, nausea, and general feelings of lethargy or difficulty in concentration.
Gender Issue
Women experience more guilt than men. I do not know why that is, we just do. We take responsibility for our own actions, our children's actions, and our husband's actions. To beat the guilt trip, ask yourself the following question: Did I intentionally wrong someone? If your answer is "no," but the result of someone else's actions, then, tell yourself to let it go -- do this out loud or in writing. For example, "I am not at fault because my "ex" is telling my kids bad things about me." Then, let it go....
Depression
Depression strikes twice as many women as men. This is often the result of changing levels of hormones in the woman's body brought on by menopause or pregnancy. To find out more about menopause and how it relates to depression, you may want to read this book The Wisdom of Menopause.
The Role of Estrogen
It was once believed that when a woman goes through menopause, her body discontinues producing an important hormone called estrogen. This is not true, however. Although estrogen levels decline, it continues to be produced through fatty tissue and the adrenal glands.
Memory Problems
There is no real scientific proof that menopause causes memory problems. That is because it is difficult to sort out all of the symptoms of menopause and the effects they have on memory. For example, if a woman is having night sweats and not sleeping well, these symptoms will most likely affect her concentration and memory during the day.
Guilt For Divorce
Do you feel guilty for having initiated a divorce because you perceive the divorce has harmed your children? This is such a common phenomenon for women. We are responsible for raising our children, yes. We are also responsible for looking out for our own emotional needs. Divorce is a difficult thing, but at times, a necessity. If you have divorced and are feeling guilty for the sake of the children, let your guilt go. Forgive your "ex" for causing you to feel the guilt, and go on with life.
Mood Swings
Some women going through menopause experience a change in emotional health. They may experience mood swings, depression, crying spells, or irritability. These symptoms are often the result of a drop in the hormone estrogen. If you are experiencing these symptoms, you may want to contact your doctor as most symptoms of menopause are treatable.
Hot Flashes
A common symptom of menopause is hot flashes. Hot flahses are caused by levels of estrogen and progesterone falling in the body. The body begins to fail making these two hormones as a woman ages. This process typically takes place sometime between the ages of 40 and 50, but many women begin experiencing symptoms, particularly hot flashes, before the age of 40. It is also not uncommon for a woman to not experience hot flashes until much later. To find out more about replacing progesterone naturally, visit What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause.
Menopause & Depression
Some women going through menopause experience depression. Sometimes this is because they lack social support, have negative feelings toward aging, or a poor marital relationship. Some women feel useless or less of a woman because they are losing the ability to ever have children again. If you are going through menopause and depression, you may want to contact your doctor. Symptoms of menopause can be treated. For more information on menopause, you may want to read The Wisdom of Menopause.
Irregular Bleeding
When a woman approaches menopause, it is common for the menstration flow to become irregular. The bleeding may become less, but it is also not uncommon for bleeding to increase and for periods to last longer than they did in the past. Periods may also get closer together, or they may disappear all together. Because of these many physical changes, women going through menopause often experience emotional changes as well. To learn more about these changes, you might want to read The Wisdom of Menopause.
Body Changes
Some body changes associated with menopause are changes to the vaginal canal. A woman going through menopause may experience dryness, and thinning or shrinking of the vaginal walls that make her prone to infections of both the vagina and bladder.
Decrease in Sexual Drive (Libido)
Sexual functioning is composed of several different components. For example, there is motivation, desire, pleasure, and then there is the actual bodily response of orgasm. Sexual function can be divided into two components. All of these can be affected by menopause. This is because of the decrease of the hormones such as estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, or androgen. If you are experience a decrease in sex drive, and have low testosterone, you may be helped by an over-the-counter hormone called DHEA (dephroepiandrosterone). Women with low sex drive and low-normal testosterone levels may be helped by the over-the-counter hormone supplement dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). To find out more about DHEA, or to purchase DHEA supplements, you can click on this link BioSynergy.
What is Menopause?
When a woman reaches the age of about 45-50, levels of the hormones of estrogen and progesterone drop. These hormones are necessary for the menstrual cycle in that they signal the uterus each month to swell with blood and thicken walls in preparation for supporting conception of a child. Without these hormones, the uterus simply does not thicken or swell with blood, so the woman's menstrual flow becomes less and less until it stops.
Research Needed
Menopause continues to lack therapeutic support and treatment at the rate of many other disorders but the good news is that work is being done to better understand menopause symptoms in support of finding treatment. If you are interested in helping out in the process and being part of a research project on menopause, you may want to visit Veritas Medicine.
| Guru Spotlight |
| Sheri Ann Richerson |
