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Menopause is a crucial time in all women’s lives. And just before it hits you, you may go through perimenopause – when your body starts transitioning to menopause. During this change, your ovaries begin producing less hormones, causing your menstrual cycle to become erratic or irregular.
In perimenopause – a natural or normal progression makes your body move toward the end of your reproductive years. However, it comes with both physical and emotional symptoms, a few of which can disrupt your life or make you uncomfortable.
A few bizarre signs of perimenopause that women should know of include:
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As your ovulation slows, your menstrual cycle will become irregular – which can mean shorter or longer cycle lengths, missed periods, and fluctuations in menstrual bleeding. Experts say your periods can also be heavier or lighter than normal.
Weight gain
Doctors say menopause can also bring a lot of changes in your metabolism – resulting in changes to your body composition. You may gain weight more easily or find that your physical functioning has become different.
Night sweats
Changing estrogen levels leads to many temperature variations in your body that cause sudden feelings of heat in your upper body. You may feel disturbing and debilitating hot flashes that cause heavy sweating, blotchiness, and cold shivering that last anywhere from 30 seconds to 10 minutes.
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Doctors say the muscles in your vagina and urinary tract begin to weaken during perimenopause – causing stress. These physical and mental health changes cause urinary incontinence or involuntary peeing even during a sneeze or cough.
Sleeplessness
For women undergoing perimenopause, it is difficult to fall or stay asleep due to hormonal imbalances. Night sweats or nocturnal hot flashes also lead to more sleep disruption during perimenopause, causing insomnia.
Phantom smells
Perimenopause causes phantom smells – also known as phantosmia—a condition where one smells things that are not even there, like smoke or tobacco, when no one is smoking. Phantosmia is common among women during perimenopause.
Other changes to your sense of smell during perimenopause include being able to smell things more or less strongly than you used to or even disliking certain smells, like perfumes or cleaning products
Noise sensitivity
Perimenopausal syndromes often include noise sensitivity in a number of ways, including Tinnitus, which is a ringing in the ears that can come and go and may be more noticeable in quiet environments. Menstruators going through perimenopause may experience mild to moderate hearing loss and have difficulty hearing high-pitched sounds or understanding speech in noisy environments.
Fluctuating hearing levels or increased difficulty processing sounds can be caused by elevated cortisol levels, which can impact the inner ear and auditory pathways.
At what age does perimenopause start?
Experts say perimenopause begins about eight to 10 years before menopause. It usually starts in your mid-40s, but it can start earlier. Some medical conditions or procedures cause early menopause. If there is no medical or surgical cause for premature menopause, it’s called primary ovarian insufficiency.
Ways to make symptoms of perimenopause better
You may be able to manage perimenopause symptoms at home without needing medication from your doctor. A few tips for treating your symptoms without medication include:
- Eat lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein and healthy fats
- Perform weight-bearing exercises like walking, hiking, or strength training
- Dress in layers so you can remove clothing if you begin to sweat or get hot flashes
- Use a fan or keep your house at a cooler temperature
- Improve sleep hygiene by avoiding TV and computer screens and doing relaxing activities before bed
- Limit alcohol and caffeine
- Practice meditation
- Quit using tobacco products