Perimenopause and Menopause

 

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More than hot flushes

Possible symptoms

  • Fatigue, disturbed sleep or night sweats
  • Brain fog, mood changes, anxiety, and depression
  • Change in weight & body shape
  • Dizziness or Palpitations
  • Cardiovascular disease
  • Worsening migraines or headaches
  • Changes to libido
  • Muscle and joint pains
  • Itchy, dry skin & thinning hair
  • Urinary infections, flushes incontinence, and bladder overactivity
  • Hot flushes
  • Bowel symptoms
  • More frequent or heavier periods
  • Vaginal dryness, itching or pain
  • Osteoporosis
 

Perimenopause and Menopause

This sounds like me, what can I do?

  • Check out the advice below.
  • If you have further questions or would like to discuss treatment, please make an appointment with your GP.
 

Reflect on your lifestyle

Eating a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy weight, stopping smoking, reducing alcohol, developing healthy sleep patterns, keeping hydrated, regular exercise, and finding time to relax are all essential to health and wellbeing. Sadly, with busy and demanding lives many of us don’t prioritise these basics.

Inform yourself

Take a look at the guidance from the following links:

Start a symptoms diary

This may help you identify your most troublesome symptoms and pinpoint a time in your menstrual cycle or a lifestyle choice that exacerbates them (e.g., poor sleep days 23-26 of cycle).

Pelvic Floor

Don’t forget to include the pelvic floor in your regular exercise regimen - you can find some guidance on the Squeezy App Website

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT)

The most effective way to treat symptoms is to replace the hormones your body no longer produces. This might include oestrogen, progestogen, or testosterone. Systemic HRT comes as tablets, patches, gels, and even sprays. Many women may be worried about the risk of breast cancer or other disease with HRT. The links below aim to put the risk into context. Vaginal (local) oestrogen comes as a pessary, ring, or cream. It can be used with or without systemic HRT and can be very effective at improving vaginal and urinary symptoms. It is considered very safe for almost every woman.

Do I need a blood test to diagnose the menopause?

  • If you are over 45 years, have irregular periods or other typical symptoms blood tests are not normally recommended.