Menopause how does it last

Vaginal dryness can be managed by using a water-based, over-the-counter OTC lubricant during sex or by using an OTC vaginal moisturizer used every few days. Your doctor can also prescribe medication to help with more severe vaginal discomfort. Easing stress, eating right, and staying physically active can help with mood swings and sleeping problems.

Your doctor may also prescribe medication to help with mood swings. You should talk to your doctor about managing your symptoms and to rule out other conditions that may be causing your symptoms, like depression or asthma.

Your doctor may also prescribe menopausal hormone therapy MHT to help treat your symptoms. MHT may also help slow bone loss and reduce mood swings and mild depressive symptoms.

Side effects of MHT include:. Studies show that women who take MHT are at an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and blood clots. The risks are similar for women using contraceptive pills, patches, and rings. However, women taking MHT are older, and the risks increase with age. Additional research found that the risk of getting breast cancer can increase with five or more years of continuous MHT use of estrogen with progestogen, not estrogen alone.

However, other conditions, like polycystic ovary syndrome PCOS or cervical cancer , can also cause irregular bleeding. See your doctor to rule out other causes if you:. Osteoporosis and heart disease are long-term health risks associated with menopause. Vaginal infections can also occur more frequently because your vagina has become dryer and thinner. Report menopausal symptoms when visiting the doctor.

Get assessed by your physician if you continue to have menopausal symptoms that are unbearable or last more than five years after your last menstrual period. Although menopause can cause uncomfortable symptoms for some women, this natural process has possible upsides, too. While menopause typically happens naturally as a woman ages, it can also happen if a woman has her ovaries surgically removed, says Arianna Sholes-Douglas, M.

Every woman is different, but the menopausal transition usually starts between ages 45 and 55, per the NIA. When you got your first period could also help predict when you'll experience perimenopause. So, the menopausal transition is not a quick process.

It usually lasts about seven years, but it can take as long as 14 years, the NIA says. Minkin says. During perimenopause, women will usually notice irregular periods. Minkin says, along with hot flashes, vaginal dryness, incontinence, a lack of interest in sex, and trouble sleeping, per the NIA. Symptoms of the menopause can start months or even years before periods stop completely. This includes hormone replacement therapy HRT , which replaces oestrogen to alleviate symptoms, creams for vaginal dryness, and cognitive behaviour therapy CBT to help with mood changes.

Speak to your doctor about the risks and benefits of different treatments. Read more about treatments on the NHS website. To help you manage hot flushes, simple things like wearing light clothing, using a fan and keeping your bedroom cool could help. Regular physical activity and eating a healthy diet can also help to improve menopausal symptoms.

See our pages on health and wellbeing for more information. Sharing experiences with other women going through the same thing could be reassuring. There are many websites, blogs and videos online where women have shared their stories of the menopause.

Back to top. Some women will experience an abrupt cessation of their monthly cycle, which does not recur. In these cases, there are often very few symptoms during perimenopause. Following that, however, the onset of symptoms once menopause does begin can be rapid and intense in these cases.

Many other women will experience a gradual shift from irregular cycles to no cycles, which will last for several years. This is the most common pattern, and it tends to be associated with a gradual onset of symptoms. Often, the severity of symptoms tends to fluctuate prior to and after menopause for a period of around 10 years. In general, late-onset menopause e. However, early-onset menopause can be associated with health problems.

Fortunately, it can be possible to delay early menopause if perimenopause has begun, but this depends on the cause of the condition. In some cases, it is possible to reduce the time that menopause symptoms last through treatment.

If these symptoms are recurring for an extended period of time and are bothersome, you may consider HRT hormone replacement therapy. This is considered to be a safe and effective option for postmenopausal women.

Essentially, this therapy is used to increase your estrogen levels, which will reduce or eliminate the symptoms of menopause in many cases. However, HRT will not reverse the process of menopause, but some types of treatment can bring back certain aspects of monthly cycles for some women e.