Some of the most distressing menopause symptoms subside a year or two after menopause when your hormones calm down and stop fluctuating. It depends on the type and cause of the symptom.
Symptoms Improve When Hormones Even Out
Perimenopause symptoms caused by extreme fluctuations in hormone levels usually improve significantly a few years after menopause. For a couple of years after your final menstrual period, hormones are still fluctuating. Some symptoms may even get worse the first year or two after menopause, before improving. When the hormones stabilize, the body, mind, and emotions find a new balance with a low level of hormones.
Perimenopause symptoms that usually improve after menopause include:
- Hot flashes
- Night Sweats
- Mood Swings
- Low, Blue Moods
- Lack of Energy
Some women continue to have hot flashes and night sweats, especially during very hot weather, even into their sixties and seventies. But the hot flashes are fewer and less intense, manageable, and not enough to keep you from living and enjoying your life.
Some women experience a new sense of freedom and energy after menopause. For most women it’s a relief and time of relative calm after the physical and emotional havoc of perimenopause.
Other Conditions Can Be Aggravated by Menopause
Perimenopause symptoms that don’t subside after menopause, can be caused by undiagnosed primary underlying issues that only worsened in menopause, rather than resolved by having passed through it. For example, thyroid deficiencies and elevated insulin levels may trigger hot flashes. Check in with your doctor who can evaluate your detailed medical history and order tests to determine if an underlying medical condition is responsible for the continued symptoms.
Normal Aging or Low Hormones
Menopause symptoms that are due to low estrogen levels (for example vaginal atrophy and skin drying) remain or increase even after the menopause transition years are over.
You may start to experience a variety of different post menopause symptoms. Often these symptoms are caused by the normal aging process, especially symptoms related to dryness or weakness. Not everything is caused by menopause, even though it may seem like that at times.
It Will Get Better!
Menopause symptoms will subside and you’ll feel better when your hormones calm down and stop fluctuating.
{ 2 comments }
Menopause occurs after 51 years of age or sometimes it can even occur before 40. During menopause, one has to suffer from moodiness, gets irritated fast etc. My mom suffers from menopause and we have to handle it very calmly because she gets irritated very fast in small things and we can’t help it, i can’t even get angry as its not her fault. She is going through medication.
Hi Joan,
Thanks for stopping by. You and your mother both have my sympathies during this difficult time. I know how it is. I was seldom emotional or angry until perimenopause hit me. Your mother is very lucky to have a daughter that understands that it’s her hormones that are causing her to act like that and not her “real” self. The good news is that it passes. The bad news is that it can take quite a few years. I had a look at your site and you have some useful suggestions there that might help your mother. (And you too — it’s not too early to start supporting your hormones and many of the symptoms of PMS in young women are caused by the beginning hormonal changes that lead to perimenopause.
All the best to you and your mom,
Catherine
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