What are the possible symptoms and problems of the menopause?
The menopause is a natural event. You may have no problems. However, it is common to develop one or more symptoms which are due to the low level of oestrogen.
Short term symptoms
- Hot flushes occur in about 3 in 4 women. A typical hot flush lasts a few minutes and causes flushing of your face, neck, and chest. You may also perspire (sweat) during a hot flush. Some women become giddy, weak, faint, or feel sick during a hot flush. The number of hot flushes can vary from every now and then, to fifteen or more times a day. Hot flushes tend to start just before the menopause, and typically persist for 2-3 years.
- Sweats commonly occur when you are in bed at night. In some cases they are so severe that sleep is disturbed and you need to change your bedding and night clothes.
- Other symptoms may develop such as headaches, tiredness, palpitations, being irritable, difficulty sleeping, depression, anxiety, aches and pains, loss of libido (sex drive), and feelings of not coping as well as before. It can be difficult to say whether these symptoms are due to the hormone changes of the menopause. For example, you may not sleep well or become irritable because you have frequent hot flushes, and not directly because of a low oestrogen level. Also, there may be other reasons why these other symptoms develop. For example, depression is common in women in their 'middle years' for various reasons.
Long term changes and problems
- Skin and Hair. You tend to lose some skin protein (collagen) after the menopause. This makes the skin drier, thinner, and more likely to itch.
- Genital area. Lack of oestrogen tends to cause the tissues in and around the vagina to become thinner and drier. These changes can take months or years to develop.
- The vagina may shrink a little, and expand less easily during sex. You may then have some pain when you have sex.
- Your vulva (the skin next to your vagina) may become thin, dry, and itchy.
- Next: Osteoporosis after the menopause
More help and advice
- Tips on controlling the symptoms
- Read one woman's story of going through the menopause
- Are home testing kids worth it?
All pages in this article:
Find out more
Get to more facts
- Menopause and HRT
- What is the menopause?
- Osteoporosis after the menopause
- What is HRT (hormone replacement therapy)?
- What are the benefits of HRT? (hormone replacement therapy)?
- What are the risks in taking HRT?
- What are the risks in taking HRT (cont'd)
- What about side-effects when taking HRT?
- What about taking HRT to help prevent osteoporosis?
3 months
Pamela McKee
I am a 65-year-old going through a deferred manopause - I was using HRT patches for around 12 years, before I 'fell' off during a period of caring for my husband after he had a quadruple bypass operation, and at the same time his mother was in hospital and my mother developed her final illness. I way always at the end of my priority list so I just forgot to change the patches. I was coping OK but then my husband developed atrial fabrilation as well and I developed the anxiety - ouch! I woke a couple of times at 3am with a pounding heart and sweat pouring from my person and feeling awful, although I did find that if I sat down with my Sokudo puzzle book, the anxietly died down then went away! Now it seems like if I have a mild anxious period, like getting everyting sorted out before going on holiday, my body takes over and makes it worse, I've been getting 'skipped' heartbeats as well now as well as the normal palpitations which accompany some of my flushes. Anyone else having similar problems, or am I alone?
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