The menopause takes place with women between 40 and 55 years of age and it can take up to 10 years before it’s over. There are 4 different types of the menopause. The natural menopausal transition, the induced menopausal transition, the premature menopausal transition and the actual menopause. The body of a woman changes during the menopause. Hormones and the fertility decrease. Issues like pelvic pain, pelvic issues and urinal leakage also occur during the menopause. Every woman is born with millions of eggs. Every month, starting from your first period, those eggs start to ripen. The remaining and overripe eggs are being repelled by your body. Still, there comes a moment when this beautiful, natural process comes to an end. The female hormones will decrease, the ripening of your eggs will stop, and just like that you enter the menopausal transition. I’m taking you with me to an article about the menopause. Here you can read about the menopause and what it actually is.
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What does the menopausal transition actually mean?
The menopausal transition is a period your body uses to transition from being fertile to being infertile. This is quite the big transition, because this transitioning period averagely takes 10 years, and it doesn’t go too smoothly either. It’s hard to tell when your real last menstruation has been. Physically you will discover some hiccups when your hormones are stirring things up again. Everybody knows the hot flashes, the mood swings and the lethargy. But those aren’t the only things.
Hormones during the menopausal transition
Just like with a pregnancy, a lot of hormones get released during the menopausal transition, which also includes the hormone that causes the loss of strength in your pelvic floor. This can lead to pelvic instability, prolapses, pelvic pain, urine leakage and/or stool loss. You can develop quite the issues during the transition period and during the eventual menopause. I’ve written several articles about these issues but of course the solutions too. Feel free to take a look at those more specific articles.
4 different types of transitions and the menopause
Almost every woman will enter the menopausal transitions and eventually the menopause. But your transition periods and menopause can still differ from the common images of them. Let’s discuss the different transitions. You have four different types of menopausal transitions and lastly, the menopause:
- The natural menopausal transition
- The induced menopausal transition
- The premature menopausal transition
- The menopause
Let’s go a bit deeper into every transition.
Transition 1: the natural menopausal transition. What is a natural menopausal transition?
If we let nature run her course, then a woman would enter the menopausal transitioning period between her 45th and 55th year of age, but this can also happen sooner than that. There are women in their 40s that are already having their menopause. However, it can also start when you’re 60. Partially, it depends on the genes. Most of the women will start their menopause around the same age as their mothers. It’s also confirmed that health can be of influence. Smokers enter the transitioning periods earlier than non-smokers, even if someone has quit for years. So it can still be the case that despite having stopped smoking, the smoking still has an influence on your menopausal transitioning period.
Myth: you often hear stories that birth control influences the start of the menopausal transitioning, but this hasn’t been scientifically proven yet. We can label this as a myth.
Transition 2: the induced menopausal transition. What is an induced menopausal transition?
If the nature can’t really do her work anymore, you can lend it a hand. Sure, your body still produces less estrogen and eggs by itself, but not all transitions go that smooth after all. You can always discuss with your doc about what could be a suitable solution for you.
The transitioning process can also be sped up by something that occurs, e.g. an ovary surgery, chemotherapy or radiation. Your body could already enter the menopausal transition and quit producing eggs. Always ask your doctor what side effects the treatment can cause. Let’s delve a little deeper into those two causes of accelerating the transitioning process.
Induced menopausal transition through surgery:
Have you lost your ovaries because of a surgery? Then you’ll enter the menopausal transition immediately. This will be noticeable within a few days. If one ovary is removed, your remaining, healthy ovary will take over the job and the menopausal transition won’t be started yet. Not even if the uterus is removed. Your menstruation cycle stops, but the menopausal transition won’t arrive yet.
Induced menopausal transition through chemo or radiation:
Chemotherapy or radiation drastically affects the ovaries. The breaking off of cells in your ovaries will also cause you to enter the menopausal transition. You can compare this process to getting your ovaries surgically removed. Your menopausal transition will heavily strike up. The issues will be suddenly present. It wouldn’t gradually occur like a natural transition.
If you enter the menopausal transition in a non-natural way, then we’re speaking of an induced menopausal transition.
Transition 3: the premature menopausal transition. What is a premature menopausal transition?
With a menopausal transition and a menopause, you often think about your mother or other women around the 50 or 60 years old. But even when you’re in your late twenties or early thirties, you can still have a chance of entering a premature menopausal transition. The symptoms aren’t always being recognized right away because you don’t expect to enter a menopause this young. It’s still possible, and the news can shake up your future plans.
If you’re wishing to have a child and you still don’t have any, this could possibly be a hard pill to swallow. Every woman in the menopausal transitions will experience an emotional rollercoaster, but that will hit twice as hard when you’re experiencing a premature menopausal transition. There are special groups of women that can help you through these type of situations. Care for Women is a group of specialized women. Nurses that have experienced a premature menopausal transition are part of this group. Look for their help and ask about their experiences and their advice. You can also call these women menopause consultants. Take a look on their website.
Transition 4: the menopause. What is a menopause?
Officially, the menopause lasts a day. It’s the day where you haven’t had a menstruation for 12 months. The so called perimenopause and postmenopause are names for the period starting from the menopausal transitions to after the menopause. When you’ve gone through the menopause, you won’t get any other issues anymore. Your body and pelvic area are done with the menopausal transitions. And you probably are so done with it too.
The summary
Let’s break down this huge batch of information into a simple summary.
The menopausal transition is the period your body uses to go from fertile to infertile. This is quite the transition. 10 years is the average duration of a menopausal transition.
A lot of hormones are released during the menopausal transition. These hormones can cause a lot of issues. This can cause pelvic instability, prolapses, pelvic pain, urine leakage and/or stool loss.
There are 4 different types of menopausal transitions and lastly the menopause:
- The natural menopausal transition.
- The induced menopausal transition.
- The premature menopausal transition.
- The menopause.
If you so happen to experience issues during the menopausal transition, or you suspect that you’re entering a premature menopausal transition, contact your doctor. Your doc can estimate what’s up with you and will compose a suitable plan of treatment. You can also get referred to the gynecologist. But it can also be the case that you’re experiencing pelvic issues, pelvic problems or maybe even a prolapse. In that scenario you will be advised to go to a specialized therapist. This can be a pelvic exercise therapist or a pelvic physical therapist. These specialists will put together a suitable plan of treatment, measured on your issues.
All in all, it’s always smart to visit your doctor when you have suspicions or issues. Don’t feel embarrassed and don’t feel like a burden. And remember, you won’t be the first one with questions about the menopause.
And lastly, are you looking for more information?
Hopefully this information was useful to you! We’ve discussed the different types of menopausal transitions, the menopause, what those transitions can cause, and the causes of induced or premature menopausal transitions. If you’re still looking for some more information, feel free to take another look around on the website. It’s filled with in-depth information, tips, a web shop and also exercises. I still have a lot of articles with lots of information about other symptoms and issues. Feel free to click on the blue words to take you straight to the right page.
