What happens when a woman goes through menopause
CHANGES IN THE MENOPAUSAL YEARS It has been six months since my last period.Am I menopausal? The answer isn’t so simple.You could be perimeno pausal (the time just before menopause), or you could be menopausal. “Classic” menopausal symptoms including hot flashes, night sweats or excessive sweating, palpitations, vaginal dryness, irregular or prolonged periods, and mood swings can suggest that you are beyond the perimeno- pausal stage. However, some perimenopausal women can have menopausal discomfort. What happens during perimenopause? The term perimenopause refers to the years imme- diately before menopause. Between two and six years before your last menstrual period, your ovaries have difficulty producing viable egg follicles. The common misconception is that women run out of eggs. This isn’t the case. Instead, ovarian function declines. The ovaries simply fail to respond to the command by FSH to “ripen an egg.” The ovaries release eggs irregularly instead of monthly. Eventu...