Women might complain about having monthly menstrual cycle but those same women most likely actively fear the idea of going through menopause. The simple fact is that menopause is a very hard time for women to go through. In a lot of ways it can be compared to having a second puberty but in this case the woman is very aware of her menopause symptoms as well as the affect her symptoms have on the people who are in her life. You need to understand the different symptoms of menopause so that you can be a good support system for the women in your life who have to go through “the change”. Here are some of the symptoms you should watch out for if one of the women you love is close to the age for going through menopause.

Perhaps the most recognizable menopause symptoms is the mood swing. It is this symptom that makes menopause look a lot like puberty and (ironically) the early stages of pregnancy. A woman who is going through menopause is going to have a lot of sudden and hard to explain mood swings. In one minute she can be completely calm. In the next minute she will have started bawling about something that didn’t bother her a few months ago and might not bother her tomorrow. If you know a woman who has started acting like this and hasn’t recently gotten pregnant and is not going through puberty then she might be going through menopause. Be nice!

Incontinence is one of the more embarrassing menopause symptoms. Menopause causes the loss of smooth muscle tone and incontinence is a side effect of that.

You will notice this most often when you sneeze or if you laugh very hard. Different women will have different degrees of this particular symptom. Some might not have many problems with it, but others have a very hard time with it. This particular symptom can be incredibly embarrassing for some. Try to be sympathetic if the woman in your life has to make a run for the bathroom when she sneezes or if she has to buy other some form of protective wear.

The most obvious symptom of menopause is the deregulation of your monthly menstrual cycle. If you suddenly stop having your period or if it changes in frequency, duration or “strength” you could be going through menopause. Don’t forget that the absence of your menstrual cycle is not always the signal for menopause. Some women, believe it or not, say their periods actually get heavier right before menopause set in. If you are close to the age when menopause usually happens, you should report any change in your monthly period to your doctor.

For some, menopause and puberty are similar experiences. The body is experiencing a huge amount of changes that are totally out of the woman’s control. Many women, however, report that menopause is worse than puberty because the symptoms are more varied and severe.

Learning to identify menopause symptoms will help you better understand what is going on in your own body as you go through your change of life. If you are a man, learning about these symptoms will help you have more sympathy for the women in your life who are going through it.

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