The month’s theme for the support group meeting on Thursday, September 18 is the Mystery of Menopause. Over the next few weeks I will be addressing common questions about menopause, symptoms and treatment. I welcome your comments and questions.

Every so often a woman will come to see me and complain that her periods are getting irregular, she is having hot flashes, maybe some moodiness.  “Can you give me a blood test to see if I am in menopause?” she will ask.   The fact is that no women knows the exact moment when natural menopause occurs in her life. It is only after a year of no menstrual periods that anyone can know that she has reached menopause. No blood test, hormone test, medical professional or exam can tell her.  Before that time she is perimenopausal (and those symptoms can last for several years).  After that time until she dies, she is post menopausal (and hopefully that will last for many, many years). That single moment when the exact balance between hormones occurs and stops the monthly ebb and flow which results in menstrual bleeding is a mystery.  Any blood tests done are simply a snap shot of where hormones are at that moment in time.  And hormones can flucuate wildly  during the perimenopausal years.  Just as adolecence is a process that occurs over several years so is menopause.  Perimenopausal symptoms may begin in the 30s. Natural menopause generally occurs between ages of 45-55, average 51.  Before age 40 it is considered early menopause. Menopause can also be induced by surgery and with medications. Sometimes blood tests are appropriate to rule out other problems whose symtoms can mimic menopause, such as thyroid disease.  If a woman is in her 40s or 50s and having typical symptoms I usually don’t need a blood test to tell her what is going on, but I certainly can help her understand the natural process and help her develop strategies to manage symptoms. 

Coming, Part 2- What is normal and what is not during perimenopause and menopause.

written by Deborah McBain, CNM MSN