The average age for a woman to have completed menopause is at the age of 51, which means, a woman go through many physical and psychological changes between the ages of 47 and 53.  Thus, if you go through menopause before this, for whatever reason(s), you are usually said to have experienced premature or early menopause and thus entitled to experience all the symptoms that goes along with such disorder.

Technically, early menopause is also referred to as a total cessation of a woman’s menstrual periods for 12 months before the age of 45. In most cases over the past years, the reasons for early menopause are actually clear; sometimes a woman had her ovaries surgically removed, have a family history of early menopause, or had ovarian damage due to cancer treatments.

But, more often than not, doctors are unable to determine the exact cause for early menopause of most women. Thus, this can be very frustrating and tough for women with early menopause as it makes it difficult for them to accept and deal with the new stage of life that they are into.

Early Menopause Symptoms

Early Menopause symptoms are triggered by the fluctuation of hormones in the body during menopause. In particular, estrogen levels reduce dramatically during the onset of menopause, causing a variety of changes in the body’s functions.

Common physical symptoms:

• Irregular Periods – changes in duration, frequency, skipped periods, etc.
• Headaches/Dizziness – sometimes comes with hot flashes, sometimes for no clear reason.  This may happen due to a higher progesterone level in relation to your estrogen level.
• Breast Tenderness – is a similar feeling that you might experience just before your period, your breasts may feel swollen and tender to the touch.  This can last for days or weeks. But unlike the normal breast tenderness from PMS, getting your period often doesn't help relieve this discomfort.
• Insomnia/ Restlessness in Sleeping – when you begin going through menopause, you may find that your sleep is less and less restful, when you sleep at all. Common sign is when you find difficulty in going to sleep or staying asleep.
• Joint or muscle pain – somehow similar to flu symptoms or arthritis. More often it is connected to estrogen deficiency.
• Gastrointestinal Distress and Nausea – indigestion, gas, heartburn and a green feeling.
• Hair Loss – is said to be related to a woman’s estrogen level since the hair follicles need estrogen; some women notice this before any other sign because it is so obvious.
  

Common emotional symptoms:

• Anxiety – most commonly accompanied by depression and panic attacks.
• Irritability – get easily mad to some things that are really not important. Also, involves     mood swings and the feeling of being emotionally detached.
• “Brain Fog” – includes lack of concentration, confusion and memory lapses.

Unfortunately, at present, there are still no exact menopause cures. But menopause symptoms treatment has roughly evolved over the years. It is suggested that most women who have undergone early or premature menopause must seek out hormone replacement therapy or simply called HRT.

Menopause symptoms will be very rapid and severe, most especially after surgery, and can only be lessened by taking appropriate supplements of estrogen. If oral medication isn’t possible after surgery, estrogen patches that emit hormones through the skin of an individual can be used to help lessen symptoms. And thus giving women with early menopausal the chance to enjoy and live a normal life.