35 symptoms of female menopause

Posted by admin on April 25th, 2007 at 11:23am

Here are the 35 menopause symptoms compiled by Judy Bayliss and Dr. Brown:

1. Hot flashes, flushes, night sweats and/or cold flashes, clammy feeling
2. Bouts of rapid heartbeat
3. Irritability
4. Mood swings, sudden tears
5. Trouble sleeping through the night (with or without night sweats)
6. Irregular periods; shorter, lighter periods; heavier periods, flooding; phantom periods, shorter cycles, longer cycles
7. Partial or complete loss of libido
8. Dry vagina, resulting in painful intercourse; a general drying-out that can include eyes, mouth, joints, skin
9. Crashing fatigue
10. Anxiety, feeling ill at ease
11. Feelings of dread, apprehension, doom – thoughts of one’s own death, picturing one’s own death
12. Difficulty concentrating, disorientation, mental confusion
13. Disturbing memory lapses
14. Incontinence, especially upon sneezing, laughing; urge incontinence, where leakage occurs when one needs to urinate
15. Itchy, crawly skin – feeling of ants crawling under the skin
16. Aching, sore joints, possible carpal tunnel syndrome
17. Increased muscle tension
18. Breast tenderness
19. Headaches increase or decrease
20. Gastrointestinal distress, indigestion, flatulence, gas pain, nausea
21. Sudden bouts of bloat
22. Depression that can become overwhelming; feeling of loss of self that has been dramatically relieved with hormone therapy
23. Exacerbation of existing conditions
24. Increase in allergies
25. Weight gain, especially around waist and thighs, resulting in ‘the disappearing waistline’
26. Hair loss or thinning on head, in pubic area, or on whole body; increase in facial hair
27. Dizziness, lightheadedness, episodes of loss of balance
28. Changes in body odor
29. Electric shock sensation under the skin and in the head – “the feeling of a rubber band snapping in the layer of tissue between skin and muscle…the precursor to a hot flash.”
30. Tingling in extremities, which can also be a symptom of B-12 deficiency, diabetes, or depletion of potassium or calcium
31. Gum problems, increased gum bleeding
32. Burning tongue, burning roof of mouth, bad taste in mouth, dry mouth, change in breath odor
33. Osteoporosis (after several years)
34. Changes in fingernails: softer, crack or break more easily
35. An additional symptom some report: tinnitus, a ringing in the ears or sounds of whooshing, bells, or buzzing.

This list was compilied by Judy Bayliss and Lucy L. Brown, Ph.D. at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Under Menopause