Menopause symptoms and testing

If you experience hot flushes and night sweats, there’s a few things that can make your symptoms worse:

Get to know your triggers by keeping a symptoms diary. Once you know what makes your hot flushes worse you can try and avoid those things.

Living a healthy lifestyle by being active and eating a varied diet can make sure you’re getting all the vitamins you need to support your health as you go through the menopause. The NHS also recommend vitamin D supplements to help support bone health during the menopause.

Most women will experience some symptoms of the menopause. Your periods changing is one of the first signs. You may not experience all the symptoms related to the menopause. How these symptoms affect your daily life will also differ from person to person.

The average age of the menopause is around your mid 40s. This is called the perimenopause and your symptoms are usually mild.

When the menopause happens before the age of 45 it is referred to as early menopause or premature menopause, this is when your periods stop. Symptoms of early menopause are exactly the same as those for menopause, so you may notice hot flushes, night sweats and difficulty sleeping. As well as your periods becoming less frequent or stopping altogether.

Early menopause can occur for many reasons:

Many women experience weight gain as they age. It's not always inevitable and just because you're going through the menopause doesn't mean you will put on weight. The hormonal changes you are experiencing can cause you to gain weight around your stomach, although this can be down to ageing, lifestyle and genetic factors. Find out more about menopausal weight gain in our guide. 

During the menopause you may find it harder to sleep or you may not be getting enough sleep, this may mean that you gain weight. When we’re tired we tend to consume more calories by snacking more and reaching for sugary food to give us a boost of energy. Making sure that you stay active and eat a healthy balanced diet can help you to avoid the weight gain that is associated with the menopause.

We also have a Medicated Weight Loss Service available in your local LloydsPharmacy, that can help you maintain a healthy weight. 

Yes, you can still become pregnant during the menopause even though your periods might be irregular. It is possible to naturally conceive until your mid-fifties and women are considered to be infertile when they haven’t had a period for two years.

The length of the menopause can vary from woman to woman, however the average length of the menopause is four years. During this time your symptoms will gradually ease and your periods will completely stop.

It’s not always easy to say for certain that the menopause is taking place especially if your periods have always been irregular. However there are tests you can take which measure the levels of Follicle-Stimulating Hormones (FSH) in the body. Your ovaries produce oestrogen and when your production of oestrogen is slowed down the levels of FSH are increased. A menopause test can detect the changing FSH levels and tell you if you have begun the menopause.

The end of the menopause is when you’ve not had a period for 12 months. Although menopausal symptoms can continue for up to four years after your last period.