The new facts in a row.
- More than 1.8 million women in the Netherlands are in menopause
-🎂 Age Myth: The infamous age of 51 is just the average for menopause. Most women enter menopause between the ages of 40 and 60. Surprisingly, menopausal symptoms can start as early as age 35.
-🔄 Duration of the transition: The transition from fertile to infertile can take between six and ten years. It is a gradual process in which the body adapts to a new hormonal reality.
- Hot flashes, insomnia, concentration problems, high levels of stress, mood swings. 1 in 3 working women experience menopausal symptoms and this leads to lower productivity, less job satisfaction and absenteeism.
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Women think they are suffering from burnout, but in fact they are struggling with menopausal symptoms. A wrong diagnosis can lead to a lot of frustration and few structural solutions
12 complaints that you wouldn't immediately trace back to menopause!
- Weight gain: If you’re wondering where those extra pounds are coming from, menopause may be the culprit. Changes in hormone levels can affect your metabolism and contribute to weight gain. Because your body produces less estrogen and more testosterone during menopause, you’re more likely to store fat around your waist, stomach, and breasts instead of your hips and buttocks. You’ll develop a more “masculine” figure.
- Insomnia and sleep disorders: Poor sleep during menopause is a common problem. Hormonal fluctuations, especially a drop in estrogen, can cause hot flashes and night sweats. These sudden temperature changes can make it difficult to stay comfortable and sleep undisturbed. But other typical menopausal symptoms such as mood swings, stress, and decreased melatonin production can also affect poor sleep.
- Mood swings: The emotional rollercoaster ride of menopause. Hormonal fluctuations can lead to mood swings ranging from anxiety to depression.
- Restless and rushed feeling: Do you constantly feel restless, as if something is expected of you, but you don't know what? Do you constantly experience a rushed feeling, while you are actually not that busy at all? Many women recognize this feeling during menopause. During menopause, your hormones estrogen and progesterone decrease. Progesterone is known for its calming effect on our brain. It helps us to deal with stress better and reduces feelings of anxiety about what is happening around us.
- Hot flashes: Sudden, intense feelings of heat that flood the face and chest, often accompanied by redness. This can lead to palpitations and excessive sweating during the night, sometimes soaking clothes and bedding. This is caused by changes in blood flow and hormone levels.
- Night sweats: Hormonal changes can lead to excessive sweating.
- Reduced concentration: Your thoughts sometimes seem to dance to their own tune. Hormonal fluctuations can cause concentration problems.
- Dry skin and eyes: Menopause can make your skin and eyes incredibly dry. This is due to decreasing estrogen levels, which affect hydration.
- Vaginal complaints: Dryness, itching, or even more moisture. Decreased estrogen can cause the mucous membrane in the vagina to become thinner and drier. This causes discomfort such as itching, a burning sensation or pain when urinating. The vagina and bladder also become more susceptible to infections. In addition, the desire for sex can decrease and intercourse can be experienced as painful.
- Hair loss: During menopause, the production of the female hormone estrogen decreases, which can cause hair loss. You may notice increased hair loss when brushing, a wider parting, and thinning hair. The ratio of female to male hormones can also change, which can cause unwanted hair growth above the lip or on the chin in some women.
- Headache: One third of women experience headaches during menopause that sometimes become so severe that they become migraines, also known as hormonal migraines. These headaches are often caused or worsened by hormonal fluctuations, especially around menstruation. In addition, it appears that most women suffer from stress around this time. It is therefore only logical that headaches occur more frequently.
- Constipation: Hormonal shifts can affect digestion, which can lead to constipation.
- Joint complaints: Hormonal changes can affect joints, sometimes resulting in stiffness and discomfort.