What No One Told Me About Menopause: It Can Last a LONG Time

Featured snippet from the This post is in no way intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new healthcare regimen, and never disregard medical advice or delay seeing help because of something you read on this websiteHave you ever completely underestimated how long a certain activity would take?  Something we think will take a couple of days often actually takes weeks.  Or months.

Have you ever completely underestimated how long a  task or activity would take?  You go into it thinking you know exactly what to expect but then it just goes on and on and on.

That's kind of how this whole menopause journey has been for me.  

I don't know exactly what I was expecting.  I guess I thought that for several months (like, maybe a year or two) your cycles got further and further apart while your periods got lighter and you skipped one here and there until they just completely stopped.  

Imagine my surprise when I learned that perimenopause symptoms can begin years ahead of menopause.  Years!! 

The process is different for every woman depending on factors such as genetics, general health, life style, diet, and lifestyle.  The average length of perimenopause is about 4 years, but for some women it can last for as little as a few months or as much as ten years. 

I had NO idea!

Even when you reach the point when you haven't had a period for twelve consecutive months (menopause), you may continue to have symptoms for several years.  The good news is that they usually decrease in intensity and frequency.  Symptoms such as hot flashes usually disappear within five years.  However one study found that up to one third of women continue to experience hot flashes for ten years or more.

I can't tell you how long my symptoms have been occuring.  When some of them first began I wrote them off to other things.  And of course, still being in the perimenopause stage - there's no sure way of knowing when they will end.

The important thing to remember is that every woman is different.  Just because you're not experiencing what your mother, sister, or best friend experienced doesn't mean that you're not having a normal, healthy menopause. If you are concerned about any of your symptoms or if they are interferring with your quality of life, you should always discuss them with your doctor.  

Do you have questions about menopause?  Let me know in the comments and I'll try to answer them through out this series.