Types of menopause
I often talk about natural menopause and a lot of my self-care tips and advice are for this particular situation. But I'm also asked a lot about these other two menopause scenarios, and what women can do to help themselves.
So today, I'm going to look at the three of them in a little bit of detail, and then consider what you can do to help yourself.
Type 1: Natural menopause
This is obviously the most common type of entry into the menopause. The average age is 45 to 55. But some women will start maybe a few years early, and there is a small group of women that can be very late starting the menopause - even 58 or 59.
There are three main stages of a natural menopause. There's perimenopause, which is when your periods start to change or you may start to experience menopause symptoms.
Then you've got the menopause itself, which is when your periods stop for good because you're no longer producing enough hormones to cause ovulation. And then there's post-menopause, which is basically forever afterwards. And that's when your body starts to slowly adjust to being without the original level of sex hormones.
Type 2: Early Menopause
According to the NHS in the UK, early menopause is when your periods stop before the age of 45. (1) For some women, it can be as early as 35, although it’s more common in the early 40s than the late 30s.
Early menopause can be hereditary. So, if you know when other close female relatives such as your mum, gran, aunties, or older sisters approached menopause, then you tend (although it's not set in stone) to hit menopause at roughly the same age. So, if other close female relatives started before the age of 45, then it's quite possible that you may do the same.
We also know that other things can trigger early menopause. So, it can be certain health conditions such as diabetes. It can be lifestyle factors too. If you're really pushing yourself very, very hard, that can trigger an early menopause. It can be smoking. Very often, that would trigger the menopause maybe three or four years earlier. Lack of vitamin D is implicated in early menopause, according to some research. And being very overweight can do it too.
There's also something called premature ovarian failure. Now, this is quite rare, but it does happen. It can start in women in their late teens, right through their 20s and to their 30s. The cause of this one is often unknown - it seems to be quite difficult to pinpoint why it may happen. And obviously, for this one, there will need to be a lot of medical supervision to find out exactly what's going on.
Type 3: Induced/Surgical menopause
This is where either your womb, cervix, and/or ovaries are removed. It can be due to certain health conditions like fibroids. It could be due to endometriosis or something called adenomyosis. And it can also be due to certain types of cancer.
So, with a total hysterectomy or a full hysterectomy, this is where the ovaries, the womb and sometimes the cervix are removed. This will put you straight into a full menopause very, very quickly, because it's the ovaries that produce sex hormones, so if they're removed very suddenly, that drip feed of hormones will completely disappear.
For a lot of women, especially if they're in the younger age group when this happens, they will be advised to take HRT to protect their bones and their heart health. Obviously, if it's more to do with a specific type of cancer, then very often you wouldn't be allowed HRT and you would have to find other ways of supporting yourself through this induced menopause.
If your ovaries are left, you will tend to go through menopause at roughly the same age you would have done had you not had the operation. The only problem with this is that you are not going to have missing periods as a guide, so it's a lot more difficult to pinpoint whether you're in perimenopause, menopause, or post-menopause. With this one, you just have to go by the symptoms you may be experiencing or how you feel generally, health-wise.
Self-care tips to help all menopausal women
Self-care is absolutely vital, and no matter what type of menopause you experience, most of the self-care tips I share can help support you and ease some of the symptoms you may be experiencing.
Menopause, whichever type you're going through, will really strain your body. Your body needs lots of energy in order to help to stabilise itself, so it's important that you look after yourself really well.
So, look at your diet. Make sure that you're eating well, and that you're getting a good range of nutrients to help to support your body through this really tough time. Look at including plenty of protein, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates.
Remember the water as well. This is really, really important because falling oestrogen levels, especially if you lose that oestrogen really quickly, can cause you to become very, very dehydrated, and that can cause a lot of the problems and symptoms you may be experiencing.
Also, remember to avoid the baddies if you can. So, that’s the foods and drinks that are going to stress your system even further, such as caffeine, alcohol, and processed foods.
Remember to get a good night's sleep. Sleep is vital for recuperation, and for re-energising your body. And I know that it's probably one of the hardest things to get. So many women tell me how difficult it is just to get that good night's sleep. You can look at herbs such as Valerian and Hops. You can try taking a magnesium supplement with your evening meal. These can certainly help you to sleep better.
And reduce stress. We know now that, for so many women, the symptoms that they're experiencing are not so much to do with hormonal changes but are more to do with day-to-day ongoing, unrelenting stress. So, you can look at herbs such as Avena sativa and Passionflower. And again, magnesium can be great for so many different things, including stress reduction.
And remember the exercise. This is really important, not only because exercise produces feel-good chemicals, but also because exercise is really important for keeping your weight down, for keeping your joints and your muscles really healthy, and also for protecting your heart.
So, I hope you found this one really helpful. I know, especially when you have a hysterectomy, it can be really confusing as to what's going on and when it's going on, so hopefully I've explained this a little bit more. If any of you have any more questions about this, then please do comment below and I will be happy to help.
And until next time, take care.
You may also find these topics helpful:
10 self-care tips for perimenopause, menopause & postmenopause
How to tell if you’ve started the menopause if you’ve had a hysterectomy or ablation
