Menopause: a feel-great guide
Menopause marks the end of your periods and fertility. The NHS states: ‘The menopause is a natural part of ageing that usually occurs between 45 and 55 years of age, as a woman’s oestrogen levels decline.’
Nicki Williams award-winning nutritionist, author, women’s health expert and founder of the Happy Hormones For Life programme explains: ‘Menopause is the stage that we enter one year after our periods fully stop.’ The average age for a woman to reach the menopause is 51, according to the NHS. That isn’t to say, however, that this is when symptoms begin. The initial stage, perimenopause, which is when our hormones begin to fluctuate, can start a decade before that.
Louise Newson, a GP and menopause specialist, describes perimenopause as ‘when hormone levels start reducing and a woman’s periods begin to change in duration or nature’. This is when we can begin to experience symptoms (see our checklist, right), even though our periods might not have stopped.
‘A key misconception is that menopause happens to women in their 50s, without recognising that perimenopause can last for up to 10 years prior to the menopause,’ says psychotherapist Melissa Cliffe. ‘A range of symptoms may begin as early as our late 30s or early 40s.’ And perimenopause, she adds, should not be confused
