Symptoms of menopause
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Symptoms of menopause can be mild, absent, or severe.
The most common symptoms of menopause are hot flushes and night sweats. Severe hot flushes and night sweats can disrupt sleep — making you tired and irritable. Hot flushes and night sweats can start before your periods stop. Eventually, your periods will get less frequent, before stopping completely.
Other symptoms of menopause can include:
- A poor sleep pattern due to night sweats
- Vaginal dryness — which can lead to painful sex
- Loss of libido
- Itchy skin
- Mood changes
Other changes — such as bleeding between periods, bleeding after sex, or very heavy periods — are not a normal part of menopause. If you have those symptoms, it’s a good idea to book an appointment with us to talk about it.
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Does everyone get the same menopause symptoms?
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Menopause affects everybody differently — your symptoms might be mild, absent, or severe. Menopause symptoms often last for several years. Some people’s menopause symptoms will last longer than 2 years, other people’s symptoms will last less than a year.
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Does menopause cause osteoporosis?
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Osteoporosis happens when your bone tissue is lost or destroyed faster than your body can replace it. This leads to decreased bone density, and a higher risk of fracture.
Osteoporosis is not a direct symptom of menopause. But it does often begin at a similar time to menopause.
When oestrogen levels drop at menopause, bone strength can be lost — leading to osteoporosis later in life. Osteoporosis is more likely to affect pākehā and Asian people than it is to affect Māori or Pacific people.
Routine bone density screening isn’t recommended at menopause, unless you have other risk factors — such as a personal or family history of easily fractured bones.
As far as we know, products like calcium supplements don’t reduce the risk of hip fractures.
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