I’m often asked… ‘What are the different stages of menopause’ and ‘How do I know what stage of menopause I am at’?

So today I wanted to focus on the different stages of menopause and what they mean. Let’s straighten out the facts.

PREMATURE MENOPAUSE: Around 1 in 100 women experience the menopause before 40 years of age. This is known as premature menopause or premature ovarian insufficiency. Some women go through an early surgical menopause after they might have had a hysterectomy and have had to get their ovaries removed.

PERIMENOPAUSE: Perimenopause can begin 8 to 10 years before menopause when the ovaries gradually produce less oestrogen and women start experiencing the early signs of menopause and it typically starts in a woman's 40s.

MENOPAUSE: The average age of menopause is 51 and you will be surprised to hear that menopause is really only one day. Menopause is the anniversary of one year since you last had a period…. the next day you're postmenopausal.

POSTMENOPAUSE: You postmenopausal years are all of those years after the menopause.  During this stage, menopausal symptoms, such as hot flushes, can ease for many women. However, as a result of a lower level of oestrogen, postmenopausal women are at increased risk for a number of health conditions, such as osteoporosis and heart disease.

The experience of menopause is different for every woman, based on how her body uniquely adapts to her process of ageing. It’s important to remember that you're not suddenly going to wake up one day and be symptom-free because you've got lots of things to address in your body like low levels of nutrients low levels of oestrogen and so on.

So you need to learn how to meet your needs because there are lots of things that happen at each stage of the menopause. If we learn how to redress the balance in our body we can learn how to keep ourselves in really good shape in the long term to prevent bone loss, prevent heart disease, prevent memory loss and really keep ourselves well.

If you would like to find out more about what’s going on in your body as you hit the menopause feel free to join my free menopause Virtual Class. I will be explaining the changes that occur and how to overcome your symptoms without resorting to drugs or hormones.