No matter what stage of menopause you’re in, there are treatments that can help you live your life with less stress and more manageable symptoms.
Hormone therapy is the most effective treatment we have for relieving many menopause symptoms. It comes in many different types, including gels and patches.
People often use the word "menopause" when they're talking about perimenopause. Perimenopause lasts from when your symptoms start until a year after your final period.
Perimenopause is the stage leading up to when your period stops. This usually happens in your 40s, but it can happen earlier. In this stage, your ovaries start releasing fewer eggs which results in fluctuating oestrogen levels before they eventually decrease around the time of menopause. These hormonal fluctuations trigger the symptoms of perimenopause.
During this stage, your periods can change a lot. They might become heavier, lighter, longer, shorter, or more irregular. You might also experience other symptoms, such as hot flushes, sleep problems, mood changes, and more. Even if you don’t typically get your period, you may still experience the hormonal changes that come with perimenopause.
Perimenopause can begin several years before menopause, and it officially lasts until one year after your final period, although many symptoms can continue into postmenopause.
Sometimes, you can be in the perimenopause stage without realising it. It’s easy to attribute symptoms like anxiety, depression, and sleeping problems to other issues, rather than recognising them as signs of perimenopause.
The word “menopause” means “the end of monthly cycles.” Menopause describes one moment in time, 12 months after your final period. After this, you enter postmenopause, where you will remain for the rest of your life.
If you don’t have a regular menstrual cycle because you’ve had a hysterectomy, you’re on hormonal birth control or hormone therapy that affects your periods, or any other reason, it’s a little harder to determine exactly when you’ve reached menopause. Your menopause clinician will be able to work it out by looking at your age and considering when your perimenopause symptoms started. Sometimes a blood test can help determine if you’re postmenopausal.
Postmenopause is the stage you reach 12 months after your final period. This stage continues for the rest of your life. Some symptoms of perimenopause may persist through postmenopause, while others may become less intense as your hormones stabilise.
Menopause just lasts one day and refers to a moment in time when you haven’t had a period for 12 months. The period leading up to this is perimenopause. It’s confusing as many people use “menopause” to refer to perimenopause, menopause, and even postmenopause.
Book your 45-minute initial appointment with one of our menopause clinicians. We'll come up with a tailored treatment plan which could include hormone therapy.
Book your 45-minute virtual appointment with one of our menopause clinicians for personalised menopause care. You'll get tailored treatment and support to help manage symptoms and promote wellbeing.