Changes in hormone levels can cause many different symptoms in the body as well as mind. The cause of these hormone changes may be hard to detect if you don’t understand what is happening. Pregnancy and menopause are the two biggest hormone changing events in a woman’s life. The symptoms may seem somewhat similar but have very different reasons.
All Things Pregnancy
1. Basics
Pregnancy is a beautiful and natural part of life. They can be a magical 9 months. However, there are some things that are not so magical. There are numerous signs and symptoms that you may be pregnant.
2. Signs
The most obvious sign of pregnancy, and often the first noticed, is missing a period. Nausea and vomiting, increased urination, tender breasts, a darkening of the area around the nipples, and cramping are all early signs of pregnancy. Majority of these are caused by the rapid hormonal change that occurs in a woman’s body once she becomes pregnant.
3. First Trimester
Pregnancy is split into three different parts, or trimesters. These are each 3 months long and the first one begins the night of conception. During this first trimester many different changes happen in the body. About a fourth of women will experience spotting, or “implantation” bleeding during these months. Breast tenderness and swelling is also common, this is triggered by the hormonal changes in the body. Another common problem is constipation due to the slowing of the muscles that move food through the digestive system.
4. Second Trimester
The second trimester is from the 3 to 6 month period of your pregnancy. Many woman develop swollen and sometimes bleeding gums. This is also due to the hormones. Breast enlargement also occurs during the second trimester, they are preparing to feed your baby. Backaches are also common due to the extra weight being carried.
5. Third Trimester
The third trimester is the last three months of pregnancy, this is when some of the most drastic body changes can occur. Backaches often worsen due to the added pressure being put on your back. You may start to feel mild contractions, which are warm ups to prepare your body for delivery. This is also when you will go into labor and your baby will be born.
Information About Perimenopause
1. What It Is
Perimenopause is the time before menopause when the body is transitioning into infertility. It is also referred to as the menopausal transition. Women can begin having symptoms of perimenopause in their forties, but it can begin to happen as early as a woman’s thirties. This is when the level of your estrogen rises and drops in a very sporadic manner. The hormonal changes that happen in the body at this time can cause body altering symptoms.
2. Symptoms
The symptoms of perimenopause causes a wide variety of symptoms. Mood changes are one of the most prevalent. Mood swings and depression are common because of the hormonal changes and also lack of sleep. Abnormal menstrual cycles are another common sign of perimenopause. A woman may go months without having a period, and when you do have one it may be unusually heavy. Once a woman’s menstrual cycle has stopped for 12 consecutive months, she has reached menopause. Hot flashes may also occur.
3. Risks
There are some health conditions and lifestyle choices that may cause a woman toe nter perimenopause quicker than the body naturally would have. Smoking is a big reason many woman go through early menopause, nearly 4 years earlier than women who do not smoke. Cancer treatments can also cause early menopause. A hysterectomy that removes the ovaries will cause the person to enter menopause. Family history of early menopause may also effect the age you experience perimenopause symptoms.
4. Treatment
While stopping menopause is not possible, you can help to ease symptoms. Hormonal replacement is the most common way. This will help to replace the hormones that you body has stopped producing, which is the root cause of most symptoms. Antidepressants are also commonly prescribed to help with mental changes.
Differences Between Pregnancy and Perimenopause
1. Opposites
Perimenopause and pregnancy are in many ways the exact opposite of each other. Perimenopause is when your body begins to go through to process of becoming infertile, meaning not able to have children. Pregnancy is when you are still very much fertile and have conceived a child.
2. Hormones
When a woman becomes pregnant her levels of estrogen and other hormones increase. With perimenopause the hormones slowly begin to decrease. This is a vital difference because of the effects having more or less hormones cause.
3. Outcome
The outcomes of getting through pregnancy is a child. This is very different than the outcome of getting through perimenopause. After you get through perimenopause you enter into menopause. This is when your body becomes permanently infertile and you can no longer bear a child.