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Like all physical conditions, there are typical symptoms and then there are atypical symptoms. Menopause is no different. The standard set of menopause symptoms include hot flashes, trouble sleeping, pain during sex, moodiness and irritability, depression, or a combination of these symptoms. But there can be other presentations of menopause that you might want to keep in mind.
1 You Shrink
Most people shrink a little as they age thanks to a combination of factors. A decrease in muscle mass, thinning of the cartilage between bones and loss of bone mass can all add up to shave off about 1 cm every ten years after the age of 40. If your height loss is more rapid you could be shrinking due to osteoporosis. Protect yourself by staying active especially with resistance exercises, ask your doctor about supplementing with calcium and take your collagen regularly. Collagen makes up 90% of the protein in your bones and provides a framework for calcium to embed into. Studies also show that consuming collagen peptides can inhibit osteoclasts or the cells responsible for bone breakdown.
2 Itchy Skin
Are you constantly scratching and wondering if you may have developed an allergy to your laundry detergent? If you are menopausal there’s a reasonable chance that your unrelenting itching is from a drop in estrogen. This drop in estrogen has a significant effect on skin, causing skin to lose collagen and elastin and become much thinner and drier and can leave skin fragile and itchy. Collagen improves skin cell integrity which serves to hold more moisture in the skin, increases its thickness and gives skin greater strength. Regularly consuming collagen peptides stimulates the body’s natural production of collagen and improves the health and look of skin.
3 Burning Tongue
Do you feel like you just bit into a mouthful of hot chillies? Burning of your tongue, lips and mouth are not often on the list of menopausal symptoms but this strange sensation affects 18-33 percent of postmenopausal women. Estrogen plays a role in keeping you hydrated and this includes the proper production of saliva. Low saliva levels are behind these burning sensations and can also be the cause of dental problems like adult cavities. Be sure to keep yourself hydrated and ask your dentist about special rinses to combat dry-mouth and fluoride treatments to prevent tooth decay.
4 Changes in Your Voice
Many menopausal women report changes in their voices, including having their voices fatigue easily, experiencing a loss of range, roughness of the voice, and also deepening of the voice. Dryness of the throat and having to clear the throat frequently are also often experienced.
5 Electric Shocks!
As estrogen levels decline, some women develop paresthesias, due to their nerve endings not having as much estrogen as they did before. This can lead to uncomfortable feelings of tingling, electric “shock” sensations, tickling sensations, or even feeling like ants are crawling under your skin. Often, you can rid yourself of these annoying sensations by presenting your body with a different stimulus, such as massaging or stroking your skin with your fingertips.
6 Hair Loss and Health
Hair thinning? Once again the reason lies in the lack of estrogen. Estrogen makes hair grow faster and thicker. As estrogen dips in menopause a group of male hormones, called androgens, rise. Androgens tend to shrink hair follicles resulting in hair loss. When estrogen drops so does your body's ability to make new collagen. Because hair follicles are embedded in the dermal layers of skin, the loss of collagen in the dermal layers of your scalp also impacts the health of the hair follicle. Specific amino acids found in collagen peptides improve blood flow in the skin and nutrient flow to hair follicles keeping them in good health.
7 New Allergies
Even if you’ve never been bothered by allergies, during menopause you may become more sensitive to certain substances, such as certain foods, detergents, soaps or even perfumes. And if you are already dealing with allergies, you may find they have become worse. This increase in allergic symptoms is attributed to increased histamine production due to the decline of your other hormones.
