Aging & Health A to Z

Women's Health

Causes & Symptoms

During perimenopause, a woman’s ovaries produces smaller amounts of estrogen (a female hormone). As a result, her menstrual periods become more irregular. Your periods may be more frequent than they used to be, or you may miss periods now and then. Your periods may be lighter or, sometimes, much heavier than before. You may also have one or more of these common symptoms:  

• Hot flashes and night sweats
• Difficulty sleeping
• Fatigue
• Mood swings
• Vaginal dryness, and thinning and inflammation of the vaginal walls, which can make intercourse painful
• Less interest in sex
• Breast tenderness
• The need to urinate more often
• Bladder infections and other urinary tract problems                                                                                                

The amount of estrogen a woman’s ovaries produce drops faster during the final years of perimenopause than in early perimenopause. As a consequence, the symptoms above tend to become more severe during this transition. Most symptoms usually end when a woman reaches menopause. However, some women may continue to have some symptoms (such as hot flashes) even when post-menopausal. 

Updated: March 2012
Posted:  March 2012