Most women do not need a doctor or some sort of expensive, time consuming medical test to know that they are going through menopause. For the most part, menopause is usually self-diagnosed by women. Although most women may not be aware that menopause is not just one long, undivided process they have to go through. Rather, menopause has been split up into several distinctive phases. The stages of menopause are premenopause, perimenopause, menopause, and then postmenopause. In many cases women use menopause to describe their current state even if they are in the midst of experiencing a different stage of the process. The different stages listed above are not clear cut, sometimes these stages can have a certain amount of overlap and it may not be easy to identify which phase you are going through. However, the actual menopausal stage of the process happens after a woman has gone a full twelve months without having a menstrual cycle.

A number of women may be concerned about certain aspects of the menopausal process, namely the symptoms of menopause. It is common to hear horror stories from other women who have gone through and come out the other side of menopause, women who experienced near constant pain or discomfort as a result of menopausal symptoms. This is just one among many reasons why menopause is something of a scary, even intimidating subject for women. While menopause symptoms can have a very real and pronounced impact on your lifestyle, women nowadays are not without options to address and help diminish the overall feel of such symptoms. Menopause does not have to be synonymous with pain, discomfort, stress, or anxiety. Women do not need to be afraid of menopause and the new era of life it ushers in. As with anything else the overall process of menopause is what you make it, entering into this process with a positive mindset and healthy body can be of great help.

Making smart lifestyle choices is just one way to help make menopause a smooth transitional process. Many women may also find a great deal of use from products such as menopause supplements when it comes to the symptoms that often go hand in hand with menopause.