As you can see, there’s a lot of leeway, and it’s not really much help to draw a line at a particular age and state that to be the age of menopause.

It’s a lottery.

Some women experience menopause in their thirties, and some won’t reach that stage until their sixties. You can blame your grandmothers if you wish, the average age of menopause onset will be related to when your mother reached menopause. The perimenopause stage is one year to several years before menstrual periods stop.

Most of us begin experiencing symptoms of hormone imbalance anywhere from our early thirties to our late forties. You can get a fair idea by finding out your mother’s age at menopause, and the folktale of ‘late start – early finish‘ seems to hold true. Of course there are other factors related to environment but you get the gist.

Menopause symptoms can range from mild hot spells at night to constant dripping sweats all day and night. My mother used to ’smell heat’ and I get ‘heat in my head’, whatever imagery may be expressed you can be sure it’s the internal thermostat misfiring.

smokers reach menopause earlier…

Some women spot for a few months, others bleed heavily for years. These symptoms are mostly caused by different hormonal combinations as we approach the time of the Change. A list has been drawn up by a collective of menopausal women, find your information in 35 Symptoms of Menopause

The severity level of your menopausal symptoms is very much connected to your stress level, your diet, the amount of exercise that you get, and the environmental toxins you’re exposed to on a daily basis. Smokers show an average age of menopause several years earlier than their non-smoking sister

Surgical menopause

Women who have both their ovaries removed surgically experience an abrupt menopause, and are so often experience more severe symptoms than are those who experience it naturally. The risk of heart disease is higher, hot flushes may be hotter (!) and more frequent, and women have a higher chance of suffering depression.No one knows why this is, and it becomes even more confusing. When only one ovary is removed, menopause usually occurs naturally. When the uterus is removed in an hysterectomy but the ovaries remain, menstrual periods stop but other menopausal symptoms usually occur at the same age that they would naturally occur. And not every woman is the same.

As I said, it’s a lottery.

Your Bathing

Take a shower at least once each day. This will remove bacteria from your skin, especially the armpits and groin area where the bacteria is most prevalent. Scrub the areas with a soapy washcloth or sponge (throw your washcloths in the washing machine after). A clean soapy cloth will work better to remove the bacteria than just soap in your hands. You can get deodorant soap in any supermarket.

If you have a serious odour problem, try a suggestion from our American cousins who have had nasty encounters with skunks. Pour yourself a relaxing bath, add one litre of tomato juice, and soak for half an hour.

Your Clothes

Clothing should be loosely fitting in these turbulent years anyway, they are more comfortable and let your body breathe better than tight clothes. Synthetic fabrics for shoes and clothes are bad choices if you have an odour problem, or even if you don’t. Unfortunately it’s difficult to find clothes made from all natural fabrics, but try to keep away from as much synthetic content as possible. And of course wash your clothes often.

Your Diet

Certain foods, such as meat, onions, garlic, exotic spices, and drinks such as coffee and alcohol can lead to strong body odour. Try eliminating these from your diet for a week or two and see if this makes a difference.

Sweating

As we go through perimenopause and menopause, we often experience bouts of sweating accompanied by terrible body odour. See some tips for the hot flash and hot flushes.

Tobacco

Using tobacco is a major cause of body odour. Not only does it come back through your lungs, but it comes out through your skin and hair. It mixes with other elements of your body’s chemistry to create a distinct smell.

Tobacco is a distinct and unpleasant smell on people, I noticed the tobacco smell in just 3 days of no smoking, and even though I am back fighting the drug .. one day smoking , 2 days not smoking, the smell is strong and harsh. Standing in the supermarket queue with people who smoke around me is sheer hell.

Deodorising Supplements

• Chlorophyll is a great deodoriser, you can buy it in tablet or liquid form.
• Magnesium Take magnesium supplements or augment your diet with food sources high in this important mineral. Between 200-500 mg of magnesium have been recommended for body odour..
• Zinc. Some sources recommend taking zinc tablets.with magnesium, to help balance the metabolism and reduce the cause of bad odour. Zinc may also reduce perspiration and sweaty feet, but it’s best to seek advice from your health professional before taking zinc supplements.

Do you have any suggestions?

Why nausea ?
This nausea business is extremely confusing. Is it related to menopause or lifestyle? Surely you feel nauseous because you lead such a hectic life with work deadlines, fractious family members, money worries, skipping meals and that extra glass of wine at dinner?

But all sorts of women report chronic nausea. Some healthcare specialists believe this may be caused by lower progesterone levels.Perhaps this is because progesterone opposes the action of prostaglandins, substances that increase pain and inflammation symptoms such as headaches and nausea.

Indeed, many women have found relief with progesterone therapy. But progesterone brings its own problems, particularly if you are predisposed to high blood pressure or edema. Consult your healthcare provider.

What can you do?
This is the time to bring out the old cures from Grandma’s cupboard.

Women who experienced chronic nausea in pregnancy usually find that what worked then, still works now. Old favourites like dry biscuits, (crackers) rice bubbles, warm milk or black tea with lemon have reappeared.

Try a cup of boiling water with 2-5 teaspoons lemon juice. Sip it slowly.

Ginger is also helpful but, once again, some women experience further stomach problems using ginger, so be cautious if this is your first time. I’ve seen hints on adding ginger to food, but, apart from the aversion to earing while nauseous, who wants to hang over the stove while in this condition? Make a drink instead. Cut off a slice of root and seep it in boiling water for ginger tea. Add some mint if you wish. (Some shops sell ginger tea-bags – have a look, there could be some other herbal teas to take your fancy) Or try some old fashioned Ginger Beer.

Rice water. Boil 1/2 cup of rice in 1 cup of water for about 20 minutes. After it’s boiled, drain the water into a cup and sip it.

Peppermint absorbs intestinal gas and calms upset stomach. Try some tea.

You could also try the pressure point between the thumb and forefinger.

If you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation and keep plenty of fresh water going through your body. Keep jugs of chilled water handy. Try to visualise your stomach being flushed of the alcohol before you hop into bed.

Smoking irritates your stomach. If you smoke, stop, or, at least, cut down. I know you’ve heard this a thousand times, but this is the time to stop. You simply cannot be a smoking old lady. Think about it. I know how hard it is, I’m still fighting a terrible tobacco addiction.

Any suggestions for handling nausea?