1. Hot flashes/Night Sweats
2. Vaginal Dryness
3. Weight Gain
4. Moodiness/Irritability

5. Loss of Sex Drive
6. Incontinence
7. Muscle Soreness
8. Irregular periods
9. Exhaustion
10. Random Hair Growth (like on the chin)

 
6 Less Common Additional Symptoms

1. Ringing in Ears (called Tinnitus)
2. Depression/Anxiety
3. Memory Problems
4. Bowel Problems
5. Osteoporosis
6. Sleep Problems

Menopause is a natural part of the aging process; it marks the end of fertility in a woman’s life. Menopause may occur naturally anytime between the ages of 40 to 65, but here in the US the average age of menopause is 52 years old. There are some occasions when menopause may occur before the age of 40 years old, if this occurs, it is considered a premature or early menopause and is outside medical norms. Medical conditions, genetic disorders, surgery or medical treatments are all things that may lead to or cause early menopause.

The term menopause is sometimes used to refer to the entire process leading up to the end of fertility, but this is actually incorrect. Menopause is the exact date a woman is no longer fertile, it is the date a woman has her final day of menstruation. Obviously because a lot of women don’t keep exact records of their bleeding, this date is not always 100% known. To stray on the side of caution, waiting until one full year has passed without bleeding is usually recommended to fully confirm menopause. This is important because during this phase, bleeding becomes irregular and it’s not uncommon to skip periods, so until one full year without bleeding has passed, it’s best to assume that pregnancy is still possible.

Perimenopause is the phase leading up menopause, it may last anywhere from a few months to ten years. The symptoms associated with perimenopause are the same as menopause signs. Perimenopause ends when menopause is reached and then after menopause a woman is said to be postmenopausal. Once menopause is reached, menopause signs will diminish and eventually disappear altogether; this may take a few years or happen suddenly.  

• Irregular bleeding – periods will sometimes be skipped, bleeding may be lighter or heavier
• Irregular ovulation – during months when ovulation doesn’t occur, mature eggs don’t drop, this makes it hard to conceive if you’re trying to get pregnant
• Hot flashes
• Night sweats
• Insomnia – maybe a result of night sweats
• Vaginal dryness – this may cause pain during intercourse
• Loss of sex drive
• Hair thinning
• Facial hair
• Ear ringing
• Mood swings
• Difficulty concentrating
• Memory loss
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Dry skin
• A skin crawling or tingling sensation in limbs (formication)
• Incontinence – this is usually urine leakage during a cough or while laughing
• Headaches
• Muscle aches
• Osteoporosis

The study of hormone imbalance symptoms is called endocrinology; this branch of medicine is the study of the endocrine system which is responsible for hormone production. Hormones are naturally occurring chemicals that are used by the body to send messages from cell to cell, only very small amounts of hormones are needed to control cell functions and slight imbalances can cause hormone imbalance symptoms. There are two main ways in which hormones are released through the body: endocrine and exocrine. Endocrine hormones are released right into the bloodstream and exocrine hormone are first secreted into a duct prior to release into the bloodstream or moving from cell to cell. With exocrine hormones this cell to cell activity is called paracrine signaling which is simply a signal from a cell that the body needs to produce and move some hormones to a specific cell.

Hormone Imbalance Symptoms Related to Menopause:

• Hot flashes
• Night sweats
• Insomnia
• Mood swings
• Memory loss
• Trouble concentrating
• Vaginal dryness
• Loss of libido
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Unwanted facial hair
• Thinning hair
• Creepy crawly skin sensation
• Tinnitus (ear rinning)

Hormones have many different functions in the body including:

• Growth (too much or too little)
• Mood swing
• Metabolic regulation
• Regulating sexual activity
• Helps prepare the body for the fight or flight response
• Prepares the body for major life changes such as pregnancy, puberty and menopause
•  Activation or suppression of apoptosis (apoptosis is known as the death cell – this process allows for cell changes and death in multicellular organisms)
• Controls fertility levels
• Responsible for hunger cravings
• Hormones may also stimulate other hormones performing different functions in the body

Natural Causes of Hormone Imbalance Symptoms:

• Puberty
• Pregnancy
• Menopause

Although these life changing events may result in hormone imbalance symptoms, for the most part these types of hormone imbalances are considered completely normal and require no medical treatment. This varies with medical condtions that cause hormone imbalce problems that may require medical treatment and may cause potentially serious health problems.

Medical Conditions That Cause Hormone Imbalance Symptoms:

• Addison’s disease
• Mineralocorticoid deficiency
• Cushing’s syndrome
• Conn’s syndrome
• Pheochromocytoma
• Congenital adrenal hyperplasia
• Adrenocortical carcinoma
• Diabetes
• Hypoglycemia
• Hyperthyroidism
• Hypothyroidism
• glucagonoma
• goitre
• thyroiditis
• thryroid cancer
• parathyroid gland disorders
• osteoporosis
• Paget’s disease of bone
• Rickets
• Hypopituitarism
• Pituitary tumors
• Sexual development disorders
• Hypogonadism
• Gender disorders
• Puberty disorders
• Fertiltity disorders
• Menstrual disorders
• Multiple endocrine neoplasia
• Carcinoid syndrome
• Autoimmune polyendocrine syndromes
• Incidentaloma

Many of these diseases and conditions have subclasses. For example, there are several different types of diabetes and there are several different types of parathyroid gland disorders. There is a wide range of potential health problems and hormone imbalance symptoms associated with endocrine diseases and disorders. Unlike hormone imbalance symptoms caused by natural life phases, these medical conditions will most likely require medical treatment.