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Menopause Hormone Levels
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Perimenopause And Depression
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Signs Of Perimenopause
Menopause Diet
Herbal Remedy For Menopause
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Anxiety Menopause
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Female Menopause
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Perimenopause Symptoms

What Menopause Means For Your Hormones

The average woman has about 400 reproductive cycles during her lifetime. Although every woman's body produces dozens of hormones, only three are playing the major roles in a woman reproductive cycle. These hormones are estrogen, progesterone and androgens.

Estrogen

Estrogen is a growth hormone that stimulates the development of adult sex organs during puberty; helps retain calcium in bones; regulates the balance of "good" and "bad" cholesterol in bloodstream; and aids other body function, such as blood sugar level, memory functions, and emotional balance.

Progesterone

Progesterone balances the effects of estrogen by aiding the maturation of body tissues and limiting their growth; stimulates the uterus, breasts, and fallopian tubes to secrete nutrients necessary for the body to prepare for growing an embryo and bearing a child; and raises body temperature and blood sugar level.

Androgens

Androgens are male hormones produced in small quantities by the ovaries and adrenal glands, with the greatest quantities occurring at midpoint of a woman's cycle which contribute to a healthy libido by fostering a healthy desire for sex.

What happens to your hormones when approaching menopause?

Many women incorrectly believe that their body will stop producing estrogen when they stop ovulating. Instead, the estrogen production is reduced mainly due to the egg-producing follicles diminishes. This cause some ovarian follicles don't mature to ovulation, which cause the body's level of progesterone drops.

When the pituitary senses that the ovaries aren't producing the normal level of hormones, it will try to increase the production of FSH in order to try to nudge the ovaries into coughing up more estrogen. During the early state of the perimenopause, as the follicles give up high doses of estrogen, but the body still isn't producing the progesterone that normally rounds out the body's reproductive mix. As a result, a woman in early perimenopause may experience widely fluctuating levels of estrogen. The situation may last for years until the ovaries shout down completely during menopause period. When ovaries shout down completely, the estrogen level will become so low that causes the lining of the uterus is unable to grow. As a result, menstruation stops.

In summary, a woman's body wills still producing estrogen even she has approached her menopause, but at a very low level which does not enough to support the hormone's aging-defying functions in the body.