Thyroid And Menopause - The Truth About Thyroid Menopause
Are you experiencing pre-menopause or are the symptoms you’re going through actually thyroid related? This is a dilemma which many women will face and distinguishing between the two is not easy.
The term thyroid menopause is often used today simply because thyroid issues can mimic the symptoms of menopause causing further confusion for women who simply want to know what it is they are going through.
In this article, we’ll take a look at the overlapping issues between the two and help you define the cause of your symptoms.
Thyroid Menopause
When the thyroid is working at minimum capacity weight gain can often be associated with this this. In complete contrast, when it is working overtime, the effects will usually mean a person gains no weight at all despite “eating like a horse.”
Weight gain during menopause is common because the thyroid can malfunction for want of a better term. The problem lies in the pre-menopausal stage where weight gain symptoms are similar in nature to thyroid issues.
Many women continue to gain weight despite treatment for pre-menopausal symptoms and this is when they need to consider the thyroid.
Speak to your doctor about this who can perform tests to determine if the issue is actually being caused by an under-performing thyroid. It could be you are experiencing thyroid menopause.
Symptoms such as mood swings, sleep problems and skin changes are common for both pre-menopause and a malfunctioning thyroid. So how do you tell which is which.
Well, your doctor is always your best option but the message we’re trying to get across is to never dismiss the latter if treatment is having little effect on the symptoms.
Distinguishing Between The Two
There are fortunately a few ways to separate the two from one another.
Women who have thyroid problems will experience edema of legs and arms, neck pain, loss eye brows and lashes, extreme weight gain (which should actually clinch the recognition). These are some of the symptoms that are definitely not replicated in menopause.
The existence of even one of the above described symptoms should immediately make you rush to the medical practitioner for a thyroid test.
Actually the thyroid problems is highly aggravated by the onset of menopause and hence it is imperative to first check it before proceeding in treating the symptoms of the pre-menopausal stage.
The thyroid menopause is actually much more dreadful when coupled with menopause than when encountered on it’s own.
This is because the thyroid is a hormone producing gland itself and the imbalance of hormones that is created by the ovaries shut down creates havoc in the signals that the malfunctioning thyroid glands reads and interprets. This is why efforts should be first made to treat the thyroid first.
Menopause and hypothyroidism have common symptoms, such as depressed mood, decreased energy and memory loss, among others.