In her late 40s, Janet Ko began experiencing heart palpitations, night sweats and 30 hot flashes a day, she said.
Scared she was having heart problems, the Mississauga, Ont., resident saw multiple doctors, but none had linked her symptoms to perimenopause at the time.
Ko, now 55, said it took several years of not feeling healthy before she got the help she needed.
“I went into menopause in my late 40s, had perimenopausal experiences, but I had no idea that there was something called perimenopause,” she told Global News.
In the hope for other women to not be “blindsided” the way she was, Ko started the Menopause Foundation of Canada in January 2022 to help raise awareness about the hormonal changes that affect nearly half the Canadian population.
“We do not want women to be blindsided in the prime of their lives,” she said.
“We want women to receive options and choices to help them manage their menopause their way,” she said, adding that there are many safe and effective treatments for women that they are largely unaware of.
Dr. Wendy Wolfman, director of the menopause and premature insufficiency clinics at Mount Sinai Hospital.
Photo supplied
Most women hit menopause — marked by not having had a menstrual period for one year — between the ages of 45 and 55.
Wolfman said a test for menopause is not really needed as the diagnosis can be made once women start experiencing menopausal symptoms, like hot flashes, and their periods start getting lighter.
During menopause, a woman’s ovaries stop producing eggs every month, which results in a drop of hormone levels.
2:00
Can COVID-19 vaccines cause post-menopausal bleeding?
Perimenopause is the transition period, lasting six to eight years, leading up to menopause when a women’s menstrual cycles could become irregular as the hormone levels fluctuate.
Trending Now
‘The Watcher’: What we know about the menacing true story that inspired Netflix
Canada facing ‘final act of the COVID recession,’ Freeland says
In Canada, the average age of menopause is 51.5 years. But most women are in perimenopause between the ages of 40 and 50, according to the Menopause Foundation of Canada.
Read more:
What happens to your body during menopause
And women can continue experiencing symptoms into their 60s and 70s, Wolfman said.
In the United Kingdom, a parliamentary group recommended this week that women should be invited for a menopause assessment when they turn 45.
Ko said Canada can learn from the example of other countries, like the U.K., to better support women in menopause and bridge the knowledge gap.
4:48
Dispelling common myths about menopause
Women experience a variety of symptoms, both physical and mental.
Some of the common symptoms of menopause include irregular periods, hot flashes, night sweats, headaches, mood swings and joint pain.
Women in menopause may also have trouble sleeping and lack sexual desire, which can happen within about 24 months of their last menstrual period, Wolfman said.
In 50 per cent of women, genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM) can result in vaginal dryness, bladder symptoms, effects on the pelvic floor, as well as sexual ramifications, she said.
3:56
Talking male menopause in Healthy Living
Meanwhile, one of the hallmarks of perimenopause is abnormal uterine bleeding or changes in menses.
And women may also experience more migraine, headaches and vaginal discharge during perimenopause.
There are also long-term health risks associated with menopause, such as osteoporosis, diabetes, heart disease and GSM.
“There is this myth that menopause happens and then you get through it and it’s over,” Ko said.
“So I think it’s really important that we emphasize that menopause is a continuum and that there are health matters that women need to be aware of and that they need to be focused on with preventative care, lifestyle choices and certainly evidence-based treatment options.”
From over-the-counter medications, prescription drugs to lifestyle changes, there are several ways to treat symptoms of menopause.
However, Wolfman said the most effective treatment is hormone therapy, which can be administered by pills or transdermally via a patch or a gel.
This treatment is approved by Health Canada and given by prescription. However, there is a risk of initiating hormone therapy for women over the age of 70, which is why it’s typically not given to them, Wolfman said.
“We’re giving it to women who are newly menopausal or in the perimenopause, that is women around the age of 50,” she said.
