Most women over the age of 40 have heard of menopause, although many don't know enough about it to know what to expect when it arrives. Perhaps you are in the same boat, you know about the "hot flashes" and maybe one or two symptoms from your mother talking about the symptoms of menopause. But if you don't have a really good idea what to expect, let's go over the real details of these symptoms so you will be ready when they arrive.

Besides just hot flashes, there are quite a few more symptoms that can be ready to make a woman's life a real pain – sometimes literally. How about headaches? Some women are more sensitive to chemicals and certain foods when they go through menopause and headaches are common. Stress of course is another big cause of headaches, which is not hard to imagine when hormones are plummeting one day, and nearly skyrocketing the next!

Ok, let's move on to some other symptoms you may not have heard about, such as mood swings. This can be lumped into the larger category of "emotional issues" – which include irritability, depression, anxiety, and just plain lack of interest. These symptoms are fairly common as well and usually come around only when a woman's period is arriving, which may not be on time after awhile due to the previously mentioned fluctuation in hormone levels. This of course is another big symptom you may have, the your menstrual cycles are becoming very irregular. Some women will actually skip a month, which may seem like a good thing, but then an extended period will certainly make up for it.

Add another symptom to the list – dry skin that won't quit! This one is almost always attributed to old age of course. But there really is a connection to menopause as well, due to the estrogen decreasing during menopause. This causes collagen and the elastin that is in skin to begin to degenerate which causes wrinkles, which is usually related to the estrogen decrease. As the skin starts to lose it's flexibility many women lose the fatty layer just under the skin as well. That causes the hollow look as women get older sometimes, but using a moisturizing skin cream with progesterone in it can certainly help.

How about incontinence? This symptom of menopause can be quite embarrassing, and there are few cures. Bouts of incontinence can be due to hormonal imbalances around this time of a woman's life. Producing less estrogen can actually cause the lining of the bladder to weaken, which may cause lack of control of bladder movement. The older a woman gets, the harder it is to hold back the urine. Of course there are exercises that can be done to strengthen these muscles, mostly kegels that help build up the muscles surrounding the urethra.

If your symptoms of menopause are straining your sanity to the limit, perhaps it's time to seek a solution. Find out about your options, especially the many herbal remedies that can help ease your symptoms.