There’s a Shona proverb that says, 'Chisingapere chinoshura', loosely translated it means 'Everything has an end'. This ladies is also true for Aunt Flo, she does have an expiry date and that date is MENOPAUSE. But as we already know, she won’t go down without a fight. Menopause is the time at which a woman permanently stops menstruating and is diagnosed after 12 months of no Aunt Flo (amenorrhea). The journey to menopause comes in a series of stages. 1)Perimenopause or menopausal transition. This is the time period from the first instance of climacteric symptoms caused by fluctuating hormonal levels to one year after menopause. It begins several years before menopause, usually starting in women in their 40s but can also start in their 30s or even earlier. The duration can vary greatly in women but the average length of this transition is 4 years. During this phase, there is a gradual degradation of ovarian function meaning ovaries gradually begin to produce less estrogen. This causes a decrease in fertility and sexual activity and can also cause some physiological and psychological symptoms to appear. These symptoms are what I termed above as climacteric symptoms. In short, these are symptoms brought about by the gradual changes in ovarian function. 2)Premenopause This is from when the first irregular menstrual cycle starts to…