“I thought I knew the risk factors for heart disease and I didn’t think I fit any of those profiles,” Griffin explained.

The one risk factor she overlooked was menopause.

“The message is that all women are at risk for developing heart disease, particularly after menopause,” Carolyn Landolfo, M.D., a cardiologist at The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., explained.

Dr. Landolfo says after menopause, a woman’s risk of heart disease skyrockets by 70 percent. Fatigue, shortness of breath, trouble sleeping, nausea and burning sensations are all signs of heart disease that many women brush off as hassles of menopause.

“A lot of things get confounded by aging,” Dr. Landolfo said. “People say, ‘I’m just getting older. I need to exercise.’ There’s always an excuse.”

After age 50, nearly half of all deaths in women are due to some form of heart disease. That’s more than the number of deaths from all cancers combined.

“Women’s symptoms tend to be minimized not only by themselves but by their doctors as well, and so I think it’s important for women to take charge and ask their doctor, ‘Could this be a sign of heart disease?’” Dr. Landolfo said.

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Some of the most common symptoms are:

• Changes in periods (your menstrual cycle may be longer or shorter, or you may skip periods)
• Hot flashes (you may experience a sudden rush of heat in upper body)
• Night sweats (hot flashes that happen while you sleep), often followed by a chill
• Trouble sleeping through the night
• Vaginal dryness
• Mood changes, feeling grouchy, depressed or worried (up and down like an emotional roller coaster)
• Trouble focusing, feeling mixed-up or confused or having trouble remembering things
• Headaches
• Oily hair and skin
• Weight Gain

Some women experience severe symptoms that may disrupt the quality of their daily lives, and others may experience only a few mild symptoms.

Symptoms tend to get worse the first year or more after menopause, but over time, hormone levels even out and many symptoms improve or disappear entirely.  Finally, you can enjoy being free from periods and birth control concerns!