There's also peri-menopause, which can last as long as a decade before actual menopause kicks in. Then menopause can last for several years. Depending.

Several years ago, during the peri-menopausal stage, I was feeling like I was going to go nuts. I started using natural, pharmaceutical grade progesterone cream (topically applied), and it pretty much saved my sanity.

That's not to say there won't be some symptoms even if hormone supplementation is used. But it can make a big difference. There are also natural estrogen creams for topical use that can help a lot if the problem is not enough estrogen.

A lot of women can handle not enough estrogen, but having estrogen dominence can be a real bitch. Estrogen dominence happens when the body produces less progesterone (as well as estrogen), but the woman ingests estrogen in her diet. A lot of foods contain estrogenic compounds, so estrogen dominence can be a pretty common problem.

But whatever you do, don't judge her for having hormones. You have hormones, too. (And they probably make you a little crazy from time to time as well.)