I started to experience perimenopause around the age of 33. I had my first hot flash, and it embarrassed me too. I was at a busy video store waiting in line with a bunch of other people, and all of sudden it hit me! It felt like someone turned on the heat and I got hotter and hotter. Of course, this made people stare at me. The more they stared... the more embarrassed I got. The symptoms didn't come on that much around that age, but they sure did in my later 30's, and more so in my early 40's. I haven't hit the full-on menopausal stage. Still going through perimenopause. I heard menopause can start at the age of 47 years old. Most women I've talked too, who are older, said it started at the age of 50 for them.

Update: Oh.. menopause can start even earlier. Gosh! Maybe I should talk to my m. doctor and see if I'm still in the stages of perimenopause, or actually in the stages of menopause.

I'm going to have to google the symptoms for menopause and see for myself.