Age and change

Posting about the menopause make me think about those of us going through it or done with it.

What age did you start Perimenopause ? How long did it take for menopause actually happen? I am 43 and I just starting to see signs.

I think I started around age 45ish. It lasted about 10 years altogether, but I would have symptoms come and go. I didn't really notice any big changes till about 2 years ago. I finally hit my one year mark, and I'm glad to be done with it.

I'm 45 and I'm full blown menopausal - been going through it for a couple of years. Honestly, I'm having a really easy time with it. I get the very occasional hot flash, but it's less than once a week. No night sweats, and my mood has actually improved.

The only thing I despise about it, is the sudden onslaught of facial hair - black coarse and all over the place - seriously I'm growing a beard. I have to use depilatory cream at a minimum every 3 days. That sucks.

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I'm 45 and going through it now...though I wish this was set private. Kind of strange having others read this public.

Would really like to talk more about it though.

I personally think this is the perfect place to talk about it. There are many of us getting ready or going through it. We need to support each other and learn from each other. No one needs to go through this alone.

I started noticing changes at 43. First symptom was insomnia. Then when winter rolled around I was hot at night and did not need to use my heating blanket. I wore my summer PJ's all winter and it was a long cold winter. Anxiety, emotional, change in my periods, forgetful.

I'm still struggling with getting better sleep. Some of it is early morning anxiety and some of it is I'm too hot. Then when I turn on my fan I get too cold. Then I get warm again. Back and forth all night.

I had a total hysterectomy at age 35.. I went right into menopause It was horrid .. I tried a hormonal med but it didnt help me enough to take the risk of other cancers ...(One was enough for me)

It took me about 6-8 months to level off ..

I do want to talk about it but kind of feel weird that when someone check on my past posts that they can see this. I just have to get over it as I do need to talk about this.

I do have sleeping problem. I am going through a lot of emotional problems too. This is just added on thing to deal with along with depression and getting my life together. I'm also glad to talk about this as I don't have older females family members to talk to this about. I have talked to someone and she told me about her anxiety.

I'm very confused with regard to my own perimenopause. I'm sure I must be perimenopausal (I'm 51), yet my periods are regular. The only difference I've noticed about myself is horrible anxiety/dread and a tendency toward irritability. Those things began when I was 50. I assume they have something to do with perimenopause.

They probably are affected by your hormonal changes going on. I am 56, and just completed the process. As I said in a prior post, I was regular till the last 2 years or so. The only signs I had that I was in peri was the mood swings and night sweats. For some women it takes 10+ years to go thru it and others a lot less. Be sure to talk to your MD about this. You might need hormone replacement. I was thinking about it towards the end of my process. There are also natural supplements that are supposed to help.

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.

Thank you, IrisBloom. Your post is so helpful for me. Something that scared me is when I saw my GYN last time she was almost shockingly (for this day and age) ignorant about p-meds. I wasn;t sure how to handle her lack of knowledge. Some of the natural remedies, for example, can cause bad interaction with p-meds.Also, do you know about the connection between hrt and cancer? The way it sounded when I read the info my GYN gave to me, they made it sound like if you're doing hrt you stand a good chance of getting cancer. That freaks me out, because my sister had breast cancer when she was only a year older than I am now.

Sister, here's a good article about the subject. Menopausal Hormone Therapy and Cancer Risk

You have to decide whether it's worth the risk. I didn't want HRT for that reason, but I was about ready to try it before my symptoms let up.

On my 3rd week still having p. it's light. Feel weird having it that long.

Eggplant, have you told your MD about this?

No as I don't have a means to see a doctor.

I had an endometrial ablation in 2007 due to dangerous bleeding so I haven't had a period since then but I still cycle. I have to find out these things from blood tests. The last one said that I was not yet post-menopausal which I had assumed. I do have lots of mood issues but always have so I'm not sure about that. I do occasionally break out into a sweat but not always at night. The one thing I'm noticing is water retention and changes in body composition. Don't really know, but read somewhere that shifts in hormones can be a cause.

Hello everyone, I am also experiencing these symptoms. Anxiety,mood swings, lots of tension. Been through lots of testing and all is good in that area but I'm thinking I might be going through the change. Needing to talk.