To ask about your perimenopause symptoms

Is it possible to be peri-menopausal at 36??
I have the following symptoms

• Exhausted all the time

• flu like symptoms in the run up to my period
• periods lasting 9- 10 days and heavier than before
• Everything aches! I feel like an old woman.
• Libido is non-existant except for a couple of days a month when I can't think of anything else to the point it's actually debilitating!
• My hair is horribly greasy which has never been an issue before
• I feel sick more days than not bit also ravenously hungry
• My skin is dry and itchy and is suddenly really sensitive to any new products.

@WinWinnieTheWay oh yes, the husband hating! It's horrible, I adore the man and we've been together 20 years, but I regularly want to scream in his face for no reason other than that he is breathing.

I keep reassuring myself that it's just hormones and the feelings are not real.

I've been nodding away at pp's saying they can't find the word they want...I find I can't finish a sentence properly or can't articulate myself at all. I've had some big interviews lately where it's a struggle to remember the beginning of a question they've asked me, let alone formulate a response. I messed up and lost out on one job (I gave a fantastic technical talk even if I say so myself, but when asked a competency question I gave a really poor example with a shit outcome and could not come up with another one), but I have another 2nd interview tomorrow.

Let's hope I can speak properly, think straight and not sound drunk.

@Tootsey11
Thanks Tootsey. Yes, you’re right, I need to see GP and get it sorted. But only a couple of months ago I had some post menopausal bleeding and had to have that dealt with (non-malignant polypoid lesion on cervix 🙄), so I need to myself get into the right frame of mind. The joys of being a woman.

Oh and also my periods were lasting 7-10 days too. I was either bleeding or had PMS

Periods every 3 weeks, sometimes less.
Extremely heavy clotting periods
Horrendous night sweats
Skin awful hair dry
Awful PMT up to two weeks before
Raging anxiety

I’ve just be prescribed the mini pill which I’ve been taking for about 25 days. It seems to have dulled a lot of symptoms but has made my boobs massive, and I can’t stop eating! No period yet though touches wood

Hating my husband
Night sweats
Restless nights

@Spodge

I feel like this! Except for the sweats and urinanation.

Like all small problems are in the scale of large ones too.

@ExtenuatingCircumstances, as someone who also has urge incontinence I would advise getting treatment as soon as. I left mine for a number of months thinking I just had a urine infection and tried home remedies. I am now suffering severe vaginal atrophy. It is an on going nightmare and is due to lack of estrogen. Without treatment it will get worse.

48
Extreme fatigue (have M.E.)
Ache so much some days I can’t move (have fibro)
Brain fog, my kids are used to it & can generally work out what I’m trying to say.
Irregular periods, plus varying in length.
Weight gain, not helped by craving for carbs.
Really sweaty scalp so much so that even last week the back of my hair was soaked- is this normal?

Does anyone get itchy skin? I've been on HRT for about 8 months which has definitely helped the night sweats, fatigue and aches but my skin becomes really itchy at certain times of the month. I was wondering whether it is a peri symptom or a HRT side effect?

Oh I have started with symptoms lately.
I've ordered some well woman vitamins and hope may help some what.
I get the rage. I get weepy.
Horrible period pains when never suffered before, absolutely wiped out at this time.
Night sweats. Not sleeping properly.
And the rage. OMG

I'm 41 and I think I might be starting.

Get waves of anxiety wash over me, low mood and irritable.

Does anyone suffer with achy joints? My hips are agony every morning 🤔

Forgot to say I started taking the Starpowa Menobalance gummies about 3 months ago and although they are not working miracles they are really helping the PMT...last month I really noticed that I hadn't got anywhere near as ragey or teary

47

Hideous PMT, to the point I know I'm being irrational and argumentative and ridiculous but can't stop it. And instead of it just being before my period it seems it can strike at any time

Anxiety, obsessive 'What if' scenarios playing out in my head

Achy feet and hands

Brain fog. My job is high pressure, requires attention to detail, and small mistakes can have a huge financial or regulatory impact, I'm terrified I'm going to screw something up

Periods coming closer together (now down to about a 23 day cycle from a 28 one), and (TMI warning) once the 'proper' bleed is over I'm now getting another week or so of a brownish old blood discharge which is grim

I'm fat round the middle and my propensity to put on weight seems to be increasing daily

I've had a couple of health issues recently which seem unconnected but I've never had before, so I guess those could be related too

If I was a horse....

This thread has been so reassuring.

Good to hear a more positive story @ExtenuatingCircumstances. I know my DM never had a hot flush.

I’m 61 and thankfully post menopause. I was very lucky and only had a few peri symptoms - anxiety, loss of confidence, brain fog (all back to normal now) didn’t have hot sweats, mood swings etc.
However........ I am now left with urge incontinence 🙄 which I have never suffered from before (and yes I know I can get treatment for it - I just can’t be bothered to go through more prodding and poking).
Win some lose some.

Goodness, I didn’t even think about the ringing on my ears!! Ffs, why all this stuff. Why don’t our periods just stop and bam, childbearing done.

If you have a low/sub-clinical ferritin level, that will cause hair loss.

It’s worth asking specifically for your ferritin levels to be checked, I don’t think it comes up as standard in a routine blood test for iron deficiency.

[quote Jellycatspyjamas]@dingledongle I use Centrum women 50+ and a sachet of Spatone daily. It’s literally the only thing that’s helped my hair - I sometimes feel like my body just doesn’t take nutrients from food anymore, my mum had severe anaemia from peri-menopause onward hence the keeping iron levels steady.[/quote]
I think this may also be the cause of being out of breath that several PPs mentioned?

If your periods get heavier at peri-menopause, it will contribute to lower iron levels. If you have a low/sub-clinical ferritin level, that will cause hair loss. If you are taking non-haem iron, take it with fruit as vitamin c helps it absorb.

I'm 40, periods are heavier but shorter (2-3 days only) and cycle has shortened too. I had a baby last year but not sure I'd be able to now, I think I was starting peri-menopause as I got pregnant. I'm snappy, my older ones were driving me nuts over lockdown.

43, periods all over the place.
Headaches
Bloating
Palpitations
Knackered
No tolerance
Hot flushes
Forgetfulness
But the worst is joint pain mainly in my ankles when I wake up.
Mum was 40 and grandmother 39

I'm 48 and my periods are all over the place. This month I didn't really get one (or it's about to hit me). I usually have a couple of very heavy days.

Other than that , the only thing I have noticed is that I forget the word I want and have to talk around things, and I know that can be a symptom too - some menopausal women worry they've got early onset dementia. As an example I might want to say "the diagram depicts x and y" and I can't think of the word "depict" so have to say "show" instead.

Sorry, meant to add I'm 48.

I'm 49 and clock work periods... I do get the odd night sweat...
pmt has lessened over the years
3 day period 1 heavyish day
My skins better now less hormones?
Hair and nails are okay!
I don't feel too bad really.

I did start a low carb keto diet a few years back and stuck with low carb. Have to say I think it really helped! Lots of women report it's helped too

I'm in perimenopause and it is awful. Skipped periods, although sometimes two a month. Irritable, depressed, anxious, tearful. Sometimes just an impending feeling if doom that I can't shift. I am slower and more lethargic, everything is more difficult. I started HRT last year, Femoston and I think it is helping. I also have thinning hair. It can go on for years apparently