To not like being around other people the older I get...

I'm a similar age and 100% agree with you!

Im the same op ive been like it all my life tbh.
I feel for them that have kids at home and feel like this with peri meno in the mix i dont know how they do it.

I hear you. I'm a lot older than you but felt this way since around your age.
I really can't be arsed with small talk. I have one very close friend with whom it's ok. We can have a companiable silence without having to chatter incessantly.
I can read a book or get on with the washing while she's around and vice versa.
Same with dh. Everybody else can fuck off.

This is me. Late 40s and find I like people less and less as the years go by. I was very much a people pleaser back in the day but now I'm a seething mass of irritation. Small children annoy me, young adults really annoy me, elderly people annoy me, the supermarket shop annoys me, other drivers annoy me, also (and ironically) people ranting about non issues annoy me. There are genuinely two people in the entire world I can say I like to be with. However, I embrace my new self and quite like that I no longer feel required to please other people.

Meaning my FIL!

I’m not sure I was ever a people pleaser as such but suffered fools quite gladly. Not any more. My levels of intolerence have gone through the roof. Blaming it on the perimenopause.

And that irritates tf out of me! 🤣

Doesn't everyone?!

Just to add, I do still venture out at the weekend with DH, but it’s chilled, no organised plans, just impromptu walk into the village for a pint and a roast, or a relaxing Saturday with a cocktail or two. There’s no dashing about organising taxis anymore for nights out, apart from the odd special birthday or family event.

Most importantly for me is time by myself though, I need that time to recharge.

One person who usually calls by unexpectedly is FIL, of course we always answer the door but I need to sit and stare at a wall for half an hour after he’s gone as he never stops talking. Talks over you, talks about all sorts of things and people who we don’t know, never stops. He’s exhausting. He has no self awareness and it’s always a one way conversation.

I'm over the menopause and I have less patience than ever. I get irritated so quickly and I wish I didn't.

I think you're doing well to have only started feeling like this now, at 45. I'm 38 and I've felt this for a good couple of years.

I used to love people, and socialising, and chatting and small talk. Now people just irritate me. Especially in Supermarkets. Will you GET out of the way!

This is the first stage of perimenopause. The second stage is completely losing patience for your close family too and wanting to live on an island with a load of cats.

I feel exactly the same regarding alone time. I LOVE spending time by myself and although I don’t get irritated in the supermarket as such, I feel exactly the same as you when bumping into neighbours and having to make small talk.

Being in a busy office 5 days a week and surrounded by people (some very annoying, but they might feel the same about me 🤣) I relish my weekends, where mostly it’s just me and DH these days as DS (18) is out and about.

I’m 55 and have a colleague of similar age who is the complete opposite, always out and about, doesn’t like to be by herself and always has plans, so I’m not sure it’s an age thing as such. I feel so dull every Monday when asked if I had a good weekend, yep, same old same old, but I enjoy it!

I think this is another thing people normalise on here, like never answering the door, retreating inside ‘my little family’, or not leaving the house unless absolutely necessary. A disproportionate number of people on here simply can’t handle basic interactions with other people and have decided to label this (inaccurately) as ‘introversion’. Probably relatedly, a disproportionate number of people on here are unusually irritable and simmering with suppressed resentment with others, and have decided to call, this ‘menopause’. I think it’s far more likely to be a matter of belatedly recognising their longtime people-pleasing tendencies, which they’d previously normalised. ‘Menopause’ has become a catch-all label for living in a state of permanent fury which I’m not sure has all that much to do with hormonal changes.

Ultimately, OP, I suppose it’s up to you whether you want to live the rest of your life huffing and tutting. You have two choices. You do what I did for a couple of years a long time back, and live on an otherwise uninhabited island which got cut off from supply boats for weeks in bad weather. Or you acknowledge that it’s unlikely the rest of the world has suddenly become spectacularly rude, have some therapy, and figure out what all this rage is really about.

I shop at night now. Must shops near me are open late. Otherwise I may lose the rag with someone as I have no patience for stupidity or dithering. Not to mention kids running (it's a shop not a playground). Yup. Late evening shopping keeps me sane!

I am the same OP.
I rarely make plans because I just can't be bothered with people and I really need my down time.
I am sitting in my bedroom for half an hour now...have family coming later for a Sunday roast which I prepared myself for...but already today we have had two unexpected visitors so I feel peopled out already.
Just hoping noone arrives early for the evening meal.
Looking forward to Thursday when I have no plans and no work.

100 per cent agree. The only people I can tolerate are my family members. I can’t stand other people around me. It wasn’t until I was in my 40s that I realised I’ve been like this since a child. Struggled with school etc. I’m very much an introvert and I love my own company and peace and quiet. Summer is the worst. So much noise outside that we don’t get during the winter months. I find it chaotic and my nerves jangle

I'm the same. The only people I like mixing with are my kids, now teens and my parents

Sounds like you’re starting turning into the grumpy old woman. Every village has one or two!

I'm already a cat lady 😁well I have one but when the children have flew the nest I'll get more!

I agree with seeing the world in a different way as you age, especially when you get to a stage when you start to lose people. Also agree that working with the public over many years (healthcare) where many people have complaints, and complain, takes its toll on you.

When younger everything used to be so exciting. I just feel like a number these days in many situations, not a person. I remember when I came to this realisation, I was on holiday and as we were leaving, it was like a conveyor belt of new people arriving, another week and repeat.

There’s just too many people, not enough staff, and politeness has gone. Standards have absolutely plummeted. My local sainsburys absolutely astonishes me. Staff are shouting loudly across the shop to each other every single time I go in, there are unpacked boxes everywhere on the shop floor and obviously you have to do self checkout. It’s truly the pits. I do online shopping as much as possible to preserve my fantasy that life is ok!