...to ask if menopause and perimenopause are the same thing?

34 replies

TheTecknician · 18/06/2025 20:52

That's all. I'd never heard of the latter until about a year ago.

Apologies if I'm being an ignorant middle-aged man!

OP posts:

RareGoalsVerge · 19/06/2025 06:53

Menopause is a single point in time - the day you get your last ever period. You don't usuallu know it's happened until later because every month you don't know for certain if you'll get a period again next month, or 6 weeks, or whatever. If you have a complete hysterectomy that's instant menopause obviously.

Perimenopause is the several years before and after that point when hormones are all over the place. Peri being the prefix indicating the surroundings of anything (perimeter, perinatal, perineum, peripheral)

Bonsaibaby · 19/06/2025 06:50

People used to talk more about menopausal women which covered perimenopause, menopause and after, but now it seems to be more perimenopausal or in perimenopause for before.

BellissimoGecko · 19/06/2025 06:44

rainbowunicorn · 18/06/2025 23:22

Pretty much anything that is asked on here could have been googled.

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Yeah, sure, but this is especially so. What bloke would register for Mumsnet and come along to ask a group of women the meaning of two common words he could easily google? It’s just a bit weird.

Menobaby79 · 18/06/2025 23:35

Peri = periods still but in menopause. Menopause = periods have stopped. Thats how I understand it.

rainbowunicorn · 18/06/2025 23:22

BellissimoGecko · 18/06/2025 23:10

You could have googled that, you know…

Pretty much anything that is asked on here could have been googled.

reversegear · 18/06/2025 23:15

@BellissimoGeckosometimes its nice to ask though, I’m sure most things on mumsnet are “googlable”

BellissimoGecko · 18/06/2025 23:10

You could have googled that, you know…

Original poster

TheTecknician · 18/06/2025 21:09

Thankyou demented.

OP posts:

dementedpixie · 18/06/2025 21:04

Perimenopause is the run up to menopause and can last for years. You've only reached menopause when periods have stopped for 1 year.

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