What do you wish you'd known before peri menopause?

[kristallen]

I think the PM has arrived and I feel completely underprepared..but I don't know what I should be prepared for anyway. I've googled but it all seems so vague.

I'm half feeling that this'll be fine really and half freaking out that my mental health, moods, sex life, weight, skin and other things are about to go crazy and out of control.

So I thought to ask those of you who've got experience what I should be doing now, what you wished you'd done/not done or had known.

Hello, me too, I guess.... I'm 45 now. I guess over the last few years my cycle has changed in length....used to be 31 days like clockwork, then suddenly 26, 28, 22. Last Christmas I had one cycle at 43 days and one after at 37 or something. That's definitely unusual. I then went thro a time where it was 23 days. Due on every third week! I thought it was my body having a last hurrah at being fertile....

Now two years later, they are still a bit different although settled down, but they no longer last 6 days. It's more like 4 and I've read that on here.

I know I am aging. I guess these early days are giving me a chance to get used to it. I've made some changes therefore, to stay as healthy as I can and try to look nice still. I have to stretch now, I bought better face cream. I diet and fast. My grey hairs are a little more noticeable now, only a very few but can no longer deny them. Think I'll let that be.

No hot flushes. Wake every night for a wee.

Is there anything I wish I'd known? Don't think so. Just the little changes help, and good diet. I had it easy when I started with them so I'm hoping that will mirror when I finish with them. Will be quite nice to finish them. And I quite like being an older woman, I like the wisdom I can extend sometimes.

something2say ooh some wisdom would be good! :))

My mother had a terrible time and ended up discovering she had uterine cancer so had a hysterectomy. So I e always worried when it was my time I'd also have hot flushes, flooding etc. But it's different for everyone and I've been very lucky with hardly any symptoms other than a couple years of irregular periods. So there's nothing I wish I'd known. But I also knew quite alot, I had just expected it to be way more traumatic than it ended up being.

I wish I'd known that it might not be as bad as everyone says. Some people don't suffer too badly. I felt lucky and I had lunch with friends recently where my 58 year old post menopausal friend confided absolutely nothing changed for her except her periods stopped. She said "I didn't even notice it was happening". I am sure she is the exception to the rule but, as with conception, pregnancy, labour and childbirth, some of us have vastly different experiences to our friends and relatives. So maybe just keep that in mind and cross your fingers and hold tight!!

Fingers crossed then...