Perimenopause is the root of all evil?

[Mushroo]

I’ll preface by saying im 30 and have embarrassingly little knowledge of menopause. However, on here perimenopause it blamed for absolutely everything. I’ve seen it being the cause of:
tiredness
not being bothered about work anymore
sore feet
wrinkles
long periods
short periods
no periods
not giving a shit about peoples opinions
not wanting to socialise
not liking men
discovering you are a lesbian
not liking teenagers
not liking loud restaurants
not liking music
listlessness
depression
anxiety
chin hair
grey pubes
gaining weight
losing weight
a tendency to procrastinate
no tolerance for alcohol

Is it really that bad?! On here it seems
to be the answer to every problem / change imaginable!!

(Somewhat lighthearted!)

See you on the Menopause threads in 15 years OP.

If you think peri is a bit of a laugh wait until bone thinning, cardiovascular disease, dementia inducing menopause hits you'll be rolling on the floor.

That said no two women are the same and lots sail through and are even liberated by menopause, but for everyone who does there are dozens of ill informed women who spend years if not decades suffering needlessly.
I'm afraid the owness is on us all to educate ourselves because the NHS and medical professionals don't have a clue even though 50% of their patients will go through this.

the current training for med students on meno is 1/2 an hour and that's voluntary so chances are you GP will just had you antidepressants and show you the door.

I went recently and the desire to prescribe HRT by too HCP was high and it was so easy

I had read on here about GPS being behind and handing out ADs so it seemed really different

two…

Does anyone notice a difference if they go on combined oral contraceptive pill? I'm early 40s, periods becoming more problematic so I've asked to go back on pill for that and I'm also perhaps naively hoping that will help bypass other symptoms of peri. GP is quite happy that I would stay on that to some arbitrary age like 50 and then progress onto HRT.

The only symptom I have had is heavier periods (and they weren't exactly light to begin with - but compared with some of the stories on here, some MNers would probably think I had light periods!) The worst thing is on my heaviest days (nights) having to get up to change a towel - sometimes once, sometimes twice, and often making a mess of the bed. That is a real nuisance.

But I don't recognise anything else on the list. Well, I don't have much tolerance for alcohol but I haven't for many years, so I am not sure that is to do with hormones.

So don't panic, it doesn't have to be awful!

I am 46 and have ticked 18 of those off, wish I could lose the weight though! lol

Two - possibly contradictory - points:

• Any thread on peri menopause is going to suffer from selection bias, with those women who have had more severe symptoms being more likely to engage with the thread and to post. Yes you will get a few posters who say they’ve had minimal symptoms but it’s much more likely that the thread will be dominated by those women who have been more affected by peri menopause. And so you can’t assume the thread will accurately reflect the breadth of women’s experience - it will be skewed.

• OP, the tone of your post isn’t great, what the ‘lighthearted’ comment. Yes it may seem lighthearted to you as peri menopause seems so far off, but surely you know it’s not lighthearted for a lot of mumsnet posters. In the same way I’m (hopefully) way off developing dementia but I wouldn’t think of posting a ‘lighthearted’ dementia thread on Gransnet.

@suggestionsplease1 my doctor changed my pill when my symptoms started to appear.
I was on my period for over 8 months. Was checked. Nothing was wrong. Just peri menopausal starting.
the new pill took a few months ( about seven ) to kick in. But it has stopped my period again completely. My symptoms so far have been not very much. But I’m only 47. So I have a way to go. But for now it is helping.

but I have been on the pill since I was about 20. She said I can stay on it till I’m 55 as she said at that point it should all be over. I’m happy with that. So unless something changes I’m going with this.

You left
-Liberating.
-Tell people to fuck off with a clear conscience.

-Vaginally atrophy.
off the list

It's a superpower and a curse at the same time. HRT is a game changer.

Please don't believe all you read on social media.

Many clinicians (not all doctors, some are nurse practitioners, pharmacists, etc) are now trained in menopause. By last Sept over 20,000 had completed the course developed by Louise Newson and the Menopause Society so it will by now be more and there are also other courses besides this one. It is insulting to those of us who are trained and running clinics to read this over and over when it is simply not true.

Please don't believe all you read on social media. Many clinicians (not all doctors, some are nurse practitioners, pharmacists, etc) are now trained in menopause.

At my practice, one of the pharmacists is the meno 'expert' and it's the pharmacy team I deal with to tweak my HRT and review it. When I speak to the meno expert, it's a great appointment, I'm taken seriously, I come out with a solution. The other pharmacist keeps telling me to take an AD, despite the fact I have no history of anxiety or depression prior to being diagnosed with peri.

To answer your question op not it’s not awful for everyone. It’s a bit like Covid, some people will get mild cold like symptoms others will die!
My advice as you are only 30 is to think about your lifestyle and what to do to be healthier.
I’m going to get flamed for this but in my experience people who have the worst symptoms tend to be bigger, so personally I would watch my weight.

I didn't think my perimenopause and menopause symptoms were that bad but once I started HRT I realised how shit I'd been feeling. HRT is amazing. Even this epic heat wave doesn't feel bad now that my body thermostat has been repaired by the HRT

Having witnessed me having menopause symptoms my husband is a lot more sympathetic to the women he works with. I hadn't realized how badly some women are bothered by it so it's not surprising that he hadn't.

Yep I've got 15 on that list and a few more besides.

I note that having no sense of humour isn't on the list either ... 😉

Yes many women change and peri and the rest is responsible for many marriage breakups.

I've had it relatively easy, but the insomnia was horrendous.

(It's gone now, although I'm still peri-menopausal, so who knows what's still to come).

The Not Giving a Fuck symptom is great though.

I'm 51 and haven't really had any symptoms.... slightly heavier periods for a few years, and now they are just becoming more erratic. Not sure why some posters are giving you a hard time.... I'm presumably in the thick of it, and finding the current high profile of all things menopause related unhelpful - not saying its not a good thing that oriole are more aware... it just seems that suddenly everyone is talking about how horrible it is. I'm not surprised younger women are finding it off putting too.

I agree with you @Timeforanothername. I think it is a good thing that the menopause is getting a higher profiles, but also feel that it is similar to how cancer is reported in that you only hear the negative stories.

Women sailing through the menopause with the occasional power surge isn't newsworthy.

I am several years the other side of it and am fine.