Perimenopause symptoms.What are/were yours?

[PrincessHoneysuckle]

I'm 44 and not in the full throes yet but I want to be prepared.
So far I've been feeling a bit less settled and sometimes in fight or flight mode for no reason at all.I also feel more hungry and am struggling to keep to small portions.My hair feels slightly thinner too.

Knackered, just dog tired and I’m feeling depressed. I’m not on hrt yet but think I’d better start. I’ve always been a pretty steady laid back person, I can get pretty grumpy.

Can you get it easily? I've had hormone bloods done before but came back normal

Fatigue, acne, itchy scalp and arms. Sore legs and knees, flat mood and no motivation.

Urgh it's shit isn't it

Huge, heavy flooding periods every three weeks for the last ten years of my reproductive life.

I'm 58 now and thankfully things seem to have finally stopped, but it wasn't before I even considered pushing for a hysterectomy in order to get control of things. I don't miss them.

Fatigue, awful mood swings including an awful feeling of rage. Bloating, itching, brain fog.

@PrincessHoneysuckle the hormone levels tend to fluctuate so you might get normal levels one time and different the next

Suicidal thoughts for two weeks every month, terrible anger, self esteem through the floor, thin hair, vaginal atrophy and all the prolapses as a result, restless legs, night sweats, flooding periods, anaemia.

It took two years for me to work out what it was and go on HRT. Feel much better now!

At the start erratic timing with periods, extremely heavy flow. Constantly horny, later on brain fog, erratic periods, generally tired and sex drive vanished completely. Took 10 years before I finally finished.
But not everyone will get symptoms, it just depends

I had flushes, nothing else really.

It doesn't last forever.

I'm 38 but wondering if I'm nearing peri or in fact in it. My periods have been every 28 days clock work since I was young and are now coming every 19/20 days the oast 3 cycles.

I have really low mood (especially in the morning) which isn't me! Also teeth clenching which I've never done before, keep catching myself clenching my jaw and having to let go 😳 I've also noticed I'm very easily overwhelmed and very teary/emotional about my kids getting older.

Suppose alot of this could be down to stress but something just feels different lately.

Tiredness, weight gain, itchy skin, brain fog and insomnia

and I just feel different men rarely are interesting to me and I just care less I love just caring less what others think, what my future holds weirdly I am more content 😊

I like the everyday routine and not having many plans

Anxiety, especially about things that I wouldn’t ever have been anxious about before - driving, social events, health

Periods became heavier, but lighter after day 3

I'm 43 and confirmed Peri by blood tests earlier this year.

Started with missing periods this year then ramped up with insomnia, night sweats, hot flushes really quickly within a month. The insomnia was the worst and then it was fatigue and brain fog.
Pushed hard for HRT and got it quickly and feel so much better for it.

2 week on 2 week off periods and dizziness . After I started hrt I realised that the bone deep coldness I was feeling was part of it too. And the urinary urgency and disapered orgasms

I'm 45, started with irregular cycles around a year ago , 40 /42 days , now my last 2 periods have been 17 days apart.
My brain fog / memory is horrendous , can have a conversation and have forgotten what was said minutes later .
And finally waking up in the night, not with flushes or anything , usually get back to sleep quickly ,
So in short at the moment nothing I can't deal with without medical intervention, but I have ordered some peri menopause vitamins , they were on offer at boots so figured worth a try, yet to start them through

Very heavy and increasingly but not wildly irregular periods and shit sleep for about 4 years, then anxiety and a few aches and pains, plus redistribution of weight around the middle. Bit of brain fog. I take some supplements which have totally sorted the anxiety and sleep. Haven't had a period now for 3 months, so I'm wondering if that's it. Only just begun to have the occasional hot flush, but they're pretty mild. I'll be 53 this month btw.

More joint aches, especially in the morning
Tearfulness/anxiety
Very irregular and heavy periods
Bladder weakness

Mirena coil sorted the periods out, have been on hrt for 4 years and the anxiety is better. Bladder weakness is no better.

Oh, and I absolutely hated my husband and fantasised about divorce a lot (that has lessened to mild annoyance)

I'm 40 but I think this has been going on for a couple of years really. I started with acne and rosacea and my periods have been a bit later than expected.
When I ovulate I have insomnia and when I do sleep I am waking with adrenaline rushes. I've gained weight round my middle, usually this goes to my face, arms and bum area so this is new me. I get very itchy all over.
I am now having hormonal headaches just before my period so although they are unpredictable I get a bit of a heads up! It is awful though as it feels like a migraine coming on.
I feel fatigued at times, like completely wiped out and have to rest. I don't feel depressed but I am feeling tearful for no reason and more emotional than usual. I have had quite a few hot flushes, I feel I'm burning up on the inside, followed by chills. I've recently had a period after not having any for 8 weeks. I'm taking each day as it comes.

That’s to be expected- a blood test is just a point in time and hormone levels fluctuate all the time. Any cycle changes? That’s what led me to realise- I thought at first my period tracker was broken, very long or very short gaps between bleeds.

I started having erratic periods, insomnia, morning joint pain, exhaustion, itchy skin, intolerant to alcohol, bladder frequency and night sweats.

Recently periods seem to have stopped entirely, the sweats have settled and I’ve put at least a stone on around my middle! I’m 49 this year.

Close to psychosis! Permanent murderous rage, anxiety, depression, night sweats, insomnia, obsessive behaviour, hair loss, hairy chin, dry eyes, brain fog, confusion, aches and pains, zero libido. Those are the things I can recall, because it has utterly destroyed my memory. Took my marriage to the brink during COVID because apparently none of this was important.

Oddly, my cycles remain regular as clockwork. I am 52, been on HRT since Jan 2022 and see no end in sight. My medical records now say I am never to be parted from my Oestrogel. 🤦‍♀️

I'm about your age too. Symptoms started when I was 40, I think.
Insomnia, I can fall asleep fine but would wake up about 2am and that would be me, unable to get back to sleep. A low point was going to work after just 1 hr sleep. Feeling lightheaded /dizzy/spaced out. The beginnings of night sweats, sometimes I just feel like a wave of heat spreads over me suddenly (day or night) but not always sweating with it, yet. More irritable. Really tired. And I absolutely hate driving just now, long distance, dual carriageways, at night, all of it.

I had a coil so no idea what my periods would be doing. Saw the GP who did a raft of tests to rule out anaemia and thyroid problems. They came back fine, saw a different GP and told her I thought I was peri and wanted to try HRT. She was reluctant because of my age but I stood my ground and gave my reasons so she did. She did also ask if I would consider taking out my coil to see if I was still having periods (er, that's a hard no 🤨). I've been on HRT just over a year and I'm feeling like my symptoms are coming back so thinking about asking to increase my dose.

GPs shouldn't do hormone blood tests to diagnose peri, they should be going by symptoms. Have a look at NICE guidelines, GPs should follow that.

I know 😞 so what the hell do u do?