So when does peri start?

[Newsenmum]

Ive heard so much conflicting information and now Im not sure what I think!

Im 36! Is this a thing now? What should I be doing?

’Peri’ isn’t a constant, or hasn’t been for me. I have had varying degrees of many of listed symptoms on and off since maybe 41, but nothing long-lived or all at the same time. I think the most noticeable symptom came at 46 which was finding everything and everyone beyond annoying.

It starts mid 40s. If you're 36 it's unlikely you're peri. I know lots of women are starting to see peri symptoms in their 30s but they are probably a combo of PMT/stress/lack of sleep etc rather than peri. We can feel shit for lots of hormonal related reasons that aren't peri!

But she says she started peri because of it.

I'm 55 and still waiting.... although I've not had a period since before Christmas so am starting to feel mildly excited that it could heading that way. No real symptoms - things like joint pain, itching, dry eyes can all be attributed to lots of other things, like my type 2 diabetes or medication I'm on.

Self-diagnosis is still diagnosis.

But either way, I (and many other friends of mine) have been 'officially' diagnosed in our 30s.

Quite strange that you have 'many' other friends in perimenopause much earlier than the norm.

And lots of reasons that aren't even hormonal.
A lot of the peri symptoms are just common problems.

This is why I'm asking.

That's my point- maybe the previously understood 'norm' is no longer the 'norm'.

So you think menopause is happening at an earlier age than before?
Why would that be?

I don't think it's starting at an earlier age than before, I think it's being understood and diagnosed earlier than before. I think it probably always started earlier, we just didn't have the language and understanding of it.

Well puberty now starts earlier than it used to and the number of girls starting their period before 11 has nearly doubled in the lash thirty years. Therefore, it would make sense that the average age to start experience perimenopausal symptoms and having the menopause will also decrease.

I don't think it works that way. I started my periods at age 10 and perimenopause started at 45, had menopause at 52.

Similar but I started mine at 9, peri at 41
although I think mine was brought on by the gynae op I had where they possibly removed some ovary tissue (excision of endometriosis)

I started noticing my period coming more frequently - 21 day cycle - mid 40s which was annoying. At my smear I mentioned it to the nurse and she suggested the mini pill which actually stopped them altogether, then a few years later I started having hot sweats at night and real anxiety, so went on HRT. I was 49 then, 52 now. I have the Mirena coil so not sure where I am in terms of periods tbh. HRT has not been a magic bullet for me (although did completely knock off the hot night thing) but I am too scared to stop it!

I'm 43 and no symptoms yet. I'm a bit nervous after hearing some horror stories. But my periods are awful so maybe I'll be just relieved they are over I won't care about the hot flushes etc.

I thought I was getting night sweats aged 40 when staying at PIL's but then I discovered MIL had put a blanket between the sheet and the mattress on my bed. Once I removed that my "night sweats" disappeared!

I think if you are seeing changes to periods and cycle mid 30s it’s worth looking for other hormonal causes as well as peri. I have a prolactinoma that put me into a false menopause in my early 20s. It was quickly diagnosed because premature menopause is incredible rare in younger women.

My endocrinologist always maintained that pituitary adenomas were probably a lot more common than stats showed because the dymptomd were identical to peri menopause and developed over several years. Hormone levels would indicate meno and at the time the prolactin test was expensive and took weeks to process. I was just lucky that my new GP was on the ball. I had seen a number of GPs over a period of 4yrs and they had all attributed my symptoms to stress.

Other contenders are thyroid problems, PCOs and to a certain extent endometriosis. They also need to rule out some of the more worrying conditions such as gyni cancers which are often silent.

I think that the obsession with peri menopause is stopping the diagnose of often treatable conditions. Or early detection of some more problematic diseases.

If you’re worried keep a diary, track your cycle and note symptoms that fit with peri but also those that don’t. I was diagnosed with breast cancer at 57 but dismissed some of the early symptoms, such as cancer fatigue and palpitations as peri when in fact they are common in early cancer before it’s physically detectable. To be honest it wouldn’t have speeded up the diagnosis but it they had been a problem in my 30s I would have been quicker to see my GP.

It definitely does, a woman only has so many eggs when born, as the number and quality of eggs decreases, ovarian function declines and has an effect on hormones causing perimenopause. Obviously everyone has a different amount, but if there continues to be a trend that girls are starting their period younger, that will also have an effect on the average age of menopause.

Starting your period before 11, is associated with an increased risk of earlier menopause. Girls who start their period before 11 have an 80% higher risk of early menopause before 30. Though that obviously never happened with you.

It's different for everyone. I started with hot flushes at 47 and had my last period at 50. The worst aspect for me was hormonal migraines, which I no longer get.

A quick google does not confirm that an early menarche would lead to an early menopause.

Also, if periods start earlier because of improved nutrition you could argue that you would expect menopause to be LATER because of better health/ageing.

"It remains uncertain, however, whether age at menarche is related to age at menopause (Forman et al., 2013). Some studies report that women with early menarche also have early menopause (Hardy and Kuh, 1999; Nagata et al., 2000; Henderson et al., 2008; Brand et al., 2015; Li et al., 2016; Mishra et al., 2017; Ruth et al., 2016). Other studies report that women with early menarche have late menopause (van Keep et al., 1979; Boulet et al., 1994), or they report no association (van Noord et al., 1997; Kato et al., 1998; Nagel et al., 2005; Dratva et al., 2009; Otero et al., 2010; Bjelland et al., 2014; Rizvanovic et al., 2013; Yasui et al., 2012; Zsakai et al., 2015). "

The relation of age at menarche with age at natural menopause: a population study of 336 788 women in Norway - PMC (nih.gov)

I see people are keen to talk down women's experiences with their own health. Some things never change.

It's kind of accepted now that it's been frequently misdiagnosed as anxiety and depression.

I’m in my 50’s and nothing noticeable yet 🤷‍♀️

I'd love to know too. I'm almost 53 and still regular as clockwork. I've had no menopausal symptoms whatsoever 🤦‍♂️