To ask for your experiences of perimenopause?

[Youknowitmakessense]

The penny has dropped..
For a few month now I've been experiencing :

• night sweats

• painful cystic acne on my chin ( usually just the odd PMT zit)
• brain "fog"
• teariness and worse than usual PMT
• a shortened cycle ( 24 days instead of my usual 28)

I've just realised it all adds up to the perimenopause. My mum started hers at 30.

I feel pretty low. I'm 39 with one DS (4). Stressy life ( full time job with commute, no family to help nearby, sole earner whilst DH retrains). I'm also awaiting the results of a recent BRCA1 genetic test ( NHS).

I take sertraline already for anxiety, normal BMI, good diet and general other health. But this is making me feel awful.

Anyone have any experience of this? Advice? Suggestions?

Thanks

52, and in the middle of it. Hadn't had a period for 110 days then two consecutive 16 day cycles. Been getting night sweats but so far no hot flushes. Doctor put me on HRT last year but came off it because of mood swings and rapid weight gain - putting on half a stone in a week is a side effect too far. So far not been too bad, just disappointed that the periods haven't ended.

thanks for the tip Pennifer I will check them out.

Not sure if I'm going through it myself.

I'm 39, soon to be 40, in the last two months I've found out my mum went through hers about 35.

I coincieved in October, miscarried in January I've been trying to concieve since but no luck.

Since m/c my periods have been getting lighter, to the point that my last one was barely more than spotting. I've put weight on around my middle, but that's usually where it goes on, it just won't come off.
I've long suffered with an element of anxiety, but it seems permanently heightened now.
But the mind fog and lack of ability to concentrate!!! Omg!
Also started to notice the vaginal dryness, well i think that's what it is, there's definitely less there and there's no changes to cervical mucus around ovulation.

I have been to the drs, FSH level was 7.7, bang in the middle of normal ranges, but I understand you fluctuate in and out of hormonal ranges through peri? Drs response was they'd worry about it once my periods actually stoppedstopped and I feel written off.

Just wish I could find out definitively whether this is the start of menopause, this other methods of conception should be considered, my body taking a long time to settle after m/c, or something else.

Reading the fleece of despair article on the first page of this thread made me feel very cross. Why are we so unprepared.

I went to my (amazing) GP at 44 and asked for an increase in my anti-depressants to get me through a difficult time at work. She refused and said I should get my peri menopause sorted first. After a rage at home I rang our specialist menopause nurse helpline (as advised by wonderful GP) and discussed symptoms and options.

Now eight months into HRT, it has become very clear I have been peri menopausal for approximately 5 years and it has been extremely difficult with all symptoms described by pps.

I am angry that I had no clue what it was and that even now most women tell me I'm too young, despite clear evidence to the contrary.

And having all the peri menopausal symptoms with this one around (plus my eldest going through puberty). It's a challenge.
We were trying. He was conceived during a noteable slacking of symptoms. Just when my dr was beginning to take on board my concerns about eratic cycles etc.

I meant to add. Please treat perimenopause warily. I'd given up on my fertility for the main part. I am also considered "too young".

I am now menopausal. I cant really say when I switched from peri-menopausal. I started around 44 with hugely erratic periods from gushingly heavy to tiny, all over the place having been completely regular 28 day cycle, with sweats day and night. They became so bad I was getting no more than 2-3 hours sleep then huge gaps and then another 2-3 hours sleep. I went on HRT for a few years as I was going mental with lack of sleep. I have now come off it, no periods and the sweats are lessening. I would emphasise the importance of not focusing too heavily on all the side effects - my sleeplessness and sweats went on for over 6 years at their peak so dwelling on them and the impact on my anxiety, mood swings etc wasn't helpful. You do just have to get on with it. My boyfriend used to say ' how long does it go on exactly?' And I'd say '400 YEARS !!!!!'

Yvan anyone recommend a good book on menopause?

The weight thing is the worst for me. To cap it off, I have been looking after my diet- lower carb, reduced calories, good choices - and walking 1 hr each day with 30 day shred every other day and have just gained 1.2 Kg.

Bastard.

I'm 42. I've noticed that my periods have become less predictable. Previously I'd have one light day, a couple of heavy days and then the flow would gradually decrease. Now it can be lighter or heavier overall but is just less predictable - eg during the same day I might find that one tampon is barely soiled at all, then the next is absolutely soaked and I'm leaking through to my underwear.

No other symptoms so far, so I'm not sure if this counts as perimenopause, but it's good to read this thread and be aware of the possibilities.

Its kind of that way so yes I'd say youre on the threshhold. That horrible feeling that a tampon is no barrier. You may go on with irregular periods for a few years and then it'll get a bit more hectic. You may find you get symptoms that you dont connect with it. For instance I have experienced really bad leg pains for three or four years now which I thought was just a random thing but realised lately that it is a symptom. Forgetting words for things? Stuff like that.

To add to my pp, I had investigations for arthritis, allegies, autoimmune conditions, you name it I had an investigation for it.

The pains in my joints and itching with skin sensations seemed to be the early indicators and at one point I was so stiff and in pain that I would have significantly restricted mobility.

My main frustrations about this scenario was that at no point 5-3 years ago did anyone consider the peri menopause. My periods never changed. The hot sweats started 12 months ago and with that a general feeling 'I was too young'.

Now most of my pain and itching has gone, hot sweats are now mild flushes. I feel I have lost several years and put my family through a difficult time unnecessarily.

OP in answer to your question. Exercise has been a godsend when I was able to, pushing through the pain to do over 10,000 steps a days became a necessity.

Reduce coffee, reduce sugar, reduce alcohol (good fun eh). Watch your sleep, mine was shocking until I wore asleep monitor as part of increasing my exercise and became aware of how bad it was.

I have become fat as fuck. With a huge stomach. I look 7 months pregnant. This despite not changing my diet or exercise regime. I put on 2 stone in about 6 months.

The Rage.

Severe gum disease. I went from no gum disease to having it so badly I have to have teeth out in the time between check ups.

Periods are weird. Last for 2 weeks. Or 3 days. Every 2 weeks. Or every 2 months.

What has helped The Rage is St John's Wort and I also take 5-HTP, which is serotonin.

You can buy strips on ebay which tell you if you are menopausal/perimenopausal. HRT strips. They cost 99p.

The weight gain is really strange . I tried on a summer dress recently that I bought two years ago and I know im exactly the same weight as two years ago because I keep a diet diary but the dress is too tight to get zip up . My waist is really thick and I have a horrid overhang now . Only way to lose weight is to basically not eat.

www.newsmax.com/Health/Health-News/suzanne-somers-perimenopause/2014/10/16/id/601058/

Heavenly I didn't realise it was happening when I was on the pill but I was only somewhere between 34-38 years old. I only realised when we started trying for another baby. I think the peri menopause just wasn't on my radar then.

Weight gain is not inevitable - you do have to change your habits though. That's the whole point.

ArgyMargy, do you have any tips?

Place marking!!

I think it is happening with me too.

For the last 18 months i've had a very erratic cycle, with weird light periods that start with about 4 days of spotting.

I also get horrible cystic spots on my jaw line (never had that before) and lovely freakish facial hairs that have begun to spurt out.

And the night sweats. Wow. I soak the bed almost every night. Nice. The sweat soaks through the duvet cover onto my lovely John Lewis feather duvet - which pisses me off!

But i could handle all of that if it wasn't for the weight gain. After ten months of dieting with minimal weight loss i've finally gone low carb and low calorie. It is basically the only thing that has reduced my waist and tummy.

As Pevelopes said, basically not eating is key! And getting rid of sugar, carbs and booze. i don't even eat fruit anymore, because of the sugar. Only veg. Miserable.

I'd love your tips ArgyMargy.

Gosh it's all so confusing isn't it? I'm 51, I'd not had a period for 5 months but had phantom PMS ( which id never heard of), hot flushes and last week 4 days of a pathetic little period, about a thimbleful. However I've recently been getting hip pains which is worrying me. I already have a chronic back condition and am worried about losing bone density which HRT is supposed to help with. Didn't realise tho that HRT can cause weight gain! Not sure what to do, reading this, different things seem to help pp, how to know which ones to try..?

I went through a whole year of never knowing my age. When anyone asked how old I was, I was like "err, 47 or 48", I literally had no clue and I couldn't remember it. I'm better know as I know I'm 50 soon so that makes me 49

I read the fleece of despair article on the first page too

I liked the fleece

theres no hope for me

I think I'm there as well. I'm 49 but started having flooding periods with huge clots 2 years ago - for the last year I've been taking tranexamic acid to help relieve the bleeding. My periods were pretty regular up to 6 months ago , but last one was nearly 6 weeks ago and then 2 weeks before that. My skin is also shocking - I wake up in the morning and have a rash of painful, red acne spots, which very quickly get filled with pus. I am always tired, pass out on the sofa, after the kids 3 & 8 have gone to bed. I definitely have memory lapses too. Went to see a female GP a couple of weeks ago, as I am getting married in 2 weeks and then go away on holiday and do not want to flood. I wanted to get something to guarantee no period for a month, but she hasn't been very helpful - sent me for blood tests, and referred me for a pelvic scan, before she would give me anything. Scan appt came in post yesterday for the day before we get married! Useless - must call Dr again tomorrow to get sorted.