To ask post menopausal mumsnetters

[cantmakeme]

Is life post menopause more like ongoing PMS or ovulation time?! I have horrible PMS and a really obvious ovulatory time in which I feel confident, cheerful and lively. I'm in my late thirties now and worrying that life post menopause might be like one big long PMS. What has your experience been?

Post menopause is the best feeling I've had for years and years. I have the occasional hot flush if I drink too much caffeine or alcohol. I am delighted to be free of migraines, fortnight long periods, horrendous clots and having to wear black trousers all the time and looking at the calendar everytime I had an invitation to an event.

I still get mood swings and occasionally sore boobs but it’s not nearly as bad. And NO bloody menstruation

My last period was just over 2 years ago (am 49) I still get the odd hot flush, but am otherwise fine! Feel really fit and well, and I haven't put weight on at all. Perimenopause was tricky at times - hot flushes, palpitations and anxiety, but those have mostly gone now. It's nice to be period free, and no pmt...

Nope. It's completely brilliant! It's like being 12 again! No periods, no cramping, no fixing everything round a calendar, it's just great. White trousers when I want, no mood swings, I've never felt more happy and content. You'll love love it!!! ☺ xx

This. 😊

I'm 68 and I've lost my nurturing hormones - have a few left for my grandchildren and passing dogs, but I now take no nonsense from anyone.
Menopause has left me feeling renewed - and 'they' say that when you're young, you worry about what people think about you.
When you're old, you realise that nobody was thinking about you at all.
I love it.

I'm 68 and I've lost my nurturing hormones - have a few left for my grandchildren and passing dogs, but I now take no nonsense from anyone.

This, a hundred times over. It is so bloody liberating not to give a fuck about other people over-thinking things. (I mean, I still try to be a nice and decent person, but there's no longer that overwhelming urge to tie myself in knots trying to see their point of view and be accommodating - if they're being obviously bloody stupid, I just ignore and move on.)

lost my nurturing hormones yes, a million times! I love my 2 grown up kids and will do everything I can for them but it’s changed - they’re on their own now and must live their own lives. I so don’t give a shit about what people think of me now (if even they bothered at all

I had a surgical menopause 18 months ago (ovaries and womb removed) and it immediately got rid of my monthly mood changes.

Go clionba! Ain’t that the truth!

@ScreamingValenta do you mind me asking how old you were/are

I'm about to have my ovaries out and I'm having a wobble about menopause/hrt

I was 42 @KatyMac. I had the hysterectomy due to severe endo, fibroids and adenomyosis. It gave me back my life!

So glad to read all this, can't wait now! (Though when I was 12 I'd already been having periods for 2 years so maybe it'll be like being 9 again for me!)
I want to know about middle aged spread though - I'm peri at the moment and though I weigh the same, my tum has expanded quite a lot. Is there any hope of it shrinking back?!

Thanks - I just have a smallish cyst (but it's happily growing atm) & some scar tissue from an ectopic

I'm a bit of a wuss

Never been so horny as when I was peri-menopausal (mid 50s). But 10 years later libido has vanished without a trace. Miss it something rotten.

I've been period free for over a year now so I presume I'm post menopausal. Life just got 100 times better! No more mood swings, paranoia, tearfulness, tender and heavy boobs, cramps, headaches, mess, inconvenience. I seem to have a lot more energy now too. Peri-menopause sneeks up on you and saps your strength for a few years (well it did mine anyway), so I feel as though I've emerged from out of a fog. The children are now living their own lives, mortgage is paid off, I'm fit and healthy, take no meds, and feeling really positive about life.

Menopause was fairly easy apart from a few overheating spells. Now everything is fine and it is so nice not to have to worry about periods any more.

I’m with Cleo. Peri it was not too bad, just had my own personal climate (I used to be permanently cold, so the increase in temperature was Sometimes quite welcome 😂) Flooding was a problem for a couple of months, but not too painful. Now it’s great. No mood swings, no anxiety attacks no cramps, no HRT ( did increase my soya intake for a bit- but daughter was going through a vegan stage so that was actually because it made life at home easier! ) I recommend this to to all who suffer - menopause is great. 🎉

For me it's great, although of course some have different experiences. I had no peri-menopause, the periods gradually came to a stop, then I had 3 weeks of mild hot flushes and that was it.

Had hideous peri symptoms, and was really pissed off about it as my mother had very few problems. Had 2-3 dozen hot flushes a day, palpitations, sleep disturbances and a load of other shite too. However, HRT has been a lifesaver.

Downsides are that I can no longer drink much alcohol without feeling dire afterwards, and I'm awful in hot weather. HRT is the way forward if your quality of life takes a nosedive.

Yes, blueangel I found alcohol affected me badly and for days later during the peri. My tolerance has gone up a bit now, but I seem to have lost the taste for it and I hardly drink now.

Dotty - I have to say I have put weight on, but I think that's lifestyle and gluttony rather than menopause

Hell on earth - hot flushes, depression, exhaustion, foggy brain, tears, irrationally bad tempered the whole thing. HRT, thank god. Took it for about 5 years then gave it up. No symptoms from that and fine ever since. So, you may have to go through a bit to begin with -get medical help if you think you need it. I'd be dead without it - but once youve adjusted its an improvement imo.

Not a bit like PMS hoorah for getting rid of hormones