To ask what was the first sign you had that you were entering menopause?

[OldFan]

Just wondered really as I think I might be getting it IDK.

Insomnia. Anxiety. Lack of sex drive. But the insomnia was the worst. 3 hours sleep a night if I was lucky.

Brain fog too.

Night sweats and hot flushes, but only at night. I was depressed, but I think that's because my husband turned into a complete cunt.

I had an easy time of it really, my periods just got lighter, and shorter, and the intervals between were longer, until one day it dawned on me that I hadn't had one for ages.

Waking up really early. VERY sensitive boobs and nipples. Periods becoming further apart and then an extremely heavy one. Bad skin - I have more spots now than I ever did as a teenager. Hair falling out.

My GP said that they don't do blood tests for it as I think levels can vary during the day (may be other reasons). They said it is all about symptoms and periods. If you have symptoms that sounds like peri menopause or menopause they can offer a trial of HRT.

No. Blood tests are only recommended in women under 45 to rule out other factors which might be causing your symptoms. The protocol is that if you are 45+ and presenting with peri-menopausal symptoms, then the diagnosis is menopause.

Oestrogen levels very from day to day and even at different times in the same day so are useless.

For me, the first symptom was the same crushing anxiety many others have described. I honestly thought I was losing my mind. I have not ever suffered with anxiety/depression before and it was just awful. Then at the same time, repeated UTIs due to vaginal dryness.

Oh yes, the painful sex. PIV sex impossible which is a shame as nothing else does it for me. Been faking it over 'other methods' for years. DH does his best, bless him.

Irregular periods
Heart palpitations
Painful sex

I'm 37 and my periods have shortened significantly and hair is thinning.
So depressing. Thought I would have a few more years yet.

It was devastating. For me, it hit like a train, out of nowhere. I honestly thought I was having a mental breakdown, and I couldn't understand what was happening because my life was very happy. I actually went to a psychiatrist because I was so worried, and they just wanted to put me on AD's. I refused because I knew it had to be something else. My husband was the one who suggested peri-menopause and he was right.

Being hot all the time

Oh yes... spots. I had this (and the night sweats) about five years beforehand. I didn't realise until now the spots were related!

Mine is 5! 😬

Anxiety, panic attacks and a sense of dread.

I’m starting to wonder if this could be me??!! I’m cross all the time and I can’t seem to shift any weight, no matter how hard I try. I’m early 40s. Does that sound a bit young or am I just a fat moody cow?

I have night sweats almost every night.

Period cycle is shorter.

Terrible anxiety. On medication for the first time in my life.

I am of the age so assuming this is peri menopause.

I suddenly realised that I didn't have the patience to entertain fools. I needed things to be working and done correctly and not a never ending list of excuses. Intolerance is a good word.

Very occasional night sweats started about 7 years before my last period. Onset of monthly migraine and occasional very heavy period after decades of being light, started around the same time. Also anxiety attacks and dizzy spells and weight creep. About 18m prior to my last period my moods became more erratic, i was very emotional with a tendancy to over react and got angry and irritable easily. It was all fairly subtle though, and a bit of a boiling frog. It's only on the other side feeling happy, healthy and at peace, confidence back, headache free, that I recognise it for what it was.

I'm starting to get ragey at small things like when I was in early pregnancy. I'm hoping it's the start of something but I'm only 38. My periods are still quite regular but they are starting to change. I also get extremely bad ovulation pain which I never had before.

I never dreaded it either but still had crippling symptoms. Your post makes it seem like mind over matter can stop problems, that really isn't true. You got lucky and I am very pleased for you.

I got seriously full of rage and shouted at someone in the supermarket. This was so unlike me I shocked myself. A terrible sense of impending doom, no sex drive and increasingly painful periods all started at once - that was not a fun few months!

Never been an anxious person but terrible anxiety, especially around health. Waking up at 3AM every night and not being able to get back to sleep. These symptoms started around age 46/47. HRT sorted it out in the main.

On going issues with blind rage. Things that I never noticed before are really annoying me. These include the way DH eats, holds his knife and fork and how he walks around the house. I still very much love him but can't help feeling so annoyed by it all. I try to keep it to myself. My friend says I need HRT (Husband Replacement Therapy)

Massive flooding in a public place. I was offered an ambulance. The shame.

Brain fog
Exhaustion beyond normal tiredness, like just dragging myself through the day
Panic attacks, with the frequency of hot flushes
Pms
Erratic periods, often really heavy on day one, much more so than ever before

What an insulting, ignorant thing to say. I wasn't ever concerned or worried about peri-menopause yet it floored me. Congrats to you for being so enlightened. 🙄

Instead of being grateful for an easy menopause, you want to stick the boot in for women who didn't.

I've recently turned 40. My skin is the worst it has ever been (making up for being unproblematic as a teenager) and I've been having night sweats and occasional insomnia. I am very irritable. Also losing weight. Periods are super painful.

What joy.