...to ask if menopause and perimenopause are the same thing?

[TheTecknician]

That's all. I'd never heard of the latter until about a year ago.

Apologies if I'm being an ignorant middle-aged man!

Good question OP

i'm on the mini pill early 50's and not bled for 8 years plus. How do I know if I’m mono or peri?

Thanks, that’s helpful! So when people say they are in menopause or menopausal they are actually perimenopausal. I am post menopausal!

You might be one of the lucky ones who don't even have any symptoms of menopause or you may not have reached perimenopause yet. I was on the minipill for years but still had periods, regular as clockwork - then they started going haywire at 49. I had no idea it was perimenopause starting, I had never heard of it, only menopause where your periods stop and you have hot flushes - if you're lucky. I wasn't, and not many women get away with it lightly. 9 years on HRT has given me back 80% of my life/sanity - the rest is gone probably forever. Every woman is different, every woman's symptoms are different, what suits one woman on HRT might not suit 100 others - it really is a lottery.

I cannot believe you a woman in her early 50s and asking this! You need to talk to your dr about being tested for menopause and I'm surprised at your yearly medication review it hasn't been discussed about menopause and if you need to be on the mini pill now. Menopause is usually, on average, at your age in your early 50s in the UK. Obviously the mini pill can stop your periods and that would make it hard to determine if you are peri or menopausal. You can buy test kits online too to check hormone levels to see if you are menopausal if you want to know asap.

I'm a 41 year old woman and only heard the term perimenopause for the first time last year! Just in time, as I'm now experiencing symptoms.

I thought 'the menopause' was a process that lasted about a year and happened to women in their mid-late 50s.

But no, you can be perimenopausal for 10 years or more. Then you have your final period (but you don't know its 'final' at the time) and then one year after that final period, you have hit menopause.

It's a whole new world I've really had to educate myself on.

I suspect most people when they say that are in peri, yes. It used to be we used menopausal to cover the whole lot.

Oh no. Sadly I’ve got symptoms. I’ve had symptoms for years the doctor says I’m too young though. Yet I know what I’m experiencing and I also know my menopause is a long way off. Despite my symptoms risking my job, my relationship and my sanity I’ve been told to live with it as I’m too young.

I think splitting the menopause and peri menopause into two makes it easier for younger women to talk about. If your late 30’s and say your menopausal people say your too young. Perimenopause and people accept your symptoms.

the medical profession has to get much better at supporting women who are suffering through the peri bit. If your fertility starts to decline in your 30’s and 40’s that’s surely the beginning of perimenopause? It doesn’t mean you’ll have any issues. I appreciate many many sail through, I also know many don’t.

There's no right or wrong age for peri to start although the average age is 50 and it's recommended that using contraception should continue until 55 years but they are only averages and recommendations. Each woman is different. I was told that being on the minipill may have masked my symptoms but once it kicked in I knew about it. My hairdresser who is 3 years older than me used to tell me what she was experiencing before I knew anything about peri & I couldn't understand any of it at the time - unimaginable in my world - yet maybe a year later missed a hair appointment, made another one & missed that too, then another all in a row. I couldn't understand what was going on & my hair dresser wondered what was going on with me - then we realised, it was scary. I was also being bullied at work by my 2 female bosses at the time so maybe my head was elsewhere - I wasn't imagining it either, everything was documented religiously and they knew it. It was horrible & made me really ill - they were systematically taking me down piece by piece until the day my balloon burst. That was the end of my working life. Bitches/nurses at that & both older than me.

@Onceisenoughta that's awful, once. I'm sorry you had to go through that. 💐