To think perimenopause might be nice

[rainingitspouring2]

I am 38. Have 2 DC who are 3 and 5. My periods for the last 6 months have been different. I used to get really bad pms. Now my moods are more stable, my periods are lighter (I used to be a flooder of clothes and bedsheets), no pain hardly and the cycle length is slighter shorter by a few days too. Does this sound like an age thing? Do periods get easier or am I peri and it's actually a positive experience compared to the painful rage inducing agony I used to experience...

I have heard all the horror stories of peri and menopause and wondered if there any good experiences..

That happened to me - but it turned out I had a B12 deficiency and when that corrected, my periods came back with a vengeance.

Oh no! I am feeling like this might be too good to be true. Especially as I took have experienced the other side. Do you think it's worth checking out?

Every woman is different! Going into perimenopause I had awful menstrual flooding, which dwindled as my periods became more sporadic. Had other awful symptoms for which I take HRT. Not sad to be done with periods though. If this is peri for you you're quite young, though it's not unheard of. Perhaps it's just a hormonal shift.

Meh. It has been awful for me

I’m 40. You sound like me a couple of years ago, but holy fuck has it changed (not for the better).

I'd second getting B12 checked - I had no period for 6 months because of un-diagnosed pernicious anemia.

Now, 2 years on I get migraines 2 days before I start and for 2 days during, palpitations - THAT is apparently more likely to be peri...so no, not good experiences here!

I never had really heavy periods, never a flooder. Peri was just a case of periods getting lighter and further apart. When full menopause came, physically it was a walk in the park,mentally a car crash - awful mood swings, panic attacks and my self esteem went down the toilet.

Everyone has a different experience of peri. Some breeze through, some have a horrendous time.

You might not suffer but some women really do. You might also find that it changes over time, you might cope with a few symptoms but not others.

So far my experience is manageable but I work with a lot of women who experience huge changes to their physical and mental health.

Ahhhh the calm before the storm.

This happened to me. Got to mid 30's and my periods settled down and no PMS and it was a walk in the park. No cramps, no mood swings, nothing. Just feeling pretty good all month long. I think it was the best I had ever felt. Tons of energy, slim and active and generally smashing life.

Got to 42 and the shit hit the fan. Periods didn't change but the other barrage of symptoms that arrived one after the other turned me into an aching, itchy, dry eyed, moody, irritable, anxiety ridden basket case. I became an insomniac with brain fog that meant I struggled to do my job properly. Joint pain and back ache so bad I could no longer go running. I piled on weight despite not changing the way I was eating. I was a shadow of my former self and didn't recognise myself anymore.

Menopause has kicked my ass but I am now 50 and things have started to settle down again for me now. Not perfect but there is light at the end of an 8 year tunnel full of struggles and crap.

I know not everyone gets it bad. My MIL annoyingly sailed through it without so much as a hot flush. 🙄And doesn't she just LOVE to tell me so.

I must say I experience intense body heat/hot flushes now during pms time and actual period and a lot of breathlessness..

I would say as you are under 40, it is worth getting checked out to be on the safe side. It could well be peri - or it could be something else!

My periods got better from my 30s. Used to have a day of really bad cramp, now they are relatively painless. And a bit shorter.

I tend to have a couple of months of WTAF symptoms (for examples recurring migraines, or sudden mood drops, or sweating a lot). Personally I find what helps is to try and treat the symptom, and to practise accepting that things are changing. I find not fighting mentally makes it easier in terms of mood stuff, then the mood stuff actually becomes better.

I actually do prefer having less highs which I used to get with estrogen is better. It does require a lot, I mean a lot, of self motivation though. I can't rely on estrogen to fire up and give me the oomph so I just have to find it within (through mental tricks like I will just do 5 mins etc., positive self talk)

😂I love your positivity. I went into meno with that same positivity.

I quickly ended up so miserable I wasn't sure I wanted to go on. Now every story is different, but that hormone ride? It's never going to a walk in the park.