AIBU: people calling it peri-menopause instead of menopause

[Joyful26]

ok firstly I know that technically you are in peri-menopause, then the menopause itself is literally the day your period stops altogether- then after that one moment in time you are post-menopausal.

But people always calling it peri-menopause is clearly to indicate that they are actually still really young and nowhere near the menopause itself yet.

I think that’s why it grates on me so much. Because on the one hand they’re championing the issues that affect women etc, but at the same time making it clear that they themselves are actually very young and youthful- yet not afraid to mention these issues.

for what it’s worth I can’t be bothered faux-impressing anyone and I just call it the menopause.

but every single one of my friends calls it peri-menopause or they’re simply’peri’. We’re all mid 40s.

just saw someone on LinkedIn purporting to do a Women’s rights post, someone in her 50s commented about the menopause, and the original poster replied but talked about peri-menopause.

AIBU or a people who call it peri-menopause just a bit vain? 😅

@Joyful26 I have a coil so no period for last 15 years. I have no way of telling which stage I’m at now but my bloods stated peri-menopause 12 months ago. This will now stick not because I’m vain but as I have no evidence to suggest otherwise.

There’s probably plenty of people like this.

Smelling funny? This can’t be standard because I don’t!

You must save loads of time. 😂 ⏰

Loss of sense of smell is also a symptom. 😂

I'm peri and 40. According to colleagues and others I look 27 or so. Who knew that because I look young I can't possibly be peri menopausal at all!

I hope things improve for you very soon.

Your post made me think about the language! You’re right that “peri” should mean the time after too, linguistically, but medically it only refers to the time up to it.

A more accurate prefix for the time leading up to it could in fact be “pro” (meaning: approaching/leading up to - like “prodromal” symptoms being those leading up to a medical event such as a seizure).

But the term “promenopausal” certainly has a different ring to it, doesn’t it!

Mid 40s really is an age you need to label it accurately. I hit menopause at 45 (a year after your last period, not the day of your last one) after a couple of years of being told I was too young to be perimenopausal. Having experienced both stages, they're very different. There's so much lack of awareness about both peri and menopause that proclaiming you're in one state when you're in the other just feels like a stupid game to play

I think you are technically wrong if you haven't actually reached menopause.

I also think you are reading things into other people's use of peri.

😂

Everyone is different. Lots of people don't have hot flushes - which is why my mum will tell you she didn't suffer symptoms because she didn't have hot flushes, which is all they really knew about.

I remember her napping in the afternoons when she was about 50. Apparently she had been unusually busy! For months on end ...

YABU peri-menopause is the more accurate term for the lead up to menopause, it's not vanity. Menopause is when period actually stop as I understand it. I'm not sure why you would think people in their forties experiencing peri think they are young and youthful still , I certainly don't!

yes that was funny!

How much time are you saving now OP? Ya silly goose 😄.

😂

YABU. YAB Nonsensical.

I started HRT when I was 42. I still had fairly regular periods, but I had also been having hot flushes, brain fog, panic attacks, dreadful sleep and lots of night-time wees (probably why I had dreadful sleep) for two years . Why should I not call this peri-menopause just because I was young? Was it vain or factual? By the time I had turned 50 I had gone through the menopause. Younger than most menopausal women. Should I have not called it menopause because I was young? Was I being reverse-vain and pretending to be old?

You can call it what you like. I'll stick to correct terminology.

Call it memopause to save time 😂

It must be less than a second less to say menopause instead of peri menopause, this post is really ill informed

I'm 50 so I am definitely in either peri menopause or menopause. I still get my period every month so I haven't gone through the menopause yet. If I were going to talk about it without someone I would be entitled to say I was perimenopausal whether you considered me old or young.

There was definitely a time when it was referred to as (going through) 'the menopause' rather than peri menopause. In The Royle Family when it affects Barbara, that's how they talk about it - and 'the change'. That was late 1990s, so at some point since then we've switched the standard term for this.

Oh you vain little thing you!😂

The use of "peri" is fairly recent. It used to be said that you were "going through the menopause" if you had what we now call peri symptoms. The terminology has changed since my mother went through it.

I never gave it any thought, i just call it perimenopause bc that's what the GP calls it. Since my periods haven't stopped i can't say i'm menopausal, that would be incorrect. Perimenopause is the process when hormones fluctuate wildly, menopause is the result when it all stops. They are very different things. A bit like puberty is the process to become a reproductive adult.

Before we used the correct medical term women would call it "the change", which i think is a bit of an evasive term. I prefer the japanese term which translates as "renewal years". Some people have started calling it reverse puberty. But i can't see what the issue is with using the actual correct term, it's perimenopause.

I agree is simpler and more inclusive to stick to calling it ‘the menopause’ (it was known as ‘the change’ (of life) by older women when I was growing up.

PerI menopause doesn’t recognise or encompass all the menopause related issues and symptom women can continue to have (at least 10 years) after periods end.

When I hear of friends or family talk about peri menopause, I dont think they are vain, the symptoms dont sound nice so its not something to link to vanity. I dont care what its called, I just think its good that people are raising awareness.

Interesting to read that going through this change makes some women smell funny too. Great, not only do we have to deal with a shrinking vagina, hot flushes, itchy ears, but smell too? Anyone know what type of smell?

I think there is probably a massive difference between the two.

I'm 41 and I'm peri (most likely!) Have lots of symptoms BUT I still have regular periods and all the signs and symptoms of ovulation etc. I definitely do not class myself as going through the menopause though.

women can continue to have (at least 10 years) after periods end.

It's a low percentage of women.