Looking back, what were your first symptoms of (peri) menopause?

[UnePrune]

Sigh
(Says it all really!)

Well, I've been having loads of night sweats off and on for ages and now hot flushes too

My periods have been completely random for a couple or years too - sometimes bang on 28 days, other times 3 weeks late. I've stopped panicking!

But I haven't had s blood test to confirm anything yet - I must get along to the GP!

Oh and of course terrible moods at times. But I've always had horrendous PMT, so nothing new there.

PS love the name

Hm. Have to think.

When I was about 47 I had a few odd things which then disappeared: bleeding that stopped after 4 days then reappeared a few days later for another 4 days. A tiny bit of mid cycle spotting for 2-3 months- did see dr who thought it was a mid-cycle dip in hormones mid month.

This all went and nothing more until about 51 when I had a few very short cycles- down to 17 days once.
By 52 I think I missed one period then later a gap of 4 months. Then more or less normal -ish right up to 53 when they seemed to stop.

I only had flushes and sweats slightly during the "no period" gaps.

I went on HRt at 53.5 almost as soon as my "last period" ( have had 2 more since well apart) occured as couldn't sleep.

Ther is no need to worry - really. I was dreading the meno. I was adamant that I would use lifestyle measures and not HRT but my lovely gynae- see other posts about this-said I was doing everything I could already( food, no alcohol, no caffeine etc and exercise) so HRT was worth a go.

I have done a huge amount of research into the latest research on HRT- which refutes a lot of the scare stories and say some research such as the Million Women study- is flawed.

I would also say ther is no point rushing off the to the drs for blood tests. I had one when I fist saw my gynae and he told me I was post meno. I laughed as I was still having quite regular periods and did so for several more months. Blood tests simply show your hormone levels on that day; the next day you could be fertile again!

Thanks PP, that's helpful.

When you say you couldn't sleep so you went on HRT, what was happening with your sleep? I go to sleep OK, but often wake up way too early!

My sleep- well normally pre meno I 'd sleep within 10 seconds of hitting the pillow.
When this happened ( the CHANGE!!) as soon as my head hit the pillow I would feel a) hot and b) wide awake.

I would wake up sweaty but not so much as some people who have to change sheets etc.

I did tend to wake several times a night as well.

HRT sorted it almost overnight.

I have to say again, I was always very poo-pooy about HRT and convinced I'd manage without. However, I work face to face, 1:1 with men sometimes and flushes every hour were just too embarrassing.

just want to say thanks Uneprune for asking such a good question and to purplepeony for being so positive and so, well, well-informed!

Thanks GrumpyG- I do understand.

I have a friend who is 7 yrs older and I was always asking her "Is this it!" every time I had symptoms.
I was dreading it as my mum had terrible flushes for 20 years.

I do think that meno is something that you need to come to terms with emotionally and, like many things in life, the fear is worse than the reality.

I did mourn the loss of my fertility a little, and thought I'd soon be a wrinkled crone, but the whole thing is so gradual that you have time to get used to the idea.

My bit of advice is to really try to not go downhill: look after yourself, exercise, clean up your diet, lose weight if you need to, as it really is harder afterwards, and don't start dressing like a granny.

I don't know how I will feel off HRT, but hope that when I come off it the reasearch will give a better picture of the risks and benefits so I can make a choice.

Thanks purple. Best of luck with it all. Fill us in, won´t you?

I asked because I get occasional hot flushes, the odd night sweat, I am slowly turning deranged, I'm far more 'hormonal' than I used to be, I went out the other day leaving the door wide open etc etc.

I'm late 30s but my mother has been telling me for years that she 'went' at 44 and so it has been with all the women in our family. (I should ask my aunts but that would mean talking to them and they're weird.)

I've been through lots of ivf and had six three-week menopauses and I am feeling as odd as I did then.

I was prompted to ask because I simply assumed that a bit of HRT would sort me out, and then I started reading Barbara Ehrenreich's book 'Smile or Die' - a critique of the positive thinking industry, prompted by her breast cancer, which she casually refers to as probably iatrogenic thanks to HRT. Eek.

uneprune It is true that meno follows a family pattern- my gran evidently was 50/51, mum 52 and me 53-55.( not sure as had a period a few months back after long gap.

I don't think it is responsible for anyone to suggest that their breast cancer was caused by HRT unless it is proven.

Point being- how would they know otherwise? Might have got it anyway. If it was an oestrogen-dependent tumour that is possible but not proof.

Grumpy- my specialist believes that 4-5 years is "safe" for HRT and I hope so. You never know, but the stats say that. Fingers crossed.

loving your mum's phrase "she 'went' "

I'm beginning to think that I just might be starting the menopause. I can't use my mum as a marker, so to speak, as she had a hysterectomy when she was 39, so I'm not quite sure.

I'm having hot flushes, mainly when I'm walking my two middle children to and from school. I'm also finding it hard to sleep, due to night sweats. I'm snapping at my family for no reason, and at the risk of being rude here, the idea of getting intimate with DH is the furthest thing from my mind. Didn't have a period this month, either. I did think that I was pregnant, but did a home pregnancy test which came up negative.

Hi

Anyone else had a period that started (TMI sorry) as brown spotting, stopped completely for two days, brown spotted again and then totally disappeared? That's me this month and the last two periods have both been 16 days overdue! IS THIS IT? Also my short term memory is scarily appalling, I don't remember what I did in the morning sometimes and I panic