When you say you are 'menopausal', what does it mean??

[erebus]

Sorry if this seems like a daft question but I want to know what may lie ahead!

I am 48 and definitely peri-menopausal and have been for about a year, as in slightly more irregular but much heavier periods, the odd hot flush (but not of the wishing I could rip my clothes off variety) and a few low moods, but no snapping everyone's heads off or howling into the washing machine..yet?! So would I say I was 'menopausal'? Does it get worse than this? Will my symptoms become worse before my periods finally cease? No gaps yet in my cycle, note! And once my periods stop, will the symptoms disappear pretty quickly?

To me the term should be 'I am peri-menopausal' in that that describes the bad symptoms you get, whereas if you were 'menopausal' would it not mean having entered the menopause, ie no more periods? Or are 'peri-menopausal' and 'menopausal' two different conditions?

Thanks for any thoughts!

The official definition of menopausal is the time after your final period- and that means at least a year with no periods.

Peri is the 5-10 years leading up to that.

You may find that your peri symptoms get no worse.

On the other hand they might as you strat missing periods.

I had no peri symptoms at all and felt fine until i was 53 and my periods stopped- missed a couple from 52-53 then they gradually stopped-getting lighter and a bigger gap.

When my periods stopped I got hot flushes and insomnia.

I started on a low-medium dose of HRT 2.5 years ago for those reasons. so far i feel great with no symptoms at all.

It is unlikely that your symptoms will stop when your periods stop. TBH most symptoms get w orse. My Mum had flushes into her 70s.

But0 everyone is different.

OK, I see! I must say I hadn't realised that the symptoms can get worse after you have had your last period!

Oh God, nor had I

eeeeek i am bad enough now

SINCE my OP in late May, my 'symptoms' have definitely increased, but mainly hot flushes. I was getting the odd one here or there, now I get 5 or 6 a day, usually at night.

I was getting worried that AF was changing so much but someone else here described theirs and I thought it sounded just like mine and I had a colposcopy (camera in the uterus!) last month (for something non-menopause related) and the gynae found nothing suspicious.

I can't say my moods have got much worse, though if I feel really low I do try and think 'ah, hormones'. Also my insomnia isn't quite as bad as it was a few months ago.

Now, tell me- am I likely to start itching like crazy? Is it as 'normal' as hot flushes or is it a symptom only some people get?

A colposcopy is where they look at your cervix with a camera and often take a biopsy.

A hysteroscopy is a camera in the uterus.

it is usually done for abnormal bleeding, possible fibroids or polyps, etc. Are you sure this is what you had? it can be done under a GA or without.

I had one done a few months back.

itching is a common side effect of meno.

Sorry, hysteroscopy! Had a cervical polyp, needed to know whether it was on the cervix or growing from inside the uterus. GA.