Docs appt made - peri-menopausal at 39

[devonsmummy]

Periods getting more & more irregular over last 2 years - 26 day cycle now as frequent as 13 day cycle
Hot flushes on face & chest over last year
Top of legs have darker, thicker hair.
Darker facial hair
Lethargic
Over eating - big weight fluctuation
Rosacea
And just the once (so far) woke up with just my chest covered in a sweaty puddle.
Writing it all down makes it seem obvious (to me ) they're symptoms of early menopause but I'm nervous of telling doc as I think he'll say I'm too young.
What if anything can he do?
Will I be prescribed HRT

Should add
Awful spots
Irritability
Greasier hair

If he says too young, tell him you disagree cos you wrote all the symptoms down in a diary.
Besides, who has a womb that can read? There may be a guide book but there are no hard and fast rules!
What do you want from GP? HRT? Hysterectomy?

Not even thought of hysterectomy !!
Don't know what I want - not even sure what the options are to be honest

Hiya Devonsmummy, i'm 38 and been told by my doctor that i'm in perimenopause, so you are not too young. I have symptoms of menopause too. Occasional hot flushes at night in bed, vaginal dryness, mood swings, fatigue, irregular periods and infertility,(been trying to get pregnant for 15 months with no luck), despite being very fertile in the past. What you need to do is make an appointment with your doctor and ask for hormone blood tests, the FSH day 3 test in particular, providing you are not taking any hormonal contraception, as that would make the test invalid. you have blood taken on days 2 to 4 of your menstural cycle, (days 2 to 4 of your period). If you have a high FSH result it usually indicates that your ovaries are failing, egg supply low or eggs of poor quality. Doctors and fertility clinics usually like to see a day 3 FSH under 12, anything over is considered to be elevated. My FSH last year when i was 37 was a 20, pretty high!! My doctor said i was borderline menopausal and advised HRT. I was shocked at first and refused to believe it as i thought i was way too young! Last month though i gave in and am now on HRT, the menopausal symptoms were becoming too much for me. Good luck x

I am also 39 and have 18 of the 35 menopausal symptoms. Dr did blood tests but not on the above days do didn't get a clear reading. However another Dr said that I didn't even need the blood test as my symptoms were do clear.
I get skin crawling, I find that hard. Acupuncture helping at the moment. Wonder how many years it will go on for. It's hard to get my head round it. Makes me feel old :(

Hi ladies
Really pleased to have found this as I believe I have been peri menopausal now for 4 years. I had two close together pregnancies and have 3 lovely children, the youngest will be five soon and I somehow thought the twin pregnancy had kick started it all. Have no idea whether that is possible but my symptoms were showing from before their 1st birthday.
My periods we always regular but I started having long gaps between. The low mood and rages have been the worst as on top of dealing with my poor young children, it has been really difficult. I soon saw a pattern in my moods and tried hard to manage them. I started taking Agnus castus and starflower oil, my periods became reasonably regular again and the moods improved no end. I've also suffered severe stomach pains, ovulation pains I put them down to but had a scan with no conclusive results. Sometimes they would start around ovulation but continue for weeks until I finally got a period. In the past year the hot flushes have started. I had a few months of them earlier this year and then they disappeared. They are now back worse than ever put I think they are warning of a period coming possibly. 3 or 4 weeks ago I had the sharp 'ovulation' pain, very low mood, lethargic beyond belief, and since then I'm getting up to 30 hot flushes a day and wake several times during the night. Still no sign of a period. My last one was in March. And before that February. But previous to then I'd been going 3 or 4 months between.

When I previously saw the doctor they were very non committal about it and didn't say much. I'd gone about something else too but they seemed reluctant to take me seriously. I'm wondering whether to go back? Can they do much? Do I need to or should I be taking something?

I've just turned 41 and have really struggled (still am) with this as. I work with a lot of women of all ages and some my age still talk about wanting to start families. ( so pleased we started ours when we did and didn't put off any longer). I just feel so old as I really thought this would happen in 10 years or so. I'm not close enough to my mum to ask but I think she was around 50 when she started on hrt. This is making me feel so old, and embarrassed almost, and none of my friends or similar aged work colleagues seem to be going through it or talking about it.

Hi Jerin. I know exactly how you are feeling, i feel that i'm old before my time. It's very isolating and lonely as no women my age whom i know seem to be going through this. I always imagined perimenopause would start when i was mid to late 40s, certainly not mid 30s!! It's very depressing and i do feel very down about it. I'm 38 but i do seem to be developing a lot of facial lines and wrinkles for a woman of my age. My hair is dry and brittle too and my boobs have gone wrinkly and droopy! I think i feel worse about it because my husband is 12 years younger than me so i feel under intense pressure to look and feel good. We have only been together for just over 2 years so perimenopause is not what i needed to happen so soon into our relationship. It's so emotionally painful as we have been trying for a baby for over a year, (husband has no kids of his own), but of course it's unlikely to happen now, at least not naturally anyway. My periods are irregular and shorter and lighter than before too. I just feel like a dried up old hag. I stopped taking the HRT a month ago as i am hoping to have treatment at an infertility clinic to try and have a baby. Feel free to PM me anytime if you want to chat. x

Hello ladies, am so glad I found this thread too, I am having a blood test next Friday to determine if it is early menopause, have had hot flushes since last September, but when I started taking duloxetine they got worse as sweating is a symptom of the medication, but they have gotten worse along with heart palpitations, sore joints, headaches, I am 39, I have an underactive thyroid which can cause early menopause, can someone link to the 35 symptoms please think it was fidlema that mentioned them. Hope ur symptoms are not too bad today

Oh erilou I really feel for you. I hope your husband is supportive and understanding. My DP is also younger than me (only a few years but still gets asked for ID sometimes which makes me feel soooo old!) and really has no understanding of it but is trying. Good luck with the fertility clinic.

MatJas good luck with your blood tests. How did you get them organised? I'll try to post a link to the 35 symptoms

www.healthline.com/health-blogs/hold-that-pause/35-symptoms-perimenopause

I seem to have about 20 of these symptoms. I've read several times that the perimenopause lasts on average 4 years. I'm pretty sure I've been perimenopausal for four years now so these hot flushes are maybe the beginning of the end.......

I haven't had any more blood tests yet. My symptoms are strong, exhausting and stressfull. I find it hard to believe it is the perimenapause but maybe that is also a symptom!
I feel yucky most of the time.
Skin crawling
swolen sore hands and feet
sore muscles
headaches(had my first ever migraine this week)
light short periods (I guess thats good)
anxiety about my health
I just didn't expect this at 39,I feel old.
Most Dr dont believe me!
Luckily I have completed my family.
Its nice to kno that I am nt alone.
How is everyone this week?

My week has been pretty much the same as every week...palpitations at night and feeling hot. Anxiety about my health, vaginal dryness and generally feeling quite down and a bit tearful. Think one of the worst things for me, apart from being unable to complete my family, is the hair loss on my head. I used to have lovely thick shiny hair but for the past 4 years it has become dry and brittle and it falls out loads. I think my symptoms might be being made worse as i am under a lot of stress with the whole baby thing. Been trying to conceive for over a year with no success. I have children but my husband has none of his own. It's heartbreaking to be going through menopause now at just 38. I wouldn't have minded so much if i could have just had a couple more years in which to have another baby. It all seems so cruel and unfair. Never thought i would start menopause until my mid to late 40s. Blood tests this week have confirmed that i'm not ovulating (not releasing any eggs), no ovulation can indicate menopause. I'm hoping to be started on the fertility drug Clomid, which boosts ovulation, in December. However, i'm not hopeful it will work as it's doubtful i have any eggs left thanks to an early menopause. It's all very depressing. Irregular periods are so annoying too, i never know when i will have one and when they do arrive they are very light and usually over within 2 or 3 days. If i'm not pregnant by January i am going to give up and go on HRT and i also have a prescription for Prozac, an anti-depressant. I have taken Prozac before and it certainly helps with the anxiety and depression associated with menopause.

There is a herbal remedy called skullcap which is wonderful for anxiety.
My hair (for the last 8 weeks)
is falling out in vast quantaties.

Hello ladies, Dropping in to sympathise (and empathise) with you. I started peri symptoms at 40 and was pretty horrified. I too had expected to have another 8 yearas or so before that happened (judging by the age of my mother when she started menopause).

I started getting odd periods at 40, that caried on until my last period (lasting 5 months) at age 46. The hot flushes began at 45 and haven't stopped yet, 10 years later.

But to be honest (and trying to be supportive and positive here) I am managing ok without HRT. And (apparently) I still managae to look fairly young for my age.

Menopause seems to be the last great taboo of womanhood, but I just want to reassure you all that it isn't the end of life (or fun) at all.

Hi ladies,

Whilst google searching symptoms I found this thread.

I missed my period last month for the first time in my life (aside from during pregnancy). I was sterilised after my last DC 13 years ago but went into panic mode when I read about women who'd conceived after TL. After 3 negative pregnancy tests I conceded it was most likely menopause.

The last couple of days I've been all over the place, can't remember basic things, forget what I was saying mid sentence, feel so tired but then awake after a couple of hours, then feel shattered again within a few hours and not getting a proper sleep. I keep heating up and it feels like my head is going to explode, thankfully it passes fairly quickly but is a horrid feeling! I keep feeling dizzy and light headed, my boobs are so sore I've had to swap my normal bras for comfort ones.

I tried to book an appointment with the gp on Thursday but they said they were fully booked Thursday and Friday but to try phoning first thing Friday morning if it was an emergency an app may be available :-/ Its not life or death but I would like to see someone soon.

Just thought I would pop by. I have had a pretty good week. However I still find the symptoms very upsetting when they happen.
Internal trembling (I have now read that this is a symptom)
Anxiety from nowhere.
Skin crawling
Swollen hands and feet ( in bed)
First ever migraine
Do I have to have all the symptoms :(
Feel too young for this!

Please share your stories and symptoms.
I need support.

I'm hoping to get in to see the gp today. The symptoms are getting me down but the worst at the moment is my erratic sleep pattern. My breasts aren't as sore at the moment and I don't seem to have had as many hot flushes as I did last week but the dizziness and light headedness is getting a bit worse. My libido has dropped significantly which is a worry since DH and I have only recently seemed to have sorted out a few problems we where having :-/

How's everyone this week?