Anyone feel they're nearing the end of perimenopause....

[ParisUSM]

and want to share the journey to the mystical Final Menstrual Period?

Been perimenopausal for 5 years when periods became irregular. So want this to be over - over the past 2 years I've had gaps of 2 or 3 months, but then after I hit 50 in October I had them ever 3 weeks again, lasting for well over a week.

I'm now on day 49 and hoping for a longer gap. Seriously, could put up with anything if it means an end to clotty painful flooding periods, iron depletion and growing fibroids!

Yes Samcro, unless you're on hrt and then you can't tell. Most women will have gone through menopause by 56, but not all.

@thefirstmrsdewinter

My 50th was also in October and also having unpredictable bleeds. I had a heavy period on 7 April and another that hasn't come to anything much on 21 April. Every time I buy a box of tampons I hope it'll be my last one :)

I suppose the unpredictability is a blessing in a way as I never do get the same symptom for too long!

Thanks paris

@ParisUSM ah, I see you said that in the op. Er, did I mention that one of my big symptoms is having the short-term memory and attention span of a flea?

When I said I'd lost my glasses while we were out to lunch at the weekend dh asked if he could see the shopping bag I was furiously rifling through. I said, irritated, 'Look, you can see I've emptied everything out of it and they're not in there' whereupon I rediscovered the little pocket I'd discovered earlier, when I'd thought, hmm, that would be a good place to stash my glasses. Stuff like that happens to me dozens of times a day and makes me feel like a dotty old dear.

Still, nothing much is fully dependent on my memory (I'm not responsible for memorising the launch codes or anything) so it could be worse. I'm no longer working but I shudder to think what I'd be like at work.

I'm currently at day 44 without a period. I am still getting the water retention and weight gain I usually get, but no period. I am also having a horrid spell of hot flushes, night sweats and insomnia. I am 52. Over the past couple of years, my cycle has been about 28 days, then a couple at 23, then 35, then back to 28 again. Rinse and repeat.

thefirstmrsd I work, and one of my key questions at the moment is, can I talk to anyone about that very issue? I’m self employed in an area where I hope to promote myself through everyone knowing how smart I am! Maybe only my doctor, but it’s not That Bad.

@YesILikeItToo hmm I guess I'd worry about what That Bad looks like in the work arena.

I feel like it's a good job I've known a few people for long enough that they aren't judging me on my current gormlessness (or at least I hope that's the case) and my dh is very respectful and diplomatic about it all, but I do feel like it's hard to come across as smart when meeting people now. It has sapped a little bit of my confidence, but happily I care less now about how others see me. I can see it's all quite different if work-related, you can't just not care.

I know thefirstmrsd, I don’t really want to discuss How Bad with examples and so on in public. But I just think doctors need something pretty catastrophic - I remember a friend who went to see his because he woke up one morning and couldn’t remember his wife’s name, and the doctor just saying we all forget stuff sometimes!

I’m 56 and never missed a good period, will it still take years to complete?