So don't be shy list your meno symptoms.....

[VivLevi]

Not just the well documented meno symptoms but the little things happening to you that you can only attribute to the peri/menopause years
So starting with the obvious....
Chronic early morning wakening up
The hot flushes
Bleeding gums
Hair thinning
What feel like period pains but no period ever appears
Aching back
Aching shoulders
Headaches that would rival any hangover
Constipation then loose stools the back to constipation
Dry mouth
Weird burning crawling sensations on skin
Really dry skin plus the odd crop of spots
Anxiety around stuff that would never normally bother you
Weight gain despite eating healthier than previously
Low tolerance to alcohol
Chin hair
Forgetting names and words mid sentence or using the wrong word
Despite being blonde sprouting some really thick black hair around my hairline.
Anything else?

Cosmos.Yes the anxiety has been dreadful.Some of it I attributed to my father's illness and subsequent death.Now I realize that a lady who told me it could be memo was.right.2 years later.

Meno not memo!

Question for you all.. Do the symptoms start before the end of periods or before?

Also, do the symptoms pass or is this our new life?! (Please say they pass...)

@W0rriedMum I am just in perimenopause. Seems like forever, but this past 2 years definitely peri but maybe over 5 and just gaining momentum.

No hot flushes yet and I am dreading those but have much of the other symptoms but also still regular periods (flooding and now around a 23 day cycle).

I will watch the answers to your question with interest.

#whatisforteamum - please do consider going to the dr and asking about HRT for the anxiety. I worked out mine was hormonal because it was so much worse at that time of the month. I was having panic attacks, really crippling anxiety.. it got to the point I was scared to drive the car. God it was awful now I look back on it. Literally the day I put on a HRT patch it went away. The only time it came back was when I forgot to put a patch on for a few days (or it had come off and I hadn't realised) and it came straight back. I had to leave work, drive home with a feeling of doom and sat on the sofa shaking for two days before I realised what the problem was.

Awful..

Cosmos45
About that wool duvet, is it light/heavy, does it drape over you properly, was it expensive? If you know what weight is it?
I am veering between silk filled and wool filled. But I cant have a winter one cos I will just expire and they both can be bought at around a hundred quid. But if I buy the wrong one I'm a hundred quid down and still have the wrong quilt.

@W0rriedMum
I have all the symptoms and did before I realised what it was. The first I knew was a 5 month period followed by none for 3 months then I figured out its peri and then the other symptoms made sense.
I have had only a few hot flushes/night sweats and they are just awful (I can see why not that long ago women were put in institutions when going through this) but the achy legs, painful ankles, palpitations etc I had written off as ageing generally.
Apparently it can last 10 years ish, in very rare cases longer. I'm told by others that it gets worse before it gets better. Holding out hope that this is the worst it gets for me. Without HRT I wouldn't be able to work.
Dreading the predicted shortages.

Cosmos 45 just got HRT😀 I had to stop driving and going on the bus terrified me!.I had CBT which did nothing as I felt too exhausted to try to push myself.Like I say one woman suggested I was meno but blood tests done the GP decided I wasn't 2 1\2 years ago.
I'm almost 53 now and have all.but lost my independence and had to change jobs.This week is my first confidant time in ages.Onwards and upwards.

Yes. Always had waves but controllable hair. Now mad curls and ringlets which are difficult to tame
Insomnia
Now a very very cheap drunk

I started this thread because as I sat the other evening listing my meno woes I truly was beginning to think I was going mad.
I work in a female dominated profession but even amongst friends and colleagues there is a real silence around the multiple symptoms and issues of the menopause.
Hot flushes and dryness are joked about but because no one mentions mad hair or the crippling anxiety it is no wonder we really do begin to fear for our sanity.
All these brilliant contributions have really reassured me and made me feel a bit less out there on my own.

Just went out for a romantic meal with DH and had the mother of all hot flushes. DH was lovely but made me sad that I’m not the 22yr old he met anymore. And before you all start, yes, I know he’s not 25 anymore but the meno just seems to constantly remind you of the past and who you used to be.

A lot of these things are “just” ageing, no? It’s not like eyebrows, waistlines, chins, skin etc will be restored after...

After reading all this I think I must be peri menopausal at 42. I was diagnosed with chronic urticaria last year but as it is only at night it might be peri instead.

Also forgetting words which makes me think I'm about to get a migraine. Plus the facial hair, delightful.

Oddly I have regular periods for the first time in my life. 30 years of erratic periods, cycle between 6 weeks and 5 months, now I seem to have them all the time!

It's actually about every four weeks but I'm finding it wildly inconvenient. Even ovulating so frequently is annoying as I'm wildly horny for a week but with no interest in sex with DH.

Also worried about when I stop ovulating though, when I had the mirena coil I just felt dead from the waist down.

Severe intolerance to bullshit. Tendency to speak my mind, particularly when irked. Just going for it when I want to do something (and failing to give any actual fucks if people don’t like it). Just thought I’d put in a few of the changes I’ve noticed that I’m ok about. Oh and there’s the bloody annoying random knee pain, the bloody annoying hair and bouts of sweating (but no heat).

@Dangerfloof the wool duvet I bought was a Baavet.co.uk one. They do three weights, light, medium and winter. How the lady explained it was a light was between an 8-12 tog, medium was between a 8-12 tog and the winter I’m not sure! Because they fluctuate to your temperature it means the light is as low as 4 and high as 8 if you need it. I have been sweating for about 2 years.. it’s got better with HRT but still I thrash about, boiling hot one minute, throw the duvet off and then freezing cold. Feeling disgustingly grimy and filthy when I wake up.. I put on the wool duvet last sunday and it stopped. I’ve not sweated since. I feel all warm and cosy but not sweaty. The lady I bought it off kept saying ‘you won’t sweat’ and I hadn’t even asked her about that or expressed my age and symptoms.. I’m fact I was looking at something else and my friend was asking her about the duvets just out of interest. Mine was a double medium and was £125 but this was at a stand at an event. Online they are £11 more. I’m seriously impressed. They do smell a bit at first but I don’t notice it now. It’s not a weighty duvet and seems to drape nicely. Maybe a little bit stiffer than a normal duvet but I don’t mind that.

Apologies the light is between a 4-8 tog

@BestIsWest same here.. can’t get the patches now so when this batch finishes I am going into tablets. I’ve got enough until Xmas and then what happens is anyone’s guess...

Thanks Cosmos45

I've been looking at baavets baargain box www.baavet.co.uk/baavet-wool-bargains
And currently I can get a king size for between £96 and £102

I think I will just bite the bullet. I reckon I will be ok with it but DH cant stand anything faintly smelly. So I may be giving it away soon.

@Dangerfloof.. I’m pretty sure I read they have a 30 day money back guarantee.. maybe check that before you buy?

Outrageous Rage
Thirst
Fucking Insomnia
Hair on my blood chin

Cosmos, yes they do have a 30 day guarantee. Am ordering today. Cant wait.

we have a menopause meeting at our work, but will i go? will I heck.
thanks for sharing so far.
eye brows, i blamed dd for getting me hooked on threading, so i have keep going back.
seem to have facial hair, eek, i have had a stubborn hair on my chin for years, which i shave off periodically.
i always seem to have been quite paranoid and emotional on occasions. Am I more likely to show my hurt? not sure.
rage, yep, just go with it, it is quite cathartic
early wakings
i have a hand held fan, at home, which is great
thanks for the - forgot the word - um suggestion, for the dryness. that is uncomfortable, off to shops today.
itchy
tired, but still wake early
weight wont shift

There is nothing happening to me that I can only attribute to the peri/menopause.

Menopause is being spoken about more in the workplace. It was raised in a corporate event I attended recently and there was a bit of squirming, but that resulted in a range of discussions and policies are being put in place. Some public sector organisations like a police force somewhere and a council (Leicestershire I think?) have done a lot of work around this for their female employees.

I think the Lib Democratics mentioned it at their recent conference.

The more we speak about it, the less of a taboo it is. I first thought that if it was discussed in the workplace it would be detrimental for women about ageing in the workplace (finished, past it, old hag) but it needs to be highlighted that women can experience this at very young ages (prem menopause) and the peri stage can go on for a long time before the age you traditionally think of as menopause years.

The more it is spoken about women will realise the breadth of the symptoms and they are not going crazy. There should be no shame in dealing with what is a natural process particularly in the workplace.

Has anyone found it difficult to continue with their job due to meno symptoms?

Itching burning prickling skin is driving me crazy the combination of eczema and hot flashes exacerbating each other 🤦‍♀️
Generally I am murderous 🤬