When did you realise it was perimenopause?

[siennasaid]

I have been experiencing bouts of anxiety for quite some time now and have heard that this is a common symptom of perimenopause. I've always been an anxious person however so I'm finding it hard to determine whether this is really to do with perimenopause, or just my life.

Has anyone else experienced this? When did you 'realise' you were in perimenopause and what did you do?

When my own body rhythms changed also, so period didn't write follow the usual pattern (though difference wasn't great), I was putting on weight find my middle though my exercise and eating hadn't changed. I was 44, that was it really. The anxiety that came with it wouldn't have been enough on its own as there were stresses I could have put it down to, though they were things that I would have taken in my stride maybe. I have paid more attention to self care, so improved diet, reduced alcohol and regular exercise have helped her the anxiety/black moods down, the increased daylight say this time of year had also helped. So, though I do think my mood/anxiety is a symptom, I have been able to reduce its impact. There is no clinical threshold for hrt either so you can have it if you want it assuming your doctor will support your decision (there are no NHS guidelines that say no, but doctors vary in attitude/understanding a lot)

I don’t think I realised as such. I have other health issues which also cloud things a bit and I’m still not sure what is helping as I joined a gym and made some other life changes at the same time as starting HRT but as a whole I’m definitely feeling better and less anxious since I did.

For me it was the haywire periods that were the only concrete sign that meno was coming. Oh and hot flushes - but then I’ve always been very sweaty and don’t cope with heat, so even that was a gradual dawning that this was a different kind of night sweats etc My sex drive also decreased and I knew my relationship would be at risk if I was unable to sort that because we’ve always had a very sexual connection which has got us through some tough times and without that I think we’d struggle, so once I noticed that was fading too i thought HRT was worth a try.

If the periods had still been normal I’d have put it down to my other health problems and soldiered on because I’ve been dismissed and treated as a hypochondriac by GPs in the past so tend to rely on my own knowledge and private blood tests if I need them these days.

Have you watched the documentary with Davina that was on recently? That was also a tipping point for me. Definitely watch it if you haven’t already.