Peri at 43?

[allycat4]

Is 44 too young to be peri menopausal? GP seems to think so

I'm peri meno and I'm 39

Not even close to being too young. Mine started at 40 and I was on HRT by 41. Your gp, like most when it comes to peri, is completely clueless. Print out a copy of the NICE guidelines, go back to your gp and demand proper treatment. Do NOT be fobbed off.

Thank you very much. I do feel fobbed off.

You have been fobbed off. The NHS treatment of peri-menopausal/menopausal women is, for the most part, reprehensible.

I highly recommend that you go private if at all possible.

I was diagnosed at 39 (by GP and consultant ) and told to take HRT to protect my bones and heart. Sadly, it seems to be a bit of a lottery. The key for me was finding a sympathetic GP with a DRCOG qualification.

If your GP won’t take you seriously, ask to try a contraceptive/HRT combined pill called Qlaira aimed at women in peri menopause. It’s expensive, so hard to get it without pushing.You can take it until 55 as it is classed as HRT rather than a pill (not that all GPS recognise this). I couldn’t take the normal pill due to migraines, but this one is less potent/more natural, so there are fewer contra indications. It only has two pill free days too, so avoids the hormonal drop other pills have.

@Aquamarine1029

You have been fobbed off. The NHS treatment of peri-menopausal/menopausal women is, for the most part, reprehensible.

I highly recommend that you go private if at all possible.

^ this I think you can have a test, not sure how reliable it is. My mum went through menopause at 36.

There isn't a test for being peri, only one for having gone through the menopause.

Where you are in your cycle can make a difference to test results plus they don't know what your "normal" was previously.

Mines been going on since early 40s so utterly fed up of it now!

You can have a blood test for FSH which will be diagnostic if levels are raised. If it is normal , however, it doesn't necessarily mean that you are not perimenopausal just that your hormones were normal at that particular moment.
Lots of GPs are confident with the treatment of menopause . Can you see someone else?

Thanks everyone. I'm happy to go private. I'm so sore (sorry for tmi) and also had unexplained joint pain (arthritis been ruled out). Have mirena so hard to be precise about cycle but seems to be getting a little bit shorter - used to be like clockwork OR a couple of days late, but now getting shorter by a couple of days.
Does this sound like peri?

This age, and with cycles that are becoming erratic, of course you could be perimenopausal. It's a logical conclusion.

I'm 40, my cycles have been increasingly erratic for the past year or so. I chalked it up to stress for a while, but every cycle is different now. Different timings, bleeds, cramps, etc. Twice in one month, etc etc. I'm speaking to my gp soon, apparently she's recently taken a course so hopefully I'll not be fobbed off.

I was 38 and my periods just stopped. GP was very good, confirmed with blood tests. I have no reason to have premature ovarian failure, so it is certainly possible at 44.

Sounds a reasonable age to be in perimenopause. Looking back, I realise I was, was at that age - but I knew nothing about menopause and had never heard of peri, so I didn’t realise. Periods finally stopped at 49.