Tell me your early peri symptoms

[mothertrucking]

I'm 45 and for the last few months my cycles have gone from being 28 days to 25. I've also noticed my flow is heavier.
My AF started last Thursday and I bled til Sunday. Today I have had cramps all afternoon and the tiniest bit of bleeding when I wipe. I thought my period had finished Is this all part of peri?
I've had an increase in anxiety since Sunday for no apparent reason also.

Tell me your early peri symptoms.

My GP advised hormone change are only detected in blood after menopause, as my bloods showed normal hormones. She put me on a trial based on the symptoms I described.

Confidence not a problem for me so far. Having to rein in impatience and irritability on the other hand. I hate how snappy I'm becoming.

Mind you I am currently hiding in the pub with a glass of wine having sacked off dinner and burst into tears, so I don't feel like a reliable barometer of anything much right now TBH 🤷‍♀️

Gaps between periods. Brain fog and anxiety. Itchy back.

Oh and my desire to nuture fell off a cliff !

Brain fog
Shorter periods (4 days instead of 7)
Major cramps when ovulating. (I think my body’s trying to tell me this is my last chance! )

Currently going through it, I wonder what’s coming next. 😂

Are you also suffering? It's really bad at work. I'm having some counselling but not sure what else I can do!

I've an appointment next week to see my GP. I'm going to go with a list of all the symptoms I've listed here otherwise I'll completely forget when I'm there that I have a long list of things!!

Restless legs, itchy scalp, pmt lasting 10 days+, 2 day periods (used to be 5/6 days). Boiling hot in bed. Possibly anxious and paranoid.
Lots of symptoms I related to the break up of my marriage. So no probably more.

I got shorter, much heavier periods. Still regular.
incredible cramps in my leg before coming on.
PMT Irrational anger.
Brain fog.
PMT absolute depression.

Im finding menopause (which I’m just hitting) much easier so far.

I heard Davina on radio 2 this morning describing how she started to feel worried about driving in the dark, and that her world started to shrink. Plus forgetting names etc. This was a bit of a light bulb moment for me. I went through the menopause quite early so never realised that I was in peri (tbh I wasn't aware it even existed) but I definitely experienced exactly the same. I've never particularly enjoyed driving but previously drove at night/long distances/on busy motorways etc without a second thought. Somewhere around by 40th birthday I started to get really worried about driving at night, or driving anywhere I've not been before, or driving in heavy traffic. I wouldn't have described it as anxiety- I know people who suffer from that and this was nowhere near the same- but I would go out of my way to avoid these things and if I did need drive somewhere new would ask DH to take me there at a weekend first.

At around the same time I also quite often couldn't 'find' names or simple words (not quite forgetting, they came back to me before long). I put this down to tiredness. I also started to find social situations more difficult- I've never exactly been a social butterfly but I found myself making excuses to avoid most social gatherings. I brushed this off as being out of practise at socialising and not being sure what to wear as I'd put on quite a lot of weight.

I'm on hrt now and these issues haven't gone away completely but are far more manageable.

So interesting about the social anxiety, as it can be explained away due to tiredness or just no great interest. Perhaps it is hormonal, and the driving, hmmmm, it really explains a lot. In the past women were written off as daft, good to know this is simply down to a transition phase that will also pass.

Can't sleep. At all!

Great thread! But I have a question...

I have PCOS and so have suffered with all of these symptoms for many many years. Everything that has been described on here has me going 'err... this is normal life isn't it?' Do the symptoms just get worse when you have PCOS and the menopause? 😩

@lovelypidgeon gosh yes. Both driving in dark but then also the day too sometimes. Some of it is due to my eyes but most is feeling oddly vulnerable on the road.

Confidence about things I used to be secure about is much less.

I'm on hrt and some of its improved. But I don't think I'm there yet and I don't think I'm on enough.

Mine were like rocks after delivery, painful too. But it's normal. When I was breastfeeding I would get painful lumps from time to time. I have used a compress from cold cabbage leaves or a cabbage breast cream and not always but most of the time it would do the trick. Try, it's better than doing nothing

Mines are:

Ectopic heartbeats (it's been a year, 24 hours)
Brain fog
Itchy eyes
Increased allergy symptoms and hives
Anxiety
New Phobias
Swelling
Dizzyness
Migraines with aura
Mild panic attacks a week before my period
Blurry vision before period
Unusual tiredness
Mood changes