It is possible to have an easy menopause?

[OhBeAFineGuyKissMe]

I know on a help board there will be a massive selection effect by people asking for help, but I wondered if there are any stories of people having an easy menopause?

I’m 45 and had some peri symptoms, a couple of night sweats before my period, increased clumsiness, quick to anger/teary. But that all stopped about 6 months ago. My periods just seem to be fading away, last one was only 2 days and barely needed a panty liner.

Could I be one of the luckier ones or are is it waiting around the corner to jump out at my when I least expect it?

I read about a third of women barely know they've been through the menopause, a third have mild but manageable symptoms and a third have severe symptoms that majorly impact their lives. My experience was that I had a horrible perimenopause with flooding periods so bad I often couldn't leave the house (plus hot flushes, night sweats etc) but once my last period came and went there was nothing and I felt so much better. I was free from those hormonal swings and horrible periods. Bliss.

Hope you are one of the lucky ones!!

Yes, many people do. Just don't automatically fall for all the media hype.

Yes, I just have! No sweats, no flooding, no period for a year now - I'm done.

Yes. I only had hot flushes, they were annoying but that was all I had. No psychological symptoms at all. No flooding. No night sweats. Huge relief periods were over at last! Not everyone has a terrible time.

Hi Op

Statistically, 75% of women have symptoms and some quite severe. This is medical stats.

At 45 you are considered young for menopause (if you have no more periods.)
The average age is 51, and 40 to 45 is considered early (again, this is not opinion, but medical facts.)

Many drs would advise you to use hrt to age 51 at least to protect your bone density.

I have friends who had early menopauses.
Both have had fractures and the one who had the 'easiest menopause' of all at 45 now has spinal fractures, severe osteoporosis, and is in constant pain.

If you don't have any more periods, you might want to talk to your GP about an assessment of your bone density in the next 5 years. This is because the risks of early menopause (before 51) are becoming more recognised.

I didn't really notice mine but I did have an old-ish coil still in place so wonder if that made a difference. Had the very occasional fleeting warm flush but really didn't notice anything. Periods had already dwindled to virtually nothing anyway with the Mirena coil.

It was things like vaginal dryness and hair loss that confirmed I was actually the other side of menopause eventually.

Lucky to have it very easy. Had a few flushes but I've always been too warm anyway so used to that. Had a few flooding episodes. No noticeable mood swings, insomnia, aches and pains, weight gain. Had a period just after 50th birthday then next one was 12 months' later and that was it.

Now 60 and fit and healthy. Feel very blessed actually - some friends have had a torrid time.

Good to know that some have a much easier time. There is a lot around (rightly so it has been ignored for years) about how hard it can be.

Periods haven't stopped yet, just incredibly barely there. No cramping, no normal feeling of heaviness just before and very light flow.

Fingers crossed for everyone who is suffering with symptoms.

Interesting, my mum had an early menopause and now has osteoporosis and spiral fractures. When my periods do stop I will look into this.

I went through menopause at 36. Only reason I got it investigated is my periods just stopped. I have had 2 hot sweats and did have memory fog that I didn't realise was menopause (marriage breakdown/covid etc made me think was just being a bit gormless) but since going on hrt it's definitely lifted. Gone on hrt cos of other risks associated with lack of oestrogen. I will say I never suffered with PMT or period pains etc and not ill when pregnant so I obviously handle hormones well. Good luck, I feel very lucky to not have been bad but not so lucky being 36!

Yes, for many it's not that bad.

Mine wasn't THAT bad actually. But later it turned out my oestrogen had been low for the several years before.

You need to have your oestrogen checked. Please. Even with mild periods, you could still have a lack of oestrogen which leads to brittle bones and osteopenia, then osteoporosis. So please get it checked.

I started menopause and went on hrt. No problems then and sailed through it.

Yes. I know quite a few people who had hardly any symptoms. A word of caution, please think carefully what you say to.others. it grates when there is a bragging rights competition 😫a friend of mine who I hsvr known 30 yes was quite dismissive about it all. Bit of a worry as she has a prominent position where she could make a difference for those who work in her establishment. Take care all.

I remember my mum and Nan (dads mum) bickering about it years ago.

Mums periods stopped and that was it, no other symptoms. Nan had every symptom going. Both seemed to think the other was lying! 😄

My mum was also 37. I'm now a similar age and my periods seem to be drying up, only other symptom has been increased migraines again (having had a few years without them post-kids)

I think I must of had one of the easier ones. Having I used hormone contraceptives for most of my adult life, latterly the implant, meant no periods. Didn't really think much about menopause til my implant was due its three year replacement around my 42nd birthday.

Initially the clinic were reluctant to replace it, saying I had probably didn't need it any more. Challenged to say how reliable this was, they went ahead twice twice more. Nine years later, in my fifth first year they were 100% sure I no longer needed contraception.

I guess that means I'm in menopause no symptoms so really no way to tell.

In the interim, I asked around for blood tests to establish my fertility status. It seemed while I had the implant and for six months thereafter the results would not be reliable.

Now in my sixties I have accepted that my body does't do well with starchy carbs so now emphasise leafy green veg in my diet and have slowly over a year or two shrunk back to my tea age weight (sadly lacking the skin elasticity of my team years)

Otherwise uneventful menopause.

It's like everything hormone related. Some people sail through puberty with not a single spot. Some women have very easy pregnancies with no sickness or issues whatsoever. Some women get PND, others don't. And some women have a very easy menopause, and others don't.

There is a wide range of experiences and none is more or less valid than the next. I mean, I had really easy pregnancies with no morning sickness, but that doesn't mean I tell women who are vomiting to just get on with it. Recognising that menopause is very difficult for a lot of women is not "media hype".

This is a comprehensive summary of menopause.

www.menopausematters.co.uk/menopause.php

Dr Currie is an NHS gynaecologist and former chair of the BMS.

I've pasted the relevant part for women aged 45 and under who are on this thread.

Menopause - when?
The average age of the natural menopause is 51 years, but can occur much earlier or later. Menopause occurring before the age of 45 is called early menopause and before the age of 40 is premature menopause.

Generally, women having an early or premature menopause are advised to take HRT until approximately the average age of the menopause, for both symptom control and bone protective effect

There are threads on MN where many posters say they didn't have problems due to menop. Mine has been a non-event so far (age mid 50s). I assume one day I'll be stiff & unwell & my body & abilities will change, I might well become frail, like happens to every other person at random in life & especially if they live long enough. Including all men. Health problems will happen as you age, even when you have the best possible experience of 'The Change'.

Adult DD was annoyed with me when I said something about I might be approaching menop & I might not. DD thought I should know with more certainty. I find it funny when MNers are so obsessed with their periods when talking about menop symptoms. Almost as obsessed as they are with their breast size & appearance in other threads. Neither my periods nor my breasts ever took a lot of my attention, so why would they now.

I may be living in a parallel universe.

The list of symptoms of menopause is huge
its not just, hot sweats , period finishing etc
They also don’t happen all at once after 2 yrs period free.

You can get symptoms you’ve never had at different stages if your life as oestrogen doesn’t just completely go to zero it’s depleting all the time.
If we had completely zero oestrogen we’d be dead.

Im 65 post meno by 12 years now and finding different symptoms I’ve not had before
knee aches, hips ache

DM did, as did her eldest sister. Period ended- that was it.
Middle sister had a terrible time.

Yes, at 54 I'm done.

I am generally hotter but no hot flushes.

I do have achy joints which may be a symptom but not enough to warrant hrt.

I had terrible migraines for as long as I can remember but once I'd gone through the menopause they virtually disappeared, once every couple of years rather than once a month. Changed my life, it was so liberating.

I've been told that there are two stages of menopause. The first is the peri meno when everything is having an upheaval and there are sweats, flushes, loss of periods and emotional symptoms.

But when these end (and for about 10% of women the flushes never stop, according to my dr), other symptoms often appear, sometimes not for 5 to 10 years later ( so early 60s.)

A lot of women never link them with loss of estrogen.

Pelvic floor prolapse, bladder issues, etc.
Loss of bone density
Osteoarthritis
General aches and pains/joint stiffness
Insomnia