Perimenopause?

[JustCri]

Hey.
I'll be 39 in a few months and my periods have gone down to 26-25 days for the last two months after having had exact 28 days cycles for most of my life.
My sleep is also particularly crap and often have night sweats...
I'm NC with my mother (I know the best way to predict/navigate symptoms is to ask other women in your family) so I'm not going to ask her.
Am I being fair in thinking I'm entering perimenopause?what can I expect?
Thank you in advance!

I should add...my pms symptoms have also changed and I get insanely painful breast for 1-2 weeks before my period which then go straight back to normal as soon as the period starts...

It's probably a bit too early to be sure. Medical advice is that you track your cycles for at least 6 months. So after 2 short cycles it's too early to be sure.

Cycles do become shorter (in most women) but it can take years until you have your last period.

I think with me (long time ago now) my cycles changed slightly in my late 40s, from 30-31 days down to 28 then 27 etc but I was almost 53 before the last one.

IF you find you miss cycles and have more symptoms like flushes and night sweats, see your GP and ask for HRT if that is what you want.

Menopause before 45 is called 'early' and before 40 'premature'. Both are medical conditions and would be treated with HRT up to the age of 51 at least to prevent heart disease and osteoporosis. (You can find info about this online.)

I think it sounds like you are getting there. You could try treating your symptoms, so trying some magnesium glycinate for sleep, and having a good sleep routine. I found alcohol gave me night sweats and disturbed my sleep, so stopped that. And you could try a good quality evening primrose oil for breast pain.

Thank you! Will look into all that!

Just to add @JustCri there are no risks using HRT when you are under 51 (average age of menopause) as all it's doing is replacing what you should have and the types used now are made from plants and the same as your own hormones.

So if it gets bad don't try to sit it out.

Thank you. Tbh I don't know anything about hrt yet..so I'm going to look into it