How do I know it is peri menopause symptoms and not just stresses of middle age life?

[Tootingbec]

That's it really! I have no idea whether the anxiety, rage/sometimes out of control irritation, wanting everyone (husband, children, people at work) to just fuck off and leave me alone is because my hormones are all over the place.....or it is just the accumulation of "life" stresses - teenage children, long marriage, serious ill health in husband (now in remission), stressful job, elderly parents etc etc.

I don't have any obvious peri-menapausal symptons (no hot flushes, sleeping fine, no more or less exhausted than I have been since my first child arrived 15 years ago 😀) so how do I know if I should get HRT? So confused.....

Anyone help?

One yardstick is often a change in your cycles. Shorter cycles, longer cycles, heavier flow, less flow, more PMS etc.

@Tootingbec
I wonder the same. Always had PMS and trouble sleeping at certain points in my cycle. But never felt like it was bad enough to seek treatment.
Also feel the rage sometimes but always have done. And often felt exhausted since having kids 15 years ago but remember feeling exhausted at times in my 20s too.
I have noticed some small changes in my cycle but I too am wondering when or if things will get bad enough to do something about e.g. HRT etc. I guess maybe there’s a point when the symptoms become noticeably worse and too difficult to live with?

How old are you?

I suppose you know if you try HRT and many of things improve quite a lot.

If HRT doesn't fix them, then HRT isn't any help.

I’m 50 - and have the merina coil so no idea about changes in my periods unfortunately.

You're almost certainly perimenopause at age 50. Your hormones will have changed significantly by then.

Yep, you sound very peri !
I didn’t have hot flushes either, and my sleep problems stopped when I stopped drinking alcohol.

Rage (often uncontrollable) was one of my main peri symptoms. I only had night sweats early on in the peri phase, and they didn't last that long. But, oh, the rage. It was awful. For me and my poor family. I had really young kids at the time.

Happily, now I'm through menopause (I think), I feel much more on an even keel. I don't take HRT (tried it for a bit, but it made me feel awful).

The only way to know if HRT will help is to try it. It really is a trial and error thing (which in itself, is enraging). But it certainly helps a lot of people !