So who would knows about perimenopause and menopause then .. and how come we aren't taught / don't discuss in advance

[Twiglett]

OK I'm 40 so possibly in reach of the perimenopause which I understand can start 10 years before the menopause

I've had a bug that is also giving me hot sweats, I've also been raging more than normal

I've ordered a book that has been recommended to me but I know nothing

(much as I knew nothing about my cycle 'til I read Toni Weschler's book)

Don't be sad Spacey.

Embrace your menopause Tis inevitable.

tis inevitable that im going to turn into my mother

Twig you whippersnapper - you have started taking supplements at the tender age of 40

I'm waiting til I get symptoms

I've already turned into mine. She looks back at me disapprovingly from the mirror every morning.

I remember my mother's menopause. Grim.

I went to our local health food place and they had a packet of soya supplements labelled pre-menopause so I bought them

figured a month taking them .. what's the harm?

I shan't turn into my mother .. I shan't I shan't

Ok will start thread asking anyone who's been through it to come and tell it like it is.

But who has been through the whole thing so far?

I think we need an age and symptoms list - including when we had dc and if possible when our mothers started the the big M.

(and I don't think 33 counts as late motherhood and neither does having a younger partner count - especially if they are only 7 months younger than you )

lol at embrace your menopause it's sooooooo empowering. I may end up sending a photo of my menopausal bits to Nuts mag.

have started a thread asking for experience here

well i read the article nd had a quick glance at the powersurge thing well the sex bit

i think a lot of the things in the article are probably masked for me by the fact i have bpd

though id o think my hair is falling out of myhead though it could be just that it is long and was always cropped fbfeore..clings to this idea

Twig
Thankyou for starting this thread.

I have just been ticking the boxes, nausea, dizzyness, irritibility, mood swings (my poor DCs, I keep snapping at them )

I had a smear recently and asked my gynae if she thought that it could be early menopause and she laughed and said that she has never heard of this. Made me feel really silly.

I am NOT a hypochondriac, but I feel really ill every 4 weeks (normally the first few days of my period) nausea, tummy upset, dizzyness. It has spoilt 2 holidays and I was starting to get worried it was something serious.

Am going to have a proper look at the website now to see the remedies.

Btw, iron tablets seem to help combat the nausea. Don't know why, I had my iron levels checked and they were ok.

I always wanted to be in a MN clique

I'm 46 and don't have periods any more because I've had endometrial Ablation. But I am never in any doubt about when it would be my period iykwim... grouchy beforehand, bloating, weight gain, poor concentration etc etc.

I'm sure i've been in the peri-menopause for years, but as I don't have periods I wonder how I'll tell when I've been through the menopause?

What's the ablation thing 40+? Is it related or separate?

I've posted quite a few bits about it before. I had horrendous heavy periods and it's a 5-minute op that basically fries your womb lining so it just doesn't function any more. It's been BRILLIANT for me.

I have put on weight too, but that is more to do with too many mincemeat pies and red wine.

OK, I am 46 and have no doubts that I am peri-menopausal - have had tests, although they're not that conclusive as hormone levels are known to fluctuate wildly from day to day. Have been getting night sweats a couple of times/week for approx 18 months; periods still regular but have become heavier; PMT like never before (spirits plummet to depths previously inconceivable). Sadly no weight loss, but different distribution of body fat.

AND, SO FAR, IT'S OK! I've even heard there's life after the menopause, not as we know it maybe, but life nonetheless .

It's a bit weird accepting that my child-bearing days are over (even though I decided this some while ago, it's still a bit odd knowing it aint my decision any more) but no wierder than may other things I've lived through!

For the record my kids are late teens/early twenties (I had 'em young, very young, maybe too young), my mother was officially through the menopause at 43 (she had the period from hell on holiday aged 42 and then nothing, so 12 months without a period and it's 'official'). Oh, and I started menstruating at 13.

I recommend Gail Sheehy's 'The Silent Passage' as an informative and interesting read on the subject.

Thank you webcrone and fortyplus and different year.

Oh, this is what we need- lots of people who haven't had too bad a time. I do get heavier periods now, so I think that's probably a sign, and PMT worse than any time post-children but nowhere near as bad as it was in my twenties.

Hey, perhaps we should have tickers ( x months since my last period/hot flush etc)

snort at tickers
I do think lots of us (well, me for sure) are a bit scared of this and do need people to tell us like it is.

I think it'll be VERY odd after omg, THIRTY years of periods (I started mine at 11) not to have them any more. Hey, how long before you can not use contraception? Or is it not an issue because you're libido's fked anyway (and is the only thing that is har de har)

Oh, I do agree www. I just can't help being flippant but this thread is great, I feel much less alone.

So, what is the youngest that it perimenopause is likely to start? I will be 35 tomorrow and that is why my doc was so dismissive.

Oh I wasn't remotely berating you for being flippant, not that I think you were, not at all Tamum. I just realised that I was reading these new posts VERY avidly!