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[glassgirlw]

Hi! I’m new to the forum, just found you through a Google search. So glad that there’s a forum out there like this! I’m in the US, we don’t seem to have anything like this over here that I’ve been able to find!

I’m pretty sure I started perimenopause a few years ago - but it’s really ramped up, symptom wise, over the last year. My periods are much more irregular - some months three weeks apart, some months six weeks apart - but I’ve only skipped two so far over the last 3-4 years.  My periods have gotten shorter in duration, usually 3-4 days total. Last two months were very light in flow.  I get skipped heartbeats, some months not at all, some months during ovulation only, and other months only a day or so prior to period starting. I don’t sleep much. I fall asleep quick but can’t stay asleep - maybe 5 broken hours a night total. I get calf/foot/toe cramps, like a Charley horse type feeling, when laying in bed sometimes. Mood swings like crazy. Much shorter temper and less patience with people. Weight gain, after working so hard to lose 180 pounds I’ve now regained 30 of it - so I’m back on the diet. I just feel like I’m going absolutely crazy sometimes!!!

Anyway, that’s for letting me vent and I’m really glad I found this place. Sounds like I’m maybe not alone in my struggles.

[CLKD]

U R certainly not alone.   

Is all your health care provided via Insurance?  Is there a chemist where U could chat about HRT options B4 seeking medical advice?

From where I'm sitting with the sun streaming into the kitchen at 8.15 a.m., it sounds like peri-menopause: those months prior to the final bleed = menopause proper.

No lady is too young to begin perimenopause though some medics think that menopause is loss of periods and hot flushes!

Some find that keeping a mood/food/symptom diary of use to chart progress.  Let us know how you get on.   Browse round the Forum, make notes ;-)

[glassgirlw]

Yep, I do have insurance. We have a women’s clinic in my city that specializes in peri and menopause so I’m going to try and get in with them today I think. HRT is one of the things they offer.

Forum has been hugely helpful so far! I started using a cycle tracker app on my phone a couple years ago - so there will be plenty of data for the doctor to look at! And probably just within the last few months I started tracking symptoms as well, so I’ll keep on with that. It’s just so weird how some months I see a pattern in the symptoms and other months the symptoms are all over the place  Craziness!!! Thanks for responding! I plan to keep reading everyone’s experiences!

[CLKD]

My periods waxed and waned: fortunately the dreadful excruciating pains and flooding went!  I would have a regular cycle for 3-4 months then they would disappear for months, back again ........ for 2-3 years if memory serves me right but don't bank on that!  I knew it was The Change so wasn't particularly worried.  Once the bleeds stopped completely then the body became itchy mainly across my shoulders: and insteps as I took off socks to step into the bath. 

Later on with repeated urine infection-type symptoms my GP diagnosed, over the 'phone, vaginal atrophy  .  Do read those threads if you haven't yet delved, 4warned is 4armed  .  As oestrogen levels drop the body may become dry: inside and out.  Skin, scalp, deep in the ears, eyes, vagina .... and muscles may become lax.

Let us know how you get on! 

[MadCatLady]

Welcome to the forum.

I'm 43 and recently started on HRT due to perimenopause symptoms. I also struggled for about a year before going to the doctor

Here in the UK, normal age for menopause is considered 45-55, so you are right within the normal range to be approaching menopause.

I had different symptoms to you, but I've found not only are they all much improved on HRT, but they are also much more predictable than before. My periods initially got heavier and closer together, then changed again and became lighter and further apart, often skipping a month or two. Apparently this is quite a normal pattern.

I hope the women's clinic will be helpful for you!