Perimenopause - Warning TMI!

[thekarens]

Oak and SheFly gave me things to look forward to

I appreciate everyone sharing their thoughts and experiences. I'm not completely miserable every day all the time. I have my good moments. It just seems like the bad have been outweighing the good lately.

Shootingstar, I have a friend that was an avid, and I mean crazy, runner. She LOVED it with a passion. She ran 24 marathons and then had to have her knee replaced. The doc told her no more running, period, so she's taken up cycling, but she's not that enthusiastic about it, so I get your point.

[Crankin]

My peri-menopause also started at 38. I had years of horrible PMS, with physical symptoms, not emotional, and it pretty much morphed into peri-menopause with the same symptoms. My periods became heavier and closer together. Or, I went 6-11 months without one. Then, they just stopped at age 48.5. Hot flashes started about a year later and lasted for 4-5 years. Nothing that kept me from doing anything. I hated having my period, so that was a reward. Of course, I have osteoporosis, but I have a strong family history, as well as other risk factors, so there's probably nothing I could have done to avoid that. It took me about 12 years to finally find a medication I can take to help with that.
I'm thankful I didn't gain tons of weight or have any cognitive/emotional symptoms.

[emily_in_nc]

I started getting heavier and closer-together periods in my early to mid-40s and had a couple of scary episodes of "flooding" in early peri-menopause. Now, finally, in the last year or two, I've started having longer spacing between periods. 40 days, 60 days, but then I'll get one at 14 days, then back to 28 days.... This last one has been my longest gap between -- my last period started Dec. 4th, and I just now started today for the first time since, so what's that, almost four months? It's been a nice break, and I was SO hoping that I was done. I'll be 52 in 1.5 weeks and ready for it to be over, but not enough to do anything unnatural to hasten it along.

I have not had terrible peri- or menopausal symptoms as yet. A few minor hot flashes, but nothing debilitating, and nothing else that serious, though my memory is not what it used to be.

At least for me, I'd have to say that peri-menopause has been about an 8 year journey so far, though it's hard to remember back to know exactly when it started.

[shootingstar]

I think I was in periomenopause for over 3 yrs. It was such gradual, gentle process that crept through me.