# Fun with perimenopause **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 27, 2008, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-perimenopause/469801 "2008-10-27T18:07:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-perimenopause/469801/1 "2008-10-27T18:07:17Z")
I’m well into perimenopause, getting my period only a few times a year. What is happening now is that sometimes I’ll have a wee bit of crampiness, of the sort that a few years ago would mean “your period will start tomorrow,” but then not get my period. Let me phrase this in a way that won’t get a “ask your doctor/I’m locking this thread” response (because I’ll ask my doctor when I see her in January, and I don’t actually think anything is wrong) – have other perimenopausal women experienced this phenomenon? ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-perimenopause/469801/2 "2008-10-27T18:12:32Z")
I don’t recall that, but I do recall the pre-period irritability just never going away. That part sucked. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Wing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/51bf81/32.png) [@Little\_Wing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Wing)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-perimenopause/469801/3 "2008-10-28T00:41:27Z")
_Raises hand_ Yep, I’ve been experiencing this wonderful bit of fun for a while now, among other things. It’s become a mystery, wondering if I will indeed start my period or not. After being as regular as clockwork for about 35 years, this is a bunch of horseshit. Oh, did I mention I’m really cranky, too? ---
**Author:** ![MizTina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MizTina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizTina)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-perimenopause/469801/4 "2008-10-28T01:19:32Z")
Oh, there is more fun and excitement on the way. I go through times of no cramps, no flow, no nothing and then with no warning…she comes up a gusher for days at a time followed by a two week period (ha!)of annoying spotting. Do not venture out without super duper protection. I’m 52 and my doctor reminds me that I am in the worst of it. Yay. I enjoy being a girl. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![spoike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@spoike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spoike)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-perimenopause/469801/5 "2008-10-28T01:25:56Z")
If I may be so bold, for the women in this thread who are already experiencing perimenopause, at what age did your symptoms start? I ask because I’m 36, and symptoms I’m experiencing seem to indicate I’m starting. The websites I’ve checked (yes, I’m planning on discussing it with my MD) say 35 isn’t unheard of, but rare. I’m wondering just how rare. ---
**Author:** ![MizTina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MizTina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizTina)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-perimenopause/469801/6 "2008-10-28T03:33:30Z")
35 for me and it has been a roller coaster ride of heavy, super heavy, unbelievable heavy, uber light to non existant. The only consistant for the past 20 + years have been the hot flashes. For the past 10 years, I didn’t wear a coat unless it was snowing. Nothing says menopause quite like standing in your sliding glass doorway at 3 am, naked and steaming. Again with my Dr., but she tells me that I am one of the extreme cases. I exercise, I eat well and I am anything but sedentary. I consumed soy by the case, I did everything but try it in a damn suppository. Black cohosh out the ears, evening primrose out the other orifice, all no good. She put me on the patch to ensure the safety of my fellow citizens because I don’t take heat well, and a hyper ass hot flash when it’s almost 100 degrees outside is just flipping unbearable. The patches are an unbelievable help, without them, I could time the flashes to every half hour. lasting anywhere from a minute to 10 or more. With them, one every so many hours, but without the flood of sweat and the flushing face, just a little over warm feeling. I love my patches. But it is a personal choice with risks, and my Dr is already hinting that we might try a lower dose next year. I ain’t real sure how that’s gonna work out. ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-perimenopause/469801/7 "2008-10-28T03:34:58Z")
I’m 52, and so far I’ve simply missed three periods, last year February, June, and November. No other weirdness, knock on wood. That was while I was off the pill. Right now I’m back on the pill to try to keep me from bleeding half to death every month. That’s apparently caused me to be more irregular than I ever was before. It’s only three cycles so far, so I’m hoping it will straighten out soon. I did start the first set of pills on an off day (I didn’t read the directions right) so I’m hoping this will all sort out. My PA tells me that 52 is average for menopause, so I may have some time to go yet. Oh, yay. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Wing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/51bf81/32.png) [@Little\_Wing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Wing)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-perimenopause/469801/8 "2008-10-28T03:44:08Z")
As for me, all this fun stuff started just about six months ago. I’m 45 which I suppose is relatively young but as I recall my mom was about 47 when she went through it. I can’t go back on the pill or be put on the patch because I just recently quit smoking. According to my doctor, smoking or recent smoking and hormones apparently aren’t a good mix. So yeah…hot flashes, random cramps, bitchiness, forgetfulness _and_ I quit smoking. My poor husband. Oh, yeah. And it’s a bitch to lose weight, too. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-perimenopause/469801/9 "2008-10-28T03:49:58Z")
Pffffft. I’m perimenopausal and still getting my period like clockwork every month, so I do not feel sorry for you. 😉 Hot flashes SUCK! Insomnia SUCKS! **MizTina** , [this](http://www.wttool.com/product-exec/product_id/5334) has been my savior! I took it with me to an exhibit of Tall Ships at the San Pedro harbor a few weeks ago, and I could’ve sold 100 of them, for all the people who stopped me to ask where I bought it, thinking I had gotten it there. Everyone wanted to “hold” it for me while I climbed up on the ships – AS IF! They’ll pry that puppy out of my sweaty dead hands! 😃 Oh, and it comes in [blue](http://www.wttool.com/product-exec/product_id/39523/nm/Tiny_Tornado_II_Hand_Held_Fans_Caframo_), too. ---
**Author:** ![MizTina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MizTina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizTina)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-perimenopause/469801/10 "2008-10-28T03:52:06Z")
> [@Little\_Wing](#): > > Oh, yeah. And it’s a bitch to lose weight, too. Second that! I finally lost 4 pounds after 2 months of working my butt off. And everything seems to go right to the damn lower belly and just accumulate there. And it laughs at you pitiful efforts. Belly fat is a bitch ass and evil; very, very evil. 777 is it’s number, the older bitch sister of the beast. Ooops, almost forgot the other bit of fun equated with this. Constipation. Fiber, laxatives, more fiber and flax. I like the whole flax seeds, they act like little roto rooter blades drilling out the evilness that lurks in your lower g.i. Do I sound bitter? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-perimenopause/469801/11 "2008-10-28T03:56:43Z")
Try being perimenopausal _and_ hypothyroid! Lose weight? It is to laugh. BWAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA! ---
**Author:** ![MizTina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MizTina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizTina)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-perimenopause/469801/12 "2008-10-28T03:56:45Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > **MizTina** , [this](http://www.wttool.com/product-exec/product_id/5334) has been my savior! I took it with me to an exhibit of Tall Ships at the San Pedro harbor a few weeks ago, and I could’ve sold 100 of them, for all the people who stopped me to ask where I bought it, thinking I had gotten it there. Everyone wanted to “hold” it for me while I climbed up on the ships – AS IF! They’ll pry that puppy out of my sweaty dead hands! 😃 > > Oh, and it comes in [blue](http://www.wttool.com/product-exec/product_id/39523/nm/Tiny_Tornado_II_Hand_Held_Fans_Caframo_), too. Ooooooh, thank you! Ordering one tomorrow, blessings to your and yours. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-perimenopause/469801/13 "2008-10-28T04:02:59Z")
You’re quite welcome! I hope you love it as much as I do. It’s really well-made, nice and sturdy, and very powerful. I set it on the table behind my dinner plate when I eat, on my desk in front of my monitor while I work. It’s been a godsend. And it’s relatively quiet, too! ---
**Author:** ![Mumio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@Mumio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mumio)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-perimenopause/469801/14 "2008-10-28T04:42:43Z")
I purchased a number of those small handheld fans from Walmart for $1.00 apiece. Definitely one of the best things ever made to help with hot flashes! Chillows are real handy too. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-perimenopause/469801/15 "2008-10-28T11:10:31Z")
> [@spoike](#): > > If I may be so bold, for the women in this thread who are already experiencing perimenopause, at what age did your symptoms start? > > I ask because I’m 36, and symptoms I’m experiencing seem to indicate I’m starting. The websites I’ve checked (yes, I’m planning on discussing it with my MD) say 35 isn’t unheard of, but rare. I’m wondering just how rare. I was all done at 48, which, in my circle of friends, is the earliest of all of us. I have heard that some start in their 30s. I read an article that said it starts about 8 years before your periods totally wig out. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-perimenopause/469801/16 "2008-10-28T11:25:03Z")
I’m 48 now, and last year I went through a phase of extremely wicked hot flushes and irregular periods over a few months…then nothing, and I thought I was the LUCKIEST old crone alive to get through menopause so damned easily. 🙂 Yeah, right. Then the monthly bleed started up again, sans the other symptoms…then stopped. Last month the 'RUN, RUN TO THE WINDOW AND STRIP OFF ALL ‘YER CLOTHES’ started again too, then stopped about a week ago. I’m actually enjoying my perimenopause. It’s so friggin’ unpredictable that it keeps me on my toes, and warns me that when I’m feeling super angry/weepy/manic that it’s 'me hormones and not the shithead giving me grief on the other end of the conversation…well, it probably IS the fault of the shithead, it couldn’t possibly be **me** being irrational or anything could it?? Oh, just fuck off, the lotta youse. :D:D ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-perimenopause/469801/17 "2008-10-28T13:20:03Z")
I’m 53, and have been have been getting my period very sporadically for about three or four years. So far in 2008, had one in January (one month after getting it in December, grr), then not again till June, and not since, despite the slight crampiness over the last week or so that I mentioned in the OP. Still haven’t had a hot flash. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-perimenopause/469801/18 "2008-10-28T15:07:21Z")
You’re a chick? I had no idea. How YOU doin’? Joe ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-perimenopause/469801/19 "2008-10-28T15:35:36Z")
> [@spoike](#): > > If I may be so bold, for the women in this thread who are already experiencing perimenopause, at what age did your symptoms start? > > I ask because I’m 36, and symptoms I’m experiencing seem to indicate I’m starting. The websites I’ve checked (yes, I’m planning on discussing it with my MD) say 35 isn’t unheard of, but rare. I’m wondering just how rare. about 38 or so. I’m 41 now, and Yaz birth control pills help enormously. I’m starting to carry a hand fan in my purse now, however, and I am close to classifying my “heat waves” at certain times of the month as “hot flashes”. I don’t actually get the sweats or anything, but I will strip off clothes if at home. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-perimenopause/469801/20 "2008-10-28T16:14:02Z")
I just turned 50, and have had symptoms since I was about 43, I think. I’m on Depo Provera, so I don’t get periods. 🙂 I do get hot flashes and night sweats. I’m not sure if my bitchiness is me or the hormones, but I blame it on the hormones! 😃 When I asked, the doctor said the only way to tell for sure if I’m still in perimenopause or done with it all is to get off the Depo. :eek: I don’t want no stinkin’ periods!!! I guess I’ll have to make that decision soon, though. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fun-with-perimenopause/469801.md?page=2)