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perimenopause..come on in and list your crazy symptoms


SparklyUnicorn
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So I just want to know what crazy symptoms have you had, are you currently having, that you think might be related to perimenopause.  I don't care if you actually know officially if they are related.  I also don't care if you have been officially told you are in perimenopause. 

 

I ask because I feel like my body has gone haywire and when I google symptoms, indeed many come up as perimenopause, but ya know..the Internet...Dr. Google...odd websites with questionable info (with no reliable citations)....

 

Not that this is an official medical website, but whatever.  I have to take what I can get right?

 

So give em to me....

 

 

 

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Hair loss.

 

Hot flashes alternating with chills.

 

Passing out at 8 or 9 and waking at 2 or 3 or 4--wide awake.

 

Developing "bat wings" i.e. That floppy upper arm skin. Lovely 🙄

 

Less interest in babies and small children. Not my own, but just less "awwww" or desire to hold or snuggle other people's kids.

 

Less patience for crap and more willingness to say what I think. I think that's where the stereotypical outspoken old lady come from.

 

ETA: oh! Also apparently I grew an inch and a half sometime over the past 3-4 years. I thought they'd just started making pants shorter, lol

Edited by Barb_
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Hair loss.

 

Hot flashes alternating with chills.

 

Passing out at 8 or 9 and waking at 2 or 3 or 4--wide awake.

 

Developing "bat wings" i.e. That floppy upper arm skin. Lovely 🙄

 

Less interest in babies and small children. Not my own, but just less "awwww" or desire to hold or snuggle other people's kids.

 

Less patience for crap and more willingness to say what I think. I think that's where the stereotypical outspoken old lady come from.

 

ETA: oh! Also apparently I grew an inch and a half sometime over the past 3-4 years. I thought they'd just started making pants shorter, lol

Really, you grew taller? Because I did, too! about an inch in the last year. So weird.

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I did, too! My mom didn't believe me, but I am an inch taller than I used to be (and not quite as overweight with that extra inch 😉)

This is sooo weird. My daughters like to size themselves up against me and just recently asked me my height. When I told them the height I've been my entire adult life, one said no way, that was her height and I was taller. So we measured. Weird...

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The sweating at night is killing me.  I wake up with my hair drenched 3-5 inches from my scalp. Dry patches with flaky skin on my face that no amount of lotion is going to fix. Having a week or two where I sleep 12-14 hours a night then having bouts sleeplessness where I can't sleep for more than 4 hours a night. Also the hormonal cravings, it's like I'm pregnant again, all I want is steak medium rare.

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Needing to be a boy scout.....Always be prepared as it can come every 3 months...Or every 2 weeks or whenever it wants.

 

Falling asleep easily at night but waking up at 2-4 am and not being able to fall asleep again....Or if I do, having wired dreams that last hour I get to sleep.

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tender books

completely unpredictable   .'s    in duration between them and heaviness

stronger smelling #1 (sorry, maybe tmi)

fogginess of brain function at times

edited to add anxiety/worry can be off the charts at times - more than normal

 

 

Edited by clementine
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I have never heard of this as a symptom but I am having nausea and vomiting the day before I start my period. Every month I am stuck in bed and up just to vomit for a whole day. It is like morning sickness but I know I'm not pregnant. It is the craziest thing but since this was an open call for any odd symptoms I thought I'd share.

 

My periods are fairly regular but more variable than they used to be. But now I get a loud warning in the form of a stomach disturbance each month.

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My skin is getting thinner and more old-lady-like.  

My entire body seems to be drying out.

I am irritable more often than not.

Insomnia and night sweats.

Lactose intolerance (I had milk problems as an infant and it appears to have returned)

Horrible back acne.  

Pregnancy like symptoms as PMS...nausea, tender boobs, etc.
A huge intolerance for stupid people.

Zero sex drive.  
The time between periods is decreasing.  I used to be every 30 days like clockwork.  I'm down to 24.  Except for the random times I go for two months in between.

Edited by The Girls' Mom
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Like most of the above:

  • Night sweats
  • Hot flashes
  • Periods unpredictable in timing and ranging from very heavy to very light.
  • Skin more easily irritated.
  • Had hair loss for a short while.
  • Extra fat comes & stays.
  • Wanting more sleep.  Tired all the time regardless of sleep.
  • More bitchy (if that's possible).
  • Not interested in other people's wee kids (very different from before).
  • Bad eating habits - not really sure if related or not.
  • Mental Pause.  More stupid mistakes.  More foggy recall.
  • Presbyopia.  :P
  • Minor hearing loss.
  • Voice change - lower and more gravely.
  • More anxiety, though I didn't think of it as a symptom until I saw it above.
  • Cut my first wisdom tooth.  :/

Basically everything is going to hell.

 

And still 17 years before I can collect social security.  :/

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This is sooo weird. My daughters like to size themselves up against me and just recently asked me my height. When I told them the height I've been my entire adult life, one said no way, that was her height and I was taller. So we measured. Weird...

That's exactly what happened here. I've been 5-2.5 since I can remember. I hit my full height at 13. I'd always worn petite or short length pants but a few years ago I'd notice being able to get away with regular length pants. They were a little long, but I wasn't walking on them anymore. Whatever--clothes sizes are weird. Then one of the younger girls was crowing over finally reaching 5-2 and I said, "no way; look how much taller I am than you are." They insisted on measuring my height and I was shocked to find I was a hair under 5-4. I can also carry an extra ten pounds for the same pants size which is nice.

 

My mom did the same thing in her late 30s. I mentioned it to a couple of doctors out of curiosity but they were both surprised and said they'd never heard of that happening. Judging from the responses here I guess it's not that uncommon.

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Anxiety (never had before).

 

Irritability (always had somewhat during pms but not nearly to the degree now).

 

Hot flashes. (But then freeze)

 

Heavier and more frequent periods.

 

Low libido (non existent really, except for one or two days a month, and those one or two days are....shall we say.. the complete opposite of low libido the other 28.

 

Many days feel like I'm completely losing my mind. Can't think of names for normal everyday items or things like that.

 

Cramps during ovulation.

 

 

 

Also, I don't know if this is a normal peri symptom because I've not heard it from anyone else, but my olfactory senses are extremely heightened. Foods, body odor, everything really.

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Super irritable

Zero patience for bull

Cold flashes

Tingling Nose

Numbness in my legs

I get those cold flashes too. I didn't expect that. I knew to expect hot flashes but then when I sweat and throw off the covers, within a few minutes I'm shivering violently like I have the flu. It's awful!

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Periods getting closer together (used to be 28 days, then it was 25, then 21, last one was only 17)

First few days of periods have gotten heavier

Weight gain around my stomach, when it was always flat before  :thumbdown:

Have a much harder time losing weight now, it's like my body just wants to hang on to every fat molecule for dear life

Waking up after only a few hours sleep

When I'm sleeping, it often feels like my brain is still awake all night. Very restless sleep with racing thoughts and weird dreams.

Tired all the time because of no sleep/poor sleep

Less libido

Irritable, no patience

Feel like becoming a hermit so I never have to deal with annoying people again

Anxiety

Horrible PMS (much worse than I've ever had before)

Sometimes feeling like I'm on the verge of crying, even though I have no reason to be

 

 

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Even though I'm officially menopausal now, this thread brought it all back. I was perimenopausal for 15 years. The last months before my period stopped were the worst, and then it got slowly better.

 

I haven't had a hot flash in six months, and I sleep well now. There's hope!

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My cycles got closer and heavier and were eventually diagnosed as menorrhagia. That was causing anemia, fatigue, hair loss, and I finally had a hysterectomy but kept my ovaries. I still feel the cycle but just don't cramp or bleed. As long as my ovaries are actively functioning, I am told I will still experience perimenopausal symptoms (i.e. not sudden menopause).

 

Aside from the freaky growth spurt, other physical symptoms I've noticed are

- hard to fall asleep, but I sleep well once asleep

- drier skin, more temperamental skin

- drier eyes

- harder to lose weight

- that tingly scalp thing Scarlet mentioned (only a couple of times, but I DID NOT enjoy that one bit)

- a few times I've had sort of a warm spell that wasn't really a hot flash, my mom told me she didn't have hot flashes at all so I hope that will be the case

- finicky GI, need to be more careful about what i eat, before the hysterectomy I would get diarrhea the day before blood flow

- randomly painful b@@ks

- ovarian cyst pain (I have a history of cysts that crop up and resolve within a cycle, I can feel a pinchiness like ovulation pain, but it may last a couple of days)

- sensitive gums

 

Emotionally

- cry more easily at random stuff

- low tolerance for foolish and manipulative people

- increased willingness to "call the emperor naked" when others are being foolish or manipulative

- feeling less obligated to attend events that I would once have felt socially obligated to attend

- more satisfied with living in the introverted part of my personality (I've always been on the "I" side of Myers-Briggs, but close to borderline)

- lack of desire to spend much time thinking deeply about things I don't really care about

- greater need for recovery after anything emotionally draining. I used to be really good at "take a licking and keep on ticking," but nowadays i need more time to regroup

 

I know most of this is hormone related, but I think some of it is just aging in general. I do remember thinking a few years back, "Good grief, I am FIFTY YEARS OLD, old enough to make decisions NOT based on jumping through someone else's random hoop!" I am more assertive and independent, but choose more wisely about how, when, and where to invest my time and energy.

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Much more intolerance for people who irritate me.

 

Agitation with people who do stupid things.

 

Fears that used to not be too bad have gotten terrifying (medical procedures, dental stuff, MRI machine, etc...)

 

More emotional sensitivity.

 

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I've been having these the last 5 years, but since I've had a baby they are supressed somewhat - the nursing hormones I think.

 

But mine are mixed.

 

Negative:

 

Hair loss

heavey periods

Insomnia

 

But on the bright side:

Much more focused and organized

Can read hard books again

Get projects accomplished

(These aren't just my kids getting older, they actually seem to vary significantly depending on my menstrual cycle - when I am relatively high testosterone and low estrogen, I get a lot done and can think!)

 

Also, my libido went through the roof for a while there, which is why I now have a new baby.  Whether that's positive or negative depends on your POV I guess.

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*more hair growing on my chin & upper lip. 

*mild hot flashes during tea

*insomnia after 2 a.m. or the week after my period, I sleep like a baby

*intolerance for drama & stupid

*introvert x 1 million (people tire me out rapidly)

*periods went from 28 days to 18 days back to 35+ days and now are at 28 days again

*can no longer read hard books, into fluffy, no thinking required

*memory loss

*hair thinning

*my brain completely shuts down after 7:30 p.m.

*increased anxiety

*much more apt to say what I think and call a spade a spade

 

Edited by Sharpie
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My period coming every 2 freaking weeks

 

 

This is what happened to me.  Sometimes I'd have 3 of these in a row, a week or 10 days each.  Oh, and a huge, mega flooding type period camping in the Grand Canyon when I thought my period was over.  That was fun.  That was the last bad one I ever had.  Meh.  I think I've finally crossed the great divide, but I'm afraid to say it lest I get another surprise.   I went 8 months without a period, and then I got another one.  I'm at the 8 month mark again.  What do they say, you have to go a full year before you're completely in menopause?

 

Oh, one more "symptom."   I started getting pimples.  I never had bad pimples as a teen -- I bought my first Clearasil as a woman in perimenopause.

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I was going along fine with my peri-menopause when WHAM! I got slammed with crazy stuff: brain fog (the worst), dizziness verging on vertigo, ringing in the ears, night sweats, insomnia, headaches, muscle aches.

 

The brain fog, muscle pains in my back, and dizziness threw me into anxiety attacks because my dad died at 59 with his 4th heart attack.  I'm 53!  However, I noticed the symptoms got worse the closer my period due date arrived.  Sometimes I would get a string of small anxiety attacks together, which I could only alleviate through deep-breathing.

 

I was in the grocery store with my eldest DD who came up for Christmas when I got the worst episode of brain-fog ever.  I had a list in my hands, and we were walking down the main isle when I couldn't comprehend the next item on the list, and I didn't have a clue as to how to find it. I felt like I was in a dream; everything was so fuzzy and discombobulated. I had to give the list to my DD, and she led me around the store so we could finish up and go home.

 

That very same week, while singing at worship in church, I got so dizzy I felt sick and had to sit down for the rest of worship time.  I actually thought, for the first time in my life, that I was going to faint.  My poor DH was so concerned about me during this time. I became a totally different person.

 

So, I did what I do best; I started researching all the different symptoms.  They all had one thing in common, PERI-MENOPAUSE/MENOPAUSE.  I also realized something else.  I got slammed with all these crazy symptoms after going off my 4-Horsemen vitamin regime for a long viral illness I had over the summer (9 weeks).  Wondering if this could be the problem, I immediately went back on those vitamins.  I'm now just about back to normal after taking those vitamins for the last 3 weeks.  I still get the occasional dizzy spell, but the brain-fog, thankfully, hasn't reappeared, the anxiety attacks are far and few between, night sweats don't manifest unless I leave my heated mattress pad on a tad too long before going to sleep.  Now I just warm the bed to take the chill off then turn it off.  I feel so much better than I did!

 

Here are the vitamins I take that are called the 4-Horsemen:

 

  • Vitamin B-100 Complex (large blue bottle from Piping Rock as it has the best ratio & mcg/mg levels than other brands): 1/day
  • Vitamin D3, 5000 IU Mega-Potency (Puritan's Pride Sunvite brand): 2/day for 5 weeks; then reduce to 1/day thereafter
  • Selenium High Potency, 200 mcg (Puritan's Pride): This is specifically because Maine has no Selenium in it's soil, and it's an important mineral for our bodies. 2/day for 5 weeks; then reduce to 1/day thereafter.
  • Garlic, 1000 mg, concentrated odor-controlled (any brand): 2/day for 5 weeks; then reduce to 1/day thereafter
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My periods coming every 21 days - sometimes twice in the same month.  Anxiety to the point that I feel like I need to be medicated.  Mostly in the middle of the night.  Then it goes away so I just have to keep reminding myself not to make major decisions during that time in the month.  I keep forgetting.  My hair is thinning which is turning out to be a good thing because it used to be very very thick.  Now it's just thick.

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At what age do we expect this loveliness to commence?

 

I don't think there is an age.  Maybe an average age, but you can't expect it at any exact age.

 

My mother and sister stopped having their periods in their 30s.  I'm 42 and have not stopped.  I feel as if I do have some common (and not so common) symptoms.  But this could go on for years and years based on what I read.  But then some here talk about this stuff and they are in their 50s.

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At what age do we expect this loveliness to commence?

 

I'm 53 and haven't stopped my periods yet.  I started seeing mild symptoms at 50.  The symptoms increased and intensified just recently until I got back on my vitamins.  Now the worst of them have dissipated again.  I just talked to a woman last week who said she's been going through this hell for 12 years!!  I almost passed out when she told me this.

 

I often wonder if I delayed my menopause because I had my last DD at 38.  Not sure if that even has anything to do with it.  I can't ask my mom about her experience because she had a hysterectomy at 42.  While she did retain her ovaries, she never went through menopause.  She got off easy in my mind...lol... 

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I'm 53 and haven't stopped my periods yet. I started seeing mild symptoms at 50. The symptoms increased and intensified just recently until I got back on my vitamins. Now the worst of them have dissipated again. I just talked to a woman last week who said she's been going through this hell for 12 years!! I almost passed out when she told me this.

 

I often wonder if I delayed my menopause because I had my last DD at 38. Not sure if that even has anything to do with it. I can't ask my mom about her experience because she had a hysterectomy at 42. While she did retain her ovaries, she never went through menopause. She got off easy in my mind...lol...

What vitamins help? just taking notes :)
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I'm 53 and haven't stopped my periods yet.  I started seeing mild symptoms at 50.  The symptoms increased and intensified just recently until I got back on my vitamins.  Now the worst of them have dissipated again.  I just talked to a woman last week who said she's been going through this hell for 12 years!!  I almost passed out when she told me this.

 

I often wonder if I delayed my menopause because I had my last DD at 38.  Not sure if that even has anything to do with it.  I can't ask my mom about her experience because she had a hysterectomy at 42.  While she did retain her ovaries, she never went through menopause.  She got off easy in my mind...lol... 

 

Mine started in my late 40s and lasted almost 10 years. I too had a late baby, at age 41. In fact, I at first thought I was going through early menopause before I found out I was pregnant.

 

Like yours, my mother had a hysterectomy long before menopause, and never went through it herself. I couldn't ask her about her symptoms because she didn't have them.

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I'm 37. Is that too young? Because I'm identifying with these symptoms. Still regular but really awful stuff. Brain fog. Irritable . No energy. Sleep issues.anxiety. No motivation. Hair loss. Severe periods. I'm back on bcp to manage this stuff but is there an alternative?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited by fairfarmhand
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