Post for middle age women

[Anglewannabe]

OK, this is more of a detailed post so I understand if some people are not comfortable with it.

I am 43 and I am/was suspecting I am starting my menopause. I am really weirded out by it. It is all I can think of and frankly, I am sick of it taking up so much of my thoughts.

I feel fine but if I still suspect it, I will go see my doctor. However here are some questions I would like to ask women who have been through it.

As a teenager, I was every 3 weeks. In my 20s, I was anywhere from 3 to 5 weeks. I never had regular periods until the last few years where I was every 4 weeks. Well… I was a bit surprised when last time I was only 3 weeks because that has not happened in years. Four weeks after that, I had all the symptoms. PMS was so bad, I actually made a post about it. I felt the bloating and even the onset of menstrual cramps. My period never came. It has been 6 weeks. I was planning on making this post the second I came out of the washroom. Guess what, 2 minutes ago, I realized I got my period.

So, the question is, ‘is this a sign of menopause’? Or is it stress (which I have a lot of right now)

Also, what is concerning me the most is as a teenager shortly before I got my period, I was dreading the day it would come. And I had all the akward teenager feelings from puberty until a few years of having periods. What saddens me, is I feel like I am having the exact same feelings I had in puberty and frankly, I was hoping that by the time menopause started, I would have more maturity.

As embarrassing as this sounds, I just want to go over to my mom’s snuggle with her like when I was a kid and say ‘Mommy, I am scared, menopause is coming’ I feel so silly

 

[Jeanne_S]

You are,most likely in perimenepause phase.This can last for several years.My personal experience was more frequent menstrual cycles(having 32 day cycles most of my life)they were all over the place in frequency and duration.Also the onset of night sweats and hot flashes.I completed menopause at 51 years.Outside of the flashes and sweats,it was pretty uneventful.Given you are under a lot of stress,my advice is check with you gyn,to see if n fact you are in menopause.

 

[EasterJoy]

An OB/GYN told me perimenopause could last as much as ten years. Some women don’t have hot flashes or barely have any, so don’t “suffer in advance” for anything that may or may not happen and that certainly won’t be made easier by obsessing over it in advance. Take one day at a time, do those things that will help and try to avoid those things that are both difficult and pointless, and yet don’t punish yourself for having emotions. That comes with the tide of hormones, and is nothing to be embarrassed about. Coach yourself through, instead, just as if you were talking a friend through this. Be as kind to yourself as you would of course be to your neighbor. That doesn’t mean you ought to bore everyone else with it (any more than it is OK to bore everyone else with all the other trials that come to those who get old enough to have them), but just that you shouldn’t punish yourself for crying at long-distance commercials or for letting on to your friends that you’re having some trials. It is bad enough to have to go through it without beating yourself up about it! You’re not alone, you’re not abnormal, and you’ll get through this, just like puberty.

 

[Sunbreak]

The hormone changes before menopause can make things very irregular. The hormone changes affect everything in your body, including your emotions. It can also affect your sleep.