Hello,
I'm new here. Why, am I here? Because I turned 50 so I think I'm suppose to be in menopause or perimenopause or something but I have very few (if any real) symptoms. I can't say I know what a hot flash feels like (but I know what it's like to get the chills and never feel warm enough). I hate being cold! My period comes every month, but not 100% regular, early, late, and sometimes I'm spotty and it drags on for 10 days! I am not a moody or emotional person. Occationally when I wake up in the morning I notice that my upper body is a bit sweaty, I don't feel hot or uncomfortable (I really don't mind sweating at all) so I wonder was that suppose to be what people are calling a night sweat? Yes, I struggle with weight gain, but I have a huge sweet tooth, I'm trying to diet (cutting back on food but still eat some candy).

So tell me, is it possible that one day the periods will stop, and I will never go through any bad symptoms. My biggest fear is having bad periods such as ones that last way too long or come too frequently. (No one ever seems to care about this one, or addresses this issue. There must be some herbs or natural cures to address that horrible symptom).
I hear a lot of complaints, but I want some glimmer of hope - how many of you have gone through this thing without the problems? Perhaps no one will step forward because those that don't experience symptoms typically don't go on this website.

That may well be true! My sister (aged 52) and my best friend (same age) have both had their periods stop with hardly any symptoms at all. My sister gets the occasional 'warm flash' is all. Whereas I'm struggling with all sorts of things and that is why I'm here.

So, yes, there is hope!

Dear Summergirl,

Welcome to Power Surge! May you never need it for peri/meno, but enjoy the wonderful community of women here nonetheless.

I came to PS because none of my friends had experienced any bad symptoms of peri or meno. Oh, maybe a few hot flashes, but nothing like the debilitating symptoms many of my surge sisters go through or have gone through. I will be 56 in April and am still not post meno.

Take heart. It seems that many women go through this stage of life without even mini-trauma. And if you do develop symptoms at any point, there is a world-wide network here to help you through them.

All the best,
Marcy

I am 54, and almost 3 years with no periods. My periods were fairly regular, then one month, just stopped, never to return. I had no physical symptoms of perimenopause, either. BUT, I suffer from OCD and bi-polar disorder, which got much worse after my periods stopped. Sometimes, a pre-existing condition, such as mental illness, that you have suffered with all your life, gets worse after menopause. My medications are now all changed, some are new, but it took a few months to get me back on track.

Actually, it sounds as if you do have symptoms (irregular periods, night sweats), but, as you said, they just aren't as severe as many of the women on this site. My experience has been similar to yours, with the exception that my health anxiety periodically goes into overdrive. I will be 52 in August and, looking back over the past 10 years, think that maybe peri started in my early 40s. However, I had my 1st child at age 41, my 2nd at age 44 - so my hormones had a hard time deciphering whether they were peri/pregnant related .

My SIL, who is four years older than I, claims she went through meno w/o any symptoms and that her periods just stopped one day. However, I distinctly remember a couple of years where she suffered horribly from anxiety - to the point where she was hospitalized. I don't think she realizes that it could have been related to menopause.

Now, IRL, I have yet to met anyone who acknowledges that their fluctuating BP, heart palps, heavy bleeding, etc., is related to peri. I think that's because it's something that's never really been talked about alot until recently. All I ever heard growing up was that women went through "the change." Little did I know that "the change" could last for years and that the symptoms varied so greatly between women. Like you said, most women don't step forward and volunteer how badly it affects them, partly because as women we've always had to be the strong one. That's what's so great about this site. You can come here with questions/concerns and, almost 100% of the time, find someone who has experienced the same thing.

Count your blessings if your journey remains so relatively uneventful.