Hi,
i am new here, I am 43 y/o and i have been suspecting peri menopause for over 6 months now. my biggest complaint that started with was my PMS. My pms started to come earlier in the cycle Started 13 days prior to my period. This month of december i had the pms the entire time! for the past 6 months my period went from 28-30 days to every 21-23 days. i had my period twice this month. i thought i got my period 2 days ago, it was early and it dont surprize me anymore. later on in the day it went away and i didnt get it until 2 days later. but i hate the mood swings more than anything. today before my period began, i dont know if related or not but i was weepy but once i got it out of my system i was fine...
I made an apointment with my gyno for next week...
is there something natural that will help with the mood swings?
I also have had and still do night sweats, itching spells. sore breast are a new symptom and started 2-3 days prior to bleeding.

once this plateau eventually ends to meno will things get better???? i hate the moody stuff i am positive it will get better with time. i would like some reassurances :-)

Camille

I also posted for the first time today. You can check my earlier post. It certainly sounds like you are entering perimenopause. I started 4-5 years ago with those exact symptoms. I would often get a period twice in one month and then skip one, then go back to normal for a few months. I now have not had one since September. See what your Dr. recommends but there are some suggestion on this website. Good luck.
Kate

Hi Camille,

Welcome.

It will be interesting to see what your physician says. I think it sounds like you know your body very well
and that you have researched your symptoms. The more education we have, the better.

Keep posting and let us know how you are doing.

janeann

I noticed my periods doing what yours are doing about 2 years ago.

I sure wish I knew if this stuff got better or not. I hope so!!!!!!!!!!

mscamillec, you might want to try progesterone supplementation. You can use over the counter ProGest cream, I like the individual use packets. If I were you I'd try just a small amount, don't use an entire packet per day but use like 1/4 to 1/2 of a packet per day, just enough to relieve your symptoms.

As you progress through peri and start having irregular periods and other symptoms, you might find that progesterone helps your cycles be more regular and mitigate some of the symptoms.

Later on you might want to supplement estradiol, but I suspect you are too early for that unless your night sweats are frequent and disturbing, or you start to have consistent daytime hot flashes too. But estradiol is great for knocking out night sweats and hot flashes, and for me it improved my mood too.

Unfortunatel, it's probably not going to get easier, it's probably going to get more difficult as you make your way through peri and then enter menopause. But you are on top of the game ! I'm glad you're here as early as you are and ready to take action. Just figuring out what's going on and what your options are is half the battle. Let us know what the doc says !

Camille- welcome to Power Surge!! You'll love this place, and soon learn you wont be able to go a day without a "fix"!!

Sandra- I'm so glad you were able to find some relief with progesterone. No such luck for me. It made me terribly depressed!! I had to go off of it.

That's the big menopause mystery!! Why doesn't it all work the same for all of us?!?! Arrrghhh!!!

I think I'm just naturally cranky so the progesterone didn't have much of a negative effect on my mood. :-)

And oh man I do remember that first time I used the stuff, I accidentally used more than I had planned to use, and I was knocked out all night and felt totally groggy for like half of the next day !

Welcome! Sure sounds like peri to me - one of my first symptoms was much worse PMS than I was used to and reduced cycle times. The only advice I can give is to expect the unexpected as the pattern of symptoms is so unpredictable with this hormonal rollercoaster. Take each day as it comes and visit here often - there is a lot of comfort in sharing experiences and hearing others are going through the same stuff. I'm 2 years in and still have days with crashing fatigue/palps/headaches and huge health anxiety, then can go for a few days and feel relatively normal. The only consistent thing I've found so far is that my symptoms wax and wane, so if I'm having a bad day I try to remember that tomorrow, or at least next week, will probably be better, it's hard though.

Sending you hugs

I have found that evening primrose oil helps the PMS more than just about anything.You can buy it on line or at your local walgreens,walmart,drugstore.it also helps sore breasts,and dry skin.GOD-bless