So does this end? I'm only 41. What happens, will I be like this the rest of my life? Until actual menopause? I can't live with this. What about HRT - does that help? I mean, if this is happening because of lowered hormone levels, well it's only going to get lower as I get older. Will it get worse? Does it end? Help!

SWoman...woah there girlie...

Welcome to PS,..just what all are your symptoms? How long you been going thru peri??

and yes it does end...

This started for me like a few months ago. It was horrible fatigue, then hot flashes and heart palps, chest pains - I thought I was dying. And the itching. The terrible itching that wakes me up. Sometimes, it's so bad, I get hives. And the trouble sleeping. I've always slept like a rock, and suddenly, I feel 'wired' like I've had 10 cups off coffee before bed. I sometimes go nights without sleeping at all. I can feel my heart racing. Joint pain/muslce that comes and goes. It can get really bad but nothing helps - not celbrex, not aspirin, motrin. Dry eyes, dry vagina, headaches, dry mouth. This on top of terrible depression and moodiness. and what the hell is the deal with my craving for sweets? Used to be I wouldn't touch anything with refined sugar. Now I don't want to eat anything but pudding, chocolate, cake.. etc. etc. I have NEVER wanted these things in the past.

It was so bad there for awhile, that I thought I had some nasty illnesses. I was tested for rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, thyroid, lyme disease and some other diseases - all negative. None of my docs put the symptoms together. I think they thought I was being a hysterical woman or something. They told me that all of my symptoms were so vague. I thought I was losing my mind. Then I started noticing that my symptoms are periodic. And sometimes I just felt like hormones out of whack, if that makes sense. I started then reading about hormones and menopause, and now I learn that I'm not too young to get perimenopause?

My symptoms have gotten slightly better but they still get really bad sometimes.

I don't feel old. I'm look like I'm in my 20s. I'm in good shape but if I keep eating the crap I'm eating, I'm afraid I'm going to blow up like a balloon. Does this end? Or am I just going to feel progressively worse?

SWoman...hun, i understand EVERYTHING you have posted and I Know theres ALOT of other gals on here too that have experienced and still are what you are going thru....!!!

Im 42 now, and have been dealing with this since 36 and it was when I was 38 when medically "bonified" as peri-menopause...

For 3 years I was taking HRTs and then i found out I would need to be on them probably the rest of my life and doseages would have to be increased as time went on.I have been off them now since Aug...Im taking Vitamins, minerals, and herbs to help me thru this....(Dearest has info about them in the Educate Your Body,.area in the main menu section, b4 you enter the message board)

You are not alone Hun,....so try not to allow your brain to get "Stinking Thinking" as if you are going to die from all this.

Now I cant tell you how long you maybe going thru this, no one can...some have the whacked out symptoms for several years and some even longer. We all are different in our chemical, hormone make up.

I strongly suggest you read, read, read, here AND out in the main menu...Dearest has gathered TONS of info...to be right at our fingertips. Dont be afraid to click on anything! Theres the Library, Recommendations...Ask the Experts...and the list goes on. Please just just limit yourself to the Message Board...you'll be missing out on a lot of Knowledge and Information.

Ok course post and ask questions too, and also reply to some of the questions or make statements too for the other gals....

Again Welcome to PS Hun, and Im sure you'll find the gals here very warm and supportive as I have...

Shodan,

Welcome to PS!

and

Listen to DaMomma!

You are not too young for peri. I am 40, and I had always thought that meno is something that happened to us in our 50s. It's taken me a while to accept that I could really be in peri in my late 30s and early 40s. I hope this all ends soon!

There are some natural remedies, vitamins, and minerals that might help with some of your symptoms. You may also want to look up "Pete the Pharmacist" from Belleview Pharmacy here at PS. They can do saliva hormone testing and get you set up with natural bioidentical hormones. (I would stay away from traditional HRT, which are synthetic or unnatural hormones for humans. Premarin is made from pregnant horse urine.)

It makes me so mad to think that some doctors think women are "hysterical." Dr. Steven Hotze talks about this in his book "Hormones, Health and Happiness" which I highly recommend. My doctor said the same thing to me when I read him my list of a dozen symptoms: "Those things are just so vague, how do you really know if you are feeling them?" Pppphhhhhtttttt!

Stick around and you'll learn a lot from the wonderful women here!

DaMomma and rsgreen are RIGHT!

My two cents' worth:

I found that yes, it does end, and yes, you do go back to the way you used to feel. HOWEVER, the problem is LENGTH OF TIME that this all takes. My peri experience started when I was about 47, but so gradually that I wasn't aware of it for a couple of years. Then things worsened and by age 50, I really was miserable, all day for most days. My periods got farther and farther apart, and the hot flashes all day long almost did me in.

But once my periods stopped completely, and I got to the first year anniversary with no period, I noticed (again, very gradually) that the symptoms began to subside. I'd have them for a while, and then I had to admit that they'd go away. The length of time without the symptoms began to increase. Sometimes I couldn't remember when I'd last had a symptom. The insomnia, which I thought would never end, went away. I may not sleep as solidly as I did in my twenties, but I can fall asleep now and stay asleep most nights. I wake up WITHOUT the familiar pounding migraine (it's been years since I had one), and I usually feel energetic enough to get up and get ready for the day. There was a time when I did not want to get up, nor did I have the energy. I had nausea, feelings of gloom and doom, tearfulness. They all went away.

I really and truthfully can say that I feel as good now as I did before this all started. I'm 54, though....and it started at 47. I don't know what to do to shorten the time. It's different for everyone. I don't take any HRT and just use the Revival Soy. I tried HRT for a few months, but it started everything up again and I didn't want to do that.