Hi! I just had to post my thoughts about what has been happening with me. I am 38 years old and have gained a lot of information from this website. It is awesome and comforting!!! I have to say the symptoms I have experienced sure seem like peri....but thought I'd get some feedback anyway. My cycles started getting closer together several years ago but I didn't think much about it and then it seems each year since things get a little more intense. I have had strange periods and then things go back to "normal" and I think "you're nuts" but this year I completely skipped a period and had a bout of hotflashes and nightsweats that I couldn't dismiss as something else. After 56 days I got a period which I thought would be a killer but it was lighter than usual and and ended about 2 or 3 days earlier than usual. And I seem to find myself getting a wave of anxiousness and suddenly I'm asking someone "is it hot in here?" and I'm just plain HOT. To top it off - I usually feel pretty good when my period is ending but this time I'm all fired up . Sometimes it all seems a little surreal and I keep thinking "you're 38 years old can this really be happening?" anyway - any feedback would be great!

P.S. I did go for a blood test 2 years ago when periods were acting up and was getting some nightsweats but I bet you already know what they said!

Hi cinmax: Sounds like peri to me! I'm 44 years old. About 37, 38 I started having periods very close together--19 days sometimes. Then in the past year they are very far apart, or skipped altogether. In fact, I'm skipping one right now!

The hot flashes and night sweats started in my late thirties too...but in the past 6 months I get them all the time--day, night, doesn't matter.

Hope this helps...

Hi cinmax,

I started having the same thing as you around 38 or 39, I am 40 now and think I now what is going on. I say think because every damn day is different, one day I feel great the next day I want to crawl in the closet and sleep all day. I don't get the night sweats or hot flashes everyday, but I have figured out when I do get one what they are. I get a little dizzy sometimes with mine.

The doctors are all a joke, all they want to do is give me anxiety pills because they can't admit they just don't know. I also had a blood test, and yes my result was the same as yours If one more doctor or person says oh your to young, I am going to........

I think I have almost every damn symptom, I think the thing that is so upsetting is that nobody ever talks about this. All the sudden one day you go from dr. jekyl to mr. hyde

I hope this helps, I know this site has saved me many days from driving to the er or thinking that I am alone and going insane

Keep in touch and keep posting....

Oh yes,oh yes!

That's when mine started too, late 30's. Never thought about it being peri. No one brought that up at all. Now I look back over the last 9 years and all the symptoms add up. Sure wish I'd known about Power-Surge back then!!

Don't let the doctors tell you you're too young! Most of them have no clue!!

Hi cinmax,

I'm 51 now, and your symptoms are exactly -- and I mean EXACTLY -- what I was experiencing at about the age of 45, and now, 6 years later, I am 100% positive that I was beginning perimenopause then. What I'm amazed at is how many women are beginning peri at younger ages. As I read posts on this site, I see that there are so many women in their 30's starting peri. Or maybe it's always been this way, and in the past women have been reluctant to talk about it. Anyway, whatever the reason, don't be worried. Relax and know you're beginning something very natural. All the girls at Power Surge are incredibly comforting and supportive. This is a true haven for meno babes!

RedFox

Hey RedFox, you said you are supprised at how many women seem to be starting peri in their 30's and wonder if it has always been like that but that women just didn't talk about it. Well I can't say one way or another but I have a theory. I started peri at 29. I had all the classic symptoms. I discribed them to my mom and everything was just the way she went through it! The only difference is she was about 43 when she started peri. Well, it may seem that more and more women seem to start in their 30's because doctors are starting to believe and listen to us! Ok, don't get me wrong, so far I have yet to have a doc do any hormone test on me. They wont even think about it! I'm now 35 and I have been skipping months for some time now. So far just one month at a time but latly I've been skipping every other month. I know docs will still tell us it is all in our heads, that's what they tell me, but it wasn't all that long ago that they didn't believe pms was real! Women have been short-changed by the medical profession for a long time, telling us we were just stressed and giving us drugs to calm us down. Maybe some are starting to take notice and that is why it seems there are more women in their 30's in peri. Of course my mom believes it is because of all the hormones they put in the food we eat. She thinks that is the reason my daughtor started developing breasts at 8 and 1/2. She is 9 now and still only has little buds. Her body desided to give up on that are grow taller instead! Oh well, I guess I'm rambling. I do that a lot! Is that a peri symptom?
Take care ladies
De

DSquared: I've posted about this topic before, but I wanted to write again and tell you that I agree with your mom: I used to teach grades 7-12, and the girls nowadays develop much faster than 20 or 30 years ago. I think it's the hormones in the food we eat. I also wonder about the effect of stress on perimenopause. I think women today have a LOT more stress on them then they did just 10 years ago, and it must have some sort of effect on our hormones. I have a cousin who just turned 40 and whenever I talk about my peri symptoms she says, "Robin, you are too young to be even thinking about menopause!"...boy is she is for a head-turning surprise. I'm 44 and I just pray my symptoms don't get any worse than this.

I feel as if I'm hanging on by a thread most days...it's amazing to me that I can hold down a full time job; I think about quitting all the time, becuase it's just so hard to get through a full week with all these debilitating symptoms. It's like a race: I'm taking soy (Revival), supplements, trying to eat right, etc, and the symptoms are always one step ahead of me. Actually I would quit my job but then what would I do for money? Also, I worry about staying home all the time, just worrying about my various ailments. I'd probably be worse.

So I just keep going, looking for the light at the end of the tunnel. My peri started in my late thirties, so I've been in for about 6 years now. Only in the past 12 months have things started to get so bad that I have become desparate (heck I found this site by googling the words "am I losing my mind?"...). My gyno tells me peri can last 15 years----FIFTEEN???? Let's hope not!!!

This is an interesting topic.

Dsquared, I think you're right about the way the medical establishment has treated women regarding menopause symptoms. The many experiences detailed on PS will confirm that. The last time I saw my doctor, I asked about menopause tests, and she asked me why I would want a test. I said I just wanted to know, but she dismissed that, saying, "what difference will it make?" Well, dumb me, can't think quick enough, I just felt intimidated and dropped it. But... how about the power of knowledge. If we know what is causing our problems, it makes it easier to accept them, plus it enables us to make decisions as to what we want to do about it or not. Anyway, back to what you were saying -- I agree!

I also agree with you, RoundRobin, with your comments about food and stress. I can tell, just looking around me that girls are developing at younger ages, and have read about the subject too. Our food supply in the U.S. scares me-- all the hormones, antibiotics and chemicals that are put into our food. I quit eating meat for that reason, although I do eat some poultry and fish occasionally -- mostly vegetarian eating though. I try to buy organic, but it's hard to come by where I live. I do my best with an organic garden, and it's far from ideal, but I keep plugging away at it.

I'm sure sorry you're suffering so RoundRobin, hanging by a thread. I DO know about it -- and don't forget -- there IS a light at the end of the tunnel. Somehow, after 6 years of suffering with anxiety and depression and all that bad stuff you're going through, I have entered some kind of neutral zone. I'm still pinching myself to see if I'm just dreaming and wondering if the symptoms are just resting and might return. It sounds like you're doing all the right things, RoundRobin -- keep it up -- and don't give up!

My best to all you wonderful girls!

RedFox

Welcome to our world! And to Power Surge as well

Thank you ladies! I haven't posted anything in a while. We've been busy here. It has slowed down a little now. I guess I can really say 'Mom was right!'. Since I've started peri so early she is the only one in my close family I can talk to about it. I always thought I would be sharing this experence with my older sister, she is only 20 months older than me. But no, she thought she was because she stopped having periods but it turns out she has a tumor on her patuatarey (I KNOW I spelt that one wrong! ) gland. It isn't cancer and she is having more tests done. I was just wondering about something. We have been talking about how the hormones in our food may be making us mature faster. Young girls into puberty and women into peri/meno. I don't think I ate any more hormone-laced food than my sister but I did join the military, I'm no longer in it. Anyway, I did get a lot of shots against getting everything from typhoid to yellow fever. I'm now wondering if that may have helped 'move things along' for me. I don't know, just 'talking' out loud I guess. Anyway, it sure is great to chat with you ladies.

RoundRobin, I sure hope you are feeling better now. Remember every day is a new begining and a fresh start. Forget about the stress of yesterday. You are a wonderful woman in the prime of her life! Hang in there!
De