Your menstrual cycles may lengthen or shorten, and you may begin having menstrual cycles in which your ovaries don't release an egg (ovulate). You may also experience menopause-like symptoms, such as hot flashes, sleep problems and vaginal dryness. Treatments are available to help ease these symptoms.
As perimenopause causes your hormones to fluctuate, and menopause causes your hormones to decrease, you may experience rapid, unexplainable mood changes. Increased feelings of irritability, nervousness, and sadness may make you feel like you're losing your mind, but there's no need to panic.
Perimenopause can begin in some women in their 30s, but most often it starts in women ages 40 to 44. It is marked by changes in menstrual flow and in the length of the cycle.
Dr. Vaidya: Anxiety can occur due to the estrogen and progesterone imbalance that occurs during perimenopause/menopause. When this hormonal system gets out of balance, symptoms of anxiety, depression, irritability, mood swings, foggy brain, tense muscles, and sleep disturbances can all occur.
If you have a persistent change of seven days or more in the length of your menstrual cycle, you may be in early perimenopause. If you have a space of 60 days or more between periods, you're likely in late perimenopause. Hot flashes and sleep problems. Hot flashes are common during perimenopause.
Is there a perimenopause test? No, there isn't a test to find out if you are in perimenopause. It is very difficult to get an accurate measure of your hormone levels during this phase as your hormones are constantly fluctuating.
During perimenopause, your discharge may take on a brownish tint. It may also be thin and watery or thick and clumpy. These changes usually aren't cause for concern.
Diagnosis of of perimenopause
Hormone testing is done through a hormone panel to test your levels of estrogen and other sex-linked hormones. This kind of testing can often show whether you are nearing or in menopause.
The first sign is typically a disruption of your menstrual cycle. For many women, your period starts earlier or later than normal. For example, if your menstrual cycle has always been 28 days, during perimenopause, your period could come as early as 21 or as late as 35 days.
Internal trembling, vibrations, buzzing feelings, shaking, and quivering sensations can all occur during perimenopause and menopause.
Your estrogen levels drop and you may have markedly irregular menstrual cycles. On top of irregular periods, hormonal changes can lead to weight gain, hot flashes, trouble sleeping, vaginal dryness, mood changes, and depression. Perimenopause ends with menopause, at which point you have not had a period for 12 months.
However, you may want to talk to a perimenopause doctor if you experience any of the following symptoms: Your periods are very heavy or they include blood clots. Your periods last much longer than usual. You experience spotting either between periods or after sex.
“Over my years in practice I have seen women who are suffering from symptoms of perimenopause, but they don't even know it.”says Laura Tyree, M.D., an Inspira Medical Group physician, board certified in obstetrics and gynecology.
No, you cannot conclusively self-diagnose perimenopause. At-home test kits measure certain hormones, and these levels may suggest you are in menopause or perimenopause. However, the results are qualitative, meaning they cannot definitively diagnose perimenopause.
Perimenopause is a process — a gradual transition. No one test or sign is enough to determine if you've entered perimenopause. Your doctor takes many things into consideration, including your age, menstrual history, and what symptoms or body changes you're experiencing.
Healthcare professionals (such as GPs, practice nurses and healthcare professionals with expertise in menopause) do not use laboratory tests to confirm a diagnosis of perimenopause or menopause in women over 45 years, but base the diagnosis on menopausal symptoms alone.
From armpits to cleavage to vagina to feet, things can start to smell funky. At the same time, perimenopause can make your own sense of smell more acute. So it's possible that you're the only one noticing the change in your personal bouquet.
The average age of the menopause is 51 and after the menopause women find that their bodies change. The ovaries stop producing the female hormone estrogen and the levels begin to decrease. One of the early signs of reduced estrogen on the vagina is reduced lubrication during sexual activity.
Brown or dark blood
Women in perimenopause may also see brown spotting or discharge at other times throughout the month. You may also notice changes in discharge texture. Your discharge may be thin and watery, or it may be clumpy and thick.
Over-the-counter home tests to check FSH levels in your urine are available. The tests could tell you whether you have elevated FSH levels and might be in perimenopause or menopause.
A Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center study involving postmenopausal, overweight, and obese women who took 2,000 IUs of vitamin D daily for a year found that those whose vitamin D blood levels increased the most had the greatest reductions in blood estrogens, which are a known risk factor for breast cancer.
It depends on your situation. Not all women need, want or are candidates for estrogen therapy. Estrogen can reduce menopausal symptoms like hot flashes, night sweats and vaginal dryness. If you have a uterus, you'll likely need to take progesterone along with the estrogen.