What Is The Difference Between Pre-Menopause and Menopause?
Romise1
I am new to this newsgroup, I have to say, some good info here. I am 42 and
going through some of the changes talked about here. I have the heart
palputations or heart fluttering, just about every night when I go to bed, I
sometimes get them through the day too, along with occassional hot flashes. My
periods are all wacky, sometimes I have a period twice a month, sometimes they
last for 1-2 days and others last up to 4-5 days. I have always been regular,
I could set my clock by it. Also, get frequent headaches and have distrubed
sleeping. I never had any trouble sleeping before. My body is going through
changes that are scary. I do smoke and drink coffee, but this never bothered me
before. I started having all of these symtoms just as soon as my periods got
all whacky. I have tried to talk to other members of my family, such as my
mother and mother-in-law but they were on so much other medication, for other
health reasons, during their time of change, that they went through menopause
before they even knew it. So, I have no one to ask about what they went
through. After reading here in the newsgroup messages and other info on the
net and books, I figured I must be premenopause, but what I can't figure out
is, what this means, what is premenopause compared to menopause? Does this
mean I have worse days to come or what? And how long do you go through this,
how long does it last? Appreciate any advice on this, thanks.
Kimmie
Cathy Friedmann
things are perhaps first vaguely & then often obviously not as they used to
be - when your hormones start to shift around, & periods can get wacky.
Sometimes *very* wacky. Menopause is the time of your last period - which
you won't know till it's in retrospect - 12 months is usually safely
considered to be post-menopausal.
There's no set timeline - everyone's different. I went through 6½ years of
pre/perimenopause, from the month I turned 40 - 46. That's when the
obvious symptoms began, such as: heavy - but then later on light periods, a
time of severe cramps & lower backache, clots, having to pee & pee *now* for
a couple of years, a chronic low-grade yeast infection for another couple of
years, premenstrual headaches, sore boobs, periods skipping months
(sometimes as many as 4 at a time, for me), spotting, etc. - before my
periods quit. For almost the last year of them, they were very light,
cramps just about vanished, backache was much better, & they often came much
closer together, like less than 3 weeks apart. Two months after what turned
out to be my last period, I began to get hot flashes & big-time insomnia
kicked in. I still have them both - although the hot flashes abate now &
again. Other symptoms went away completely on their own, or come back only
for brief times, when I can tell there's a general hormone shift going on.
(It's been 5 years since my last period, but I have a feeling my body is
having trouble acknowledging that little fact. <g>)
Other women have fewer years of this up & down & all over the
board/unpredictable stuff, some more. Some lucky ones just *quit* one
month. ;-)
If you didn't see these URLs yet, here're some links with a ton of info:
http://www.howdyneighbor.com/menopaus/symptoms.htm
http://members.tripod.com/menopause/
http://www.oxford.net/~tishy/beyond.html
Cathy
--
"Staccato signals of constant information..."
("The Boy in the Bubble") Paul Simon
Romise1 <rom...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20020210082830...@mb-mg.aol.com...
Pat Kight
Hi, Kimmie, and welcome to alt.support.menopause. You sound *exactly*
like I did when I came in here nearly three years ago. Don't worry, a
little good information and you'll feel much more comfortable with it.
Menopause is literally the end of your menstrual periods. Because we
never know in advance which one will be the last, most doctors measure
it backwards: You're considered to be fully menopausal one year after
your last period.
Premenopause, sometimes "perimenopause," is the stage of changes that
lead up to that final period. For some women, they're mild and barely
noticed, or last a very short time. For others, it can be a real
amusement park of physical and emotional symptoms that can come and go
with sometimes bewildering variety.
In the US, the 'average age of menopause" is usually quoted as 51.
Unfortunately, that doesn't do a bit of good to help any one of us
predict when we'll reach menopause, bceause the journey is so highly
individualized - and because it's an average, that means some of us will
get there earlier, and some later. It's not considered unusual for women
to start experiencing the signs of menopause in their early 40s, and we
have women posting here in their late 50s who aren't "there" yet.
What's happening, in a nutshell, is that our reproductive systems are
doing what they are built to do, and beginning to shut down as we run
out of eggs. It's usually not a sudden or even swift process. Some of
the
symptoms" are probably due to the shifting levels of reproductive
hormones - but because the shifts can be erratic and unpredictable, the
"take these hormone pills" approach does not necessarily work for every
woman.
It may be years before you reach full menopause (we have women here
who've been perimenopausal for a decade). But no, that doesn't
necessarily mean you've got worse days ahead, or even that you'll keep
experiencing everything you are now the whole time. Many of us find that
symptoms come and go, and we can even enjoy long, relatively
symptom-free months when we begin to get a glimpse of what's sometimes
called "menopausal zest" - a renewed energy and vitality many women
experience in their older years.
two things you might want to do in the relatively near future:
* Read one of the better books on the subject. Many of us here like Dr.
Suan Love's Hormone Book because of it's straightforward, factual
approach that's free of the hype you see in so many "self-help" books.
Try your local library or used-book store.
* Make an appointment for a general physical. By middle-age, many of us
are beginning to show signs of wear and tear that have nothing to do
with menopause, and it's not a bad idea to get a good checkup so you can
make sure everything else is in top running order. Besides, there are
conditions whose symptoms mimic menopause - thyroid disorders, for
instance - and if you have one, correcting it will help you get through
this transition, too.
The best thing you can do for your body now is to take care of it.
Improving our diet and exercise habits, even just a little, can make a
big difference to how well we fare through menopause and approaching old
age.
best wishes,
--Pat Kight
kig...@peak.org
Romise1
Thank you for the advice. Wow, finally somewhere and someone I can relate to
about all of this. I have felt like I was all alone. I knew other women go
through this but didn't have anyone I knew that could tell me anything about
it. Thank you so much!
I noticed here in the reply's everyone referring to this as "peri" menopause,
was I saying it wrong. I had put "pre" menopause. What does "peri" mean?
Sorry, I know I sound like a dumbo-head but I feel like I have about a thousand
questions here! Thanks for the links, also. I wasn't sure if I was even going
through this at first, I thought maybe I am just getting sick and going to die!
But after reading things I figured out that this has got to be the reason. I
guess I thought I was too young to be going through this.
I do have another question, I also noticed others talking about this here in
this newsgroup, is about a loss of libido. Does this come back after a while,
Ha! I have a patient husband, he doesn't pressure me or anything, but I know
my interest in it has decreased a great deal.
Kimmie
Romise1
Thanks for the info. Like I told Cathy, it is soooo great to have some other
input on this. As you said, it can be a real amusement park of physical and
emotional symptoms. I have had the emotional, alright! Periods of depression,
then all of a sudden feel very cheerful for no reason. As I was asking Cathy
about the libido, I feel this plays a part with the emotional.
I had read something about, I think it was called, "Black Cohosh" or something
like that. Have you ever heard of this? I may have the name wrong, but it
sounded something like this. Thanks Again,
Kimmie
Cathy Friedmann
same thing & discover you're perfectly normal, after all?! I went through
peri before I got a computer, but I did (thank goodness!) find a book called
"The Pause" by Lonnie Barbach, in which she describes all of the weird
symptoms, having had no idea initially herself it had to do w/ menopause
(that 51 yrs. old number being in the future, after all), & thinking for
sure she was dying of *something*. Only to later discover that it was
simply menopausal stuff, showing up way before actual menopause! Phew!
Another good book - & more technical, but easy reading, is Dr. Susan Love's
Hormone book (written while she was going through this, too). Her specialty
is breast cancer & surgery, and she also has a Breast Book out (also very
good), which covers benign breast conditions, too.
Peri means "around", so in a way, I think "pre"menopause is actually more
technically correct for the time leading up to menopause. After all, I'm
still experiencing symptoms, 5 years after my last period, so in a way I'm
still in peri (given the "around" definition). Re: libido - it seems to
range from one person to another - as do most of the symptoms. Mine
completely disappeared all-of-a-sudden - like a switch being turned off (&
thank goodness, was not in a relationship at the time). It was *very*
physical - had nothing to do w/ emotional stuff, although I agree that there
are times when that can easily happen. Other women have reported the same
thing - sometimes it shows up again, either fleetingly, or for good - or at
least for longer stretches of time. Most of the symptoms seem to come & go
on their own, depending on what one's hormones are doing, & this usually
happens at hormone shifts, IME.
Those links will keep you reading for a while... ;-) Just reading this news
group will reassure you about a lot, too.
Cathy
--
"Staccato signals of constant information..."
("The Boy in the Bubble") Paul Simon
Romise1 <rom...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20020210200907...@mb-bk.aol.com...
Pat Kight
>
> Hey Cathy,
> Thank you for the advice. Wow, finally somewhere and someone I can relate to
> about all of this. I have felt like I was all alone. I knew other women go
> through this but didn't have anyone I knew that could tell me anything about
> it. Thank you so much!
> I noticed here in the reply's everyone referring to this as "peri" menopause,
> was I saying it wrong. I had put "pre" menopause. What does "peri" mean?
Both are used. "Pre-" means "before," "peri-" means "around." The terms
tend to be used interchangeaebly.
> Sorry, I know I sound like a dumbo-head but I feel like I have about a thousand
> questions here! Thanks for the links, also. I wasn't sure if I was even going
> through this at first, I thought maybe I am just getting sick and going to die!
> But after reading things I figured out that this has got to be the reason. I
> guess I thought I was too young to be going through this.
*huckle* If I had a dollar for every woman who came in here saying, "I'm
too young for this!" I could take early retirement. I think most of us
put off even thinking about menopause until it stares us in the face.
> I do have another question, I also noticed others talking about this here in
> this newsgroup, is about a loss of libido. Does this come back after a while,
> Ha! I have a patient husband, he doesn't pressure me or anything, but I know
> my interest in it has decreased a great deal.
Most of us who've been through the libido loss have found that it does
come back, eventually. Because sexuality is such a complicated thing,
it's hard to say what causes what; there does seem to be a hormonal
link, but some of it may also be situational. In my own case, I think it
was partly my body's attempt to cut down the distractions during a time
when I was experiencing extremely heavy bleeding.
Looked at one way, almost everything about perimenopause is temporary,
although "temporary" in some cases goes on for a very long time.
--Pat Kight
kightp2peak.org
Frankenmel
>Date: 2/10/02 7:05 PM Pacific Standard Time
>*huckle*
Always wanted to huckle ;-D
Sharon..who believes in Better Living through Eccentricity
Pat Kight
Black cohosh is an herb used widely in parts of Europe to treat hot
flashes and some other symptoms. It's starting to be used in the US as
well (again - it was one of the herbs in Lydia Pinkham's Compound, a
popular "female remedy" of the turn of the *last* century).
You can read about it at http://www.tnp.com/encyclopedia/substance/22/
(The Natural Pharmacist is a pretty good place to look up herbs,
supplements and other "alternative" treatments. I like the fact that
they report on whether there's scientific evidence to support a given
product's use.)
Some women do very well with herbs and supplements. Some do very well
with pharmaceutical HRT. And some of us are doing fine without taking
much of anything. Read up, take into account your own potential risks
and benefits, and make your own decisions. You have plenty of time to
decide how you want to approach this stage of your life.
--Pat Kight
kig...@peak.org
Romise1
about aspartame poisoning and they listed some of the symtoms, that sound a lot
like menopause symtoms, ha! Oh boy, I guess we just live in a toxic world.
Yes, with the libido thing, I too, have some of the physical, being tired,
headaches, and just feeling out of it I guess. That doesn't make for a good of
feeling romantic, ha! I'll keep on truckin and keep in touch here at this great
newsgroup. Feel free to email me, also, if you have any other links or helpful
info. I need all the help I can get. Kimmie
Pat Kight
>
> >From: Pat Kight kig...@peak.org
> >Date: 2/10/02 7:05 PM Pacific Standard Time
>
> >*huckle*
>
> Always wanted to huckle ;-D
No fair heckling the blind, Sharon. (-;
(My "computer glasses" soooooooo didn't work that I took them back in
and had them replace the lenses; instead of "computer and reading," I'm
just getting straight computer-distance lenses; I'll use the "distance
and reading" progressives for everything else. So I'm literally typing
blind here until I get them back tomorrow!)
--Pat
kig...@peak.org
Catherine G.
> Frankenmel wrote:
> >
> > >From: Pat Kight kig...@peak.org
> > >Date: 2/10/02 7:05 PM Pacific Standard Time
> >
> > >*huckle*
> >
> > Always wanted to huckle ;-D
>
> No fair heckling the blind, Sharon. (-;
>
huckling? ;-)
Catherine G.
Ruth J
heart palpitations, but everything else you describe sounds like
peri-menopause, or premenopause to me. Menopause "officially" is when
you have not had any periods for over a year, but several of us on this
group (I jokingly started a thread called "class of 2001 redux" went 8,
9, 10 or 11 months without a period and then suddenly started having
them again. If no one has yet pointed you to them, you might want to
check out two web sites put together by two long-time posters to this
group:
http://menopause.tripod.com/ (the "Land o'Links") and
http://www.oxford.net/~tishy/beyond.html
--
"Do not take shortcuts at the cost of clarity."
THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE, Strunk & White,
The Macmillan Company (c) 1959, p. 67. Further:
"is enclosed within the quotation marks." Ibid. p. 30