Symptoms of Menopause Onset?

my periods did become more erratic, but for me the first real sign was the hot flashes. for about a year i groused at my poor dh for faffing about with the thermostat. he never fibs so why didn't i take his word for it?
i was in my early 40s. so not okay.
:P khairete
S.

It might be peri menopause - the long drawn out years where you have decreasing predictability of periods.
I was sure once I had my first hot flash.
It was at least 10 years from my first hot flash to full menopause.
Periods can be messed up by lots of things besides pregnancy.
Your doctor will help you figure it out.

morning, yes, delayed periods and then longer ones and sometimes shorter.. It's the hormones fluctuating...While I don't have Fibromyalgia, I realize now that many symptoms of perimenopause can mimic it, such as tiredness, fatigue, aching body... etc... You won't know for sure, although you can kinda guess if you are perimenoupausal unless you get a hormone test. Additionally, it's true that STRESS will throw your body, but so does the dropping of Estrogen (if you are perimenopausal) and that's because Estrogen is what controls our cortisol levels (the stress hormone) and as the Estrogen drops, the cortisol, not being as controlled can run amuck in our bodies and make whatever stress we are under (like holidays, school) much worse.. Additionally, you can still have a period WITHOUT an egg release, those are anovulatory cycles and as you age, you will have more and more of those. Hence, without the ovulation and thereafter, without the increase in progesterone, you can become as they say, estrogen dominant, in which case, or as in my case, I began to have fibroids. Moreover, with Estrogen dominance, again, it can mimic Firbromyalgia, which women are often diagnosed as having, when in fact, they don't have that, it's the hormones playing tricks on us (that isn't to say you don't have it) but rather to say that it can make fibromyalgia worse or at least seem worse. (check out Estrogen dominance in the body) lots of info on the net..
Once you get some blood work done, then you can know better where you stand, and with that, begin to educate yourself more about hormones. It's been my experience, that most doctors try and medicate, rather than educate.. much of what I learned about my body and hormones has been through my own research. I went this route because doctors weren't helpful. They's suggest surgery for the fibroids and or HRPT... I like to thoroughly understand my body before taking any medication.. Many doctors will only spend 15 minutes with you and that's it.. However, thankfully there are many groups/literature out there that explain hormones.. once you get your results, I would do research from there..
whatever you do, good luck !!

My bleeding got much heavier each month and then all of a sudden it just stopped. Other symptoms included: hot flashes, sweating, irritability, heart palpitations and tachycardia (I would be woken up in the middle of the night by my heart suddenly racing at like 180 beats per minute, and it wouldn't stop for maybe an hour?), anxiety, irrational thinking, occasional bouts of losing it, and I can't recall what else. In short, it was more grueling than I thought it would be. Synthetic hormones took care of most of the problems.

Thanks for updating with your age :)

It's not unheard of to start peri-menopause at 41, but that is pretty young. If you aren't taking birth control pills (chemical birth control), then consider asking for your hormone levels to be tested. That's a blood test. It will give the doctor a benchmark.

My doctor told me that I could be on birth contorl pills until I went into menopause. It probably really helped me because my symptoms were pretty severe. To find out what my actual hormone level was, I had to be off the pill for 6 months. I had been going through peri-menopause for about 5 years by the time I went off the pills, (at 50.)

You still have to use birth control until you have been without a period for 12 months straight. You are a long ways from that, I'm pretty sure. So make sure you stick with the birth control method. I would buy a bunch of pregnancy sticks and if you are late, take a pregnancy test.

Good luck with the symptoms. Night sweats and hot flashes were the bain of my existence until I started HRT (which you are years away from.) I waited for a long time to start it.

I always, from my youth had irregular periods, cramping, different amounts of flow from month to month, mood swings. Only way I knew I was entering menopause was with a blood test that showed reduced hormone levels. I never had hot flashes until after I was finished with menopause according to blood tests. I now have night sweats at 72. I'm going to see my doctor about those because they can be symptomatic of other conditions.

Not sure. Anything is possible, I suppose. I'm 47 and am not in even peri-menopause. I still take bc pills and have a period every 4th week. I did go through a phase in my earlier 40s (like 43-44ish?) when I did more sweating at night or in the early morning hours (5-6 a.m.). I'd wake up drenched.

I had routine physical and blood work done 2 summers ago and was told my Vit D levels were a little on the low side and recommended to add a VitD supplement. Something like 5,000 IU daily. I tend to take 3,000 IU on days I don't get out in the sun for a good bit (daily during the overcast days of winter). I haven't had any night sweats since then, that I recall off hand. Interestingly enough, I read somewhere a few months back that low Vit D levels can contribute to night sweats. I don't know if it's true. But if that is one of your symptoms, having a full work up can't hurt to see what's what. It might not be early menopause but some other thing going on that is age related.

Lots of women have thyroid issues starting in their 40s. Apparently lots of people also have low Vit D.

I certainly would not expect the answer to be pre-menopause. But is it *possible*? yes.

As someone who has been diagnosed with early menopause at age 36, I can tell you that my periods were all over the place for years prior. I'd have long cycles, then short ones. One day, the periods just stopped altogether and the hot flashes came with a vengeance. Once I got on hormone replacement therapy, all is well. I still don't ovulate, but my medication makes my body think it's still producing hormones.
If you still have a period, you are not going through menopause. You might be experiencing perimenopause, which is different. That can cause your cycles to be long or short. You aren't in menopause, but things are beginning to wind down. You can be in perimenopause for years.

Lots of things can be symptoms of pre-menopause and more. When I first started we had exceptional insurance and my OB/GYN put me on a birth control pill to prolong me having periods.To set it back some. I took them for a year or so. But I got tired of it and just went through it all. I don't do anything special at all.

I bled for months and months on end. One time I know I bled every day for well over a year. I thought about going back to that doc and doing the whole medication thing but I just didn't.