Perimenopause at the age of 37?

Question

Am I going through perimenopause? 
My body has changed since giving birth to my son 3 years ago. My skin is horrible so itchy, always in a bad mood, dry skin, so many mental issues, dizziness eveytime so many other things I can name 😔 my period has always been irregular but I noticed that lately they have been very light, extremely light

Answer

Absolutely possible, and hella more common than most people - even most ob/gyn's - believe.                             10/10 recommend that you head over to Reddit and join the /menopause & /perimenopause subs. I find the menopause sub to be more helpful overall - there is a wealth of info and resources on their wiki, and the ladies are very supportive, if occasionally also very frustrated with modern medicine. Story Time! Personally, I'm 43 & still cycling, and definitely in peri.               At 41, I'd been dealing with weird periods (shorter and shorter cycles, I'd dropped from 26 to 28 days per cycle down to 18 to 21 days, and had a few 17 day cycles) for a year when I finally sought treatment for that and a buch of other things that I'd figured out were probably perimenopause symptoms. These included more and more night sweats (I'd had cyclical night sweats since 35, an earlywarningsign per my GYN); zero patience with anyone; my ADHD meds weren't working the way they normally did; brain fog was constant; I was losing my vocabulary; libido was less than zero; orgasms were harder and harder to achieve and were kinda...not there? When i did manage one, it would just peter out instead of being orgasmic. Hubs was and is supportive of whatever I needed to reach orgasm, but my clit just wasn't working; clitoral shrinkage (that was subtle at first, until it wasn't. Terrifying, I assure you); suddenly crepey skin (like, over the period of 3 months, with no lifestyle changes); sudden vision changes; dramatic and increasing joint pain (I've dealt with chronic joint pain for years, and i have a prettyhigh tolerance, but this was next level - I was worried about autoimmune arthritis); my always finicky vaginal PH was off the rails sensitive..my quality of life was decreasing. And all of those things are symptomsof peri & post menopause. It's honestly a medical travesty that there are so many symptoms that women just arent told about, because so few of the doctors that specialize in "women's health" get any training about the majority of our lives during which we can't make babies anymore.     Thankfully my GYN is pretty well educated on peri and post menopause (menopause, by definition, lasts exactly 1 day, fwiw). I came to my 1st appointment with her with a printed 2 page word doc of all the changes to my cycle and all the symptoms I'd been suffering from. She read it, asked me about my cycles and symptoms from a few years prior, and told me that she believed I'd entered perimenopause no later than 37, but was showing early symptoms at 35. She started me on low dose repurposed birth control (several reasons) and it has been an immense improvement, although not perfect. I'm also on topical testosterone, and am going to ask about topical vaginal estrogen at my next appointment (Google "Genitourinary Symptoms of Menopause", which will absolutely start during perimenopause for loads of women. The easiest and best preventative measure is vaginal estrogen, and nearly all.women, including cancer survivors & those with a higher risk of cancer, are safe to use it. Trust me, you'll want the vaginal estrogen.). I'm probably also going to look into switching to an estrogen patch and oral progesterone, as the progestins (synthetic cousins to progesterone) that are in birth control often suppress sex drive. Good luck! You're not alone!

Answer

You’d need blood work but it’s very possible

Answer

Get your labs checked. I went to get blood work to see if i was going through it.

Answer

This is me!! I had my last child 4years ago and been out of whack sinc. Worse this year. Had hormone bloods but normal? I spot between periods. They are heavier. Last longer but cycle shorterto 22/23 days. Called.my dr this morn as its getting me down. X

Answer

Very likely. I started at 35.

Perimenopause at the age of 37?

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