First, let’s define each. Perimenopause as defined by John’s Hopkin’s medical site, states that “perimenopause is the transitional time around menopause. Menopause is when a woman’s periods stop. It’s marked by changes in the menstrual cycle, along with other physical and emotional symptoms. This time can last 2 to 10 years.”
So what does that look like for most women?
It can vary widely. Each woman experiences these hormonal changes uniquely in their own way, and in their own time frame. I think of perimenopause as the years that are getting close to menopause, when we can start to have some symptoms, even though periods are still occurring and menopause could be 1-5 or more years off.
That’s pretty vague, right?
Unfortunately it can be a time that is short or long, and when you can have skipped periods that happen for a few months, or even 6 months, and then your period starts again. I always tell my patients that in perimenopause anything goes!
Menopause is diagnosed when three stars line up. We look for a year of no periods, an FSH (follicale stimulating hormone) level over 25 and low to completely deficient estrogen levels. If you just have one or two of these, you’re getting closer, but not there yet!
The symptoms leading up to menopause, during perimenopause, are hot flashes, night sweats, weight gain, mood changes, anxiety, depression….just to name a few. Some women have these symptoms for the few years leading up to menopause, while others get a crash landing effect and have them all come on once menopause fully sets in.
The ideal is to find a practitioner who can help you during perimenopause so that when menopause fully arrives you’ll have a more buffered, soft landing.
This can be accomplished with doing some bioidentical hormone replacement during the perimenopause phase, and then keeping an eye on symptoms and lab levels to see when we have fully hit menopause.
