Women: Is there a honeymoon period during the beginning of menopause?

Every woman is different, so no two will have the exact same combo plate of symptoms, good or bad. lol

I am 3 years out of the last cycle as of this October and I have opted out on any HRT therapy.

My experience was one of increased sexuality for several years, ( natures way of hoping to squeeze one last offspring out of the old ovaries. lol )

Irregular cycles going from a period every 2 weeks to every other month, to intervals of 3–4 months for about a year, then….done!

I still have hot flashes but not as frequently as during the peri-menopausal phases that lasted about 6 years for me.

I have not experienced depression which my doc tried to tell me I would without HRT.
(I resented that! Really, and you KNOW this for SURE! haha )

Actually just this year I have felt my age creeping up more with body aches and more random and bizarre little physical anomalies, like my elbow hurting for no reason and some short term memory loss. haha

So far, so good, and I have no regrets about letting things unfold naturally.

I don’t believe so. Why do you think you are in menopause? How long since your last period?

Three months so far and I’ve had two years of irregular cycle and sleep. The last few months where getting lighter and fewer between. Since June I’ve had nothing. Cramping a few times but other than that, not one other thing. I asked my doctor and he said it probably was starting since I am 50. Which happens to be the regular time most of my other female family members went through it as well. I know my grandmother on my dad’s side didn’t have any problems as well but she’s not around. A few of my aunts had to have surgery for other problems and went into menopause early. But the rest are just too old to remember everything.

@Coloma is right, it’s different for every woman, both the bleeding pattern leading up to menopause and the types of symptoms women notice.

Most women will have some hot flashes and night sweats – some women have so many it dominates their life for awhile and I’ve had a few patients who weren’t completely sure they ever had any.

Perimenopausal women are a bit more prone to PMS mood changes, probably because of the more extreme hormone fluctuations. They tend to feel much more serene as the hormones level off with menopause.

I have never taken any type of HRT either @Coloma. I had the same acute increased sex drive in the perimenopauseal stage as well. Three years into full fledged menapause now. At first, I had night sweats but only my head and scalp area. It wasn’t every night and I still get a hot flash every now and then.

I’ve never had blotchy skin, but I did get a few pimples. At first, I did experience weight gain, total exhaustion, memory loss, chest pains…I thought I was going to die to be honest, until I realized it was menopause.

My energy level is increasing, thus; the weight has come off. I do get spells of moodiness and the blues, but I exercise through it and sometimes cry myself through it too. My Mother had a stroke in her late-50s and had experienced some memory loss. Before she died, I asked her about menopause, said she couldn’t remember her experience with menopause either. She raised 8 children. It’s a miracle she remembered anything.

It doesn’t seem like that long since your last period, @Pandora, to say you are out of the woods completely. But it does hit each woman differently. Only time will tell. Best wishes though.

@bkcunningham

I have read a lot on “post menopausal ZEST!” I dunno…I wouldn’t say I am feeling zesty, at all. lololol

Every woman really is different. I had horrible problems from fibroid tumors in the years leading up to menopause so the relatively minor inconveniences – for me – of hot flashes were comparatively easy. Other than those, i have remained pretty much myself in all other respects post-menopause.

@Pandora You are not considered to be in menopause until you have gone for a year without a period. It sounds like you are perimenopausal.

Im in peri or as my doc says ” circling the drain”; what bothers me is the “poochiness” below my belly button i NEVER had….i have a great core from sports and gym and this little bump has got to go!

Okay. Well, center the anger and frustration you may or may not experience in the next ten years on that little pooch. Center it and “circle the drain” for as long as you are able until you explode with all the pent up anger and hormonal inbalance takes you straight down the drain to full blown menopausal hell. Then you will become religous and curse God and your mother and Eve and every other person you can think of to blame…help me out here…@Colomo.

Hahaha,,,, :-D

I can’t, I am laughing too hard.
I divorced my ex a few years ahead of time, so, I think my transition was very peaceful and mostly uneventful. lol

I do still find tampons and pads in old purses and luggage! haha

I stopped having periods quite some time ago and for many years nothing about me seemed to change. Now I am 66 and I do have hot flashes, I was never a good sleeper and still am not so that is not too much different. The main change I see is that my skin doesn’t fit very well anymore. And I too have blubber on my belly that I never had before despite the fact that my bmi is in the lowest part of healthy weight and I weigh less than I did in my 30’s.

So it will probably catch up with you in some way at some point. But then again, Jane Fonda seems to have avoided any of the physical changes!

54 here, last period at 50…. I guess I may have had a brief honeymoon, in that I had 6–8 months w/no more nuisance spotting, before my knee started hurting:-/
I had already been having some hot flashes, which I still get, but they’re not too bad; nothing I would bother taking HRT for, even if it hadn’t been advised against. My skin has changed, the elasticity is going… sort of like an old stretched-out sock, lol. And my small amount of excess weight(I loves me my sweets!) has relocated to my waistline. Like @rooeytoo I was already waking up at night, so nothing new there.
I will say that I used to be prone to depression, and since the hormones have gone, that has almost ceased being an issue.

@ccrow

” sort of like an old stretched out sock ” lol

My “sock” is stretched pretty tight, over my now, more “well rounded,” post menopausal figure.

@rooeytoo

More than likely Jane Fonda has had some “help” from a stable of plastic surgeons.

I saw a pic of Kirstie Alley the other day, her latest weight loss, she looks rather scary, you can tell she’s desperate to hold on to her looks. Obviously she has undergone some major alterations.

I think it’s sad how so many women cannot just accept their aging process gracefully.