Is this perimenopause or something else (women only, please)?

it is possible that you have a hormonal imbalance, and you should see a Dr, sooner rather than later.

Why sooner rather than later?

Yes, it IS a sign of hormonal imbalance bordering on perimenopause.

Go see your doctor and get your hormone levels checked. There’s a decent chance that it’s simply a sign of perimenopause but you need to be sure.

It does sound hormone related, as you have already concluded. Why not visit your doctor and get yourself checked out. Also doing some research on the menopause before you go will help you understand what is being said, and help you with decision making. You wouldn’t need to make a decision straight away though so don’t feel pressured into anything during the consultation. WebMD is a good site if you are in the USA.

I’m 48 and I, too, am going through the first stages. Runs in my family to go through it early- ish. Mine stay sore now much longer and I’m going to finally break down and see my doctor about some sort of solution. I haven’t had this much trouble with my cycle since my teens. I’m also getting the odd hot flash.

I’m only 40 though, isn’t that too soon for preimenopause, I remember going to the Dr about this about 5 months ago and she said, Oh don’t worry I’d expect it at your age?’ what!
Going again today.

It depends on if you’ve had kids. Not having a pregnancy can mean it starts early, in some cases. For me, I know my family has a track record for it starting early. I had one pregnancy to term. I have a sister who had none and she got it early with all sorts of problems. My mom had 9 kids and she still had a long, problematic and early-ish onset of it.

I had a child at 36 – would love another one. I figured since it was like clock-wise, every 12 days after my period I ws getting sensitive breasts it must have been hormones but not an imbalance, I thought i was quite lucky actually as that’s a good indicator for me when I’m ovulating!

But will go get it checked, I have had thryoid checked last year and it was fine, is that what they will do? x

I don’t think I’m ovulating regularly anymore. My cycle actually got quite short. Now, it can vary and I can get bad cramping like I used in high school, or really sore breasts before, during and a bit after. It can last 3 days or 7 days with spotting. Completely different than what it was a year ago. So, if all you are getting is sore breast mid-cycle, it might not be as serious as you think, especially if you are ovulating. You can buy ovulation tests and find out. 40 is absolutely not too late too have another baby.

40 is not particularly young for entering perimenopause. It’s one of the reasons families sometimes had those surprise babies 15 – 20 years after their planned set. I remember my mother laughing with her friends about it 45 + years ago.

Perimenopause is surprise baby primetime.

Could be but I think people jump to quickly at thinking all hormonal changes have to do with Menopause. It could simply be that your cycle is changing because of lack of sleep, stress, illness, vitamins, working out. All those things use to affect my cycle. Also I remember reading somewhere that as women age, after the age of 35 they are more likely to have twins because your body will actually release more than one egg during ovulation. Maybe that is what is happening to you. It’s till harder to conceive but I guess the body tries to get that last ditch effort because its on it’s way to going out of business.

Went to dr – she wasn’t concerned, said it was normal and sent me on my way.

Going to get a mammogram anyway as I think I should, though she checked my breasts and said nothing felt suspicious so that’s also good!

@tan253 I was 39. Go to the doctor.

@MollyMcGuire She did go to the doctor. Dr. wasn’t concerned but she’s going to get a mammogram.

@tan253 Go back to the doctor, or better yet another one, and insist on an estrogen level test and an FSH test so you will know if you are in menopause or not. I was almost 39 when it happened and I insisted. He finally said OK. Next day he called me at work and apologized. My mother was early too. It runs in families. Glad you are having the mammo as well. Need to eliminate that possibility right away.

My doctor said to me that there is no point checking hormone levels in perimenopause because they fluctuate so much anyway so a snapshot doesn’t tell you anything.

Whoa @Stinley . I’d want another opinion if a doctor said that to me. I’d have dumped one who didn’t at least order thyroid level checks over a couple of months.

@BellaB I was talking about sex hormones, not other types of hormone. I didn’t make that clear, sorry. I had my thyroid levels checked as well as other things (they took 5 tubes of blood!) when I complained about night sweats. This was to rule out anything more sinister than the menopause. Everything was normal so the default is therefore the menopause.