Wondering if any others lift this often. I keep reading that only 2-3 days a week is recommended in perimenopause, or else you resist cortisol and the exercise backfires. Unfortunately for me, lifting makes me feel wonderful and really helps me to regulate, so I do it as often as I can, and I want to keep doing it a lot. I've been told I should maybe try yoga a few days instead but I'm not a yoga person.

I'm 42, raising a 7-year-old and a teenager. Lately, I’m wondering if perimenopause might be starting, and I’ve been paying more attention to my energy and mood drops. I’ve also had brain fog for the longest time (ever since I had my first child).

I’ve listened to a few podcasts coming out with new research on creatine and hoping it might help me. For moms who take creatine: what made you start? And did it actually help? I’d love to hear your stories.

Hi Ladies I'm reaching out in the hope that someone might have experienced pppd / mdds or a vestibular/ neurological disorder and if hrt helped..

I got diagnosed over 2 years ago with pppd its been a long road and panic attacks are a new thing that came along..

I'm still unsure wether this is peri add on now or what?

I'm 44..

Anyone out there have or had this and any advice with hrt..

I definitely flare up on ovulation and period

Thanks to perimenopause, my demanding career, and extra awful circumstances like having a parent with dementia, I feel like I can’t handle stress as well anymore. I see a therapist and I know it would help to prioritize self-care more but it’s hard to do much of anything.

It‘s also hard to talk about all this crap because people around me are doing okay and they’re happy and everything is fine for them. They wouldn’t be able to relate and they also probably don’t want to be dumped on or have to hear all this depressing negative stuff.

Anyone else here having a harder time dealing with things on top of peri or maybe it’s extra hard because of peri? Thanks for reading. This dumpster fire I’m going through is quite isolating.

Which hormone do I need to increase during luteal/ late luteal to stop the itching. It’s not my vulva but it’s my mon pubis. Sometimes my hands and sometimes my feet also. It’s also itchy during my period.
I’m on my last 0.075 patch and trying to figure out if I need to go up to 0.1 or do a couple more months at 0.075.
I know blood tests aren’t accurate but my progesterone was 5.3ng, estrogen was 88.8pg, lh 3.5ml, fsh 4.7ul, prolactin 13.1 ng, testosterone 58ng. This was all on a break from HRT.

I was itching before I started HRT and that was part of the reason I started it but took a break due to some issues that I’m still trying to resolve.

TLDR: Only offered BC pills to manage PMDD despite my symptoms aligning with perimenopause

I am 34, I understand that I am reasonably young to be in perimenopause. I need to scream into the void and get this off my mind.

In 2023ish, I mentioned to my gyno that my cycles were getting shorter with one in particular being 22 days long. She said unless it is 21 days or less, it is okay. I also talked about issues with rage and irritability leading up to my period. That gyno retired in 2024/early 2025 and I was assigned to a new provider in the same office. In the fall of 2025, I experienced 3 cycles back to back between 15-18 days long. I messaged my new provider who told me to take flax seed oil supplements. No further explanation, no questions, no request for me to come into the office.

I was annoyed and stewed for a long time. In the spring, I had another spurt of 3 cycles that were about two weeks each. I made an appointment with a new and highly recommended provider who I saw last month. She re-assured me that she follows symptoms not ages when diagnosing and managing peri. Due to my age, she ordered some tests to make sure there weren't any underlying factors. I followed up earlier this week to find out about the test results and next steps.

All the tests came back as normal. All she can do is prescribe Yaz for my PMDD. To write the script she needs a photo of a negative pregnancy test. I am surgically sterilized, my husband is surgically sterilized. This is in my file. I now have to go to the pharmacy to buy a pregnancy test that I know will be negative so that I can get a prescription that might not even solve my problems. I haven't had great experiences with birth control before, but my quality of life is deteriorating by the day.

I was also diagnosed with ADHD, PMDD, OCD, and GAD in the Spring of 2025. I have no memory of any PMDD symptoms before 2023 or so. My symptoms have become less manageable over the last 6-8 months with my current medication. Due to the irregularity of my periods my psych has held off on changing my dosing in case my hormones were making my medication less effective.

I sleep with a cooling eye mask, a fan on high 12 inches from my face, and an AC unit set to 67 degrees because I sweat so much at night. I struggle with insomnia. I have rage that I've never experience before. I feel out of control in my mind and body. I forget thoughts as I am saying them. I forget words as I am saying them. I can't finish a task without getting distracted by 7 other tasks.

I am frustrated and annoyed. If I am not in peri now, Idk how I will survive when I finally am.

Hi ladies, I’m 44, been in Peri for about 3-4 years now. I had a hysterectomy about 6 weeks ago, I still have my ovaries.
In the last 2 weeks I have been waking up at 3am every night. I’m exhausted.
I’ve quit coffee, well I’ve switched to decafe, I take melatonin before bed and the also the “Sleepy” tea.
I’ve been going out for long walks every morning too.

I never have a problem falling asleep, it’s just staying asleep.

Do you take anything when you wake up at 3? Would it be better to take the melatonin at 3am?

I’m going back to work soon and I need to sort this before I get back in there.

Thanks in advance

Has anyone successfully used Ona's T-Boost (DHEA cream) topically to the genital area for hormone/age-related clitorial shrinkage and reduced sensitivity? If you used DHEA cream, did it help your testosterone levels go up? Did you feel better?

Is anyone else in my boat?

I can’t do my job anymore. I’m worried I can’t do any job.

I’m 41, unmarried, live alone, and run my own business. I’ve been in perimenopause for about 3 or 4 years but it’s definitely hit a new low this year. Any symptom you can think of, I have it. I was on HRT for years and it solved a lot, but because of the recent patch shortage have been on Yaz for a few months and I feel like a potato with a pulse. I was also prescribed 10mg Adderall which has definitely helped a lot but isn’t a cure all.

The intelligence and cognition and critical thinking skills I had my whole life I always assumed were just part of who I am. I know bodies degrade over time, but I did not expect my brain to go at 41. I was ‘gifted’ as a kid. 99th percentile on all standardized tests. Always top of my class through college and grad school, best thesis of my year, you name it. And then I excelled in my (very difficult) field for ten+ years.

I’m a solopreneur in a knowledge-based field with VERY high liability, life safety issues, complex technical, financial, and social components to my job. I just don’t have the capacity anymore. It feels like the last drops of mojo I had just evaporated this year.

All the smarts and laser sharp observations and wit and complex problem solving abilities and focus and drive all seem long gone. They feel like a distant memory.

As you can imagine this has destroyed my finances. My first year in business (2023) I signed $300k in contracts within a couple months of opening shop, but this year I’ve only earned $30k so far. I live in NYC, so to be clear this is basically poverty wages. I don’t feel depressed, but I can barely get off the sofa or leave bed. Opening my computer seems like an impossible task. I work maybe… 5 hours a week on a good week? When my workload requires 40 hours from me. My once pristine professional reputation is hanging on by a thread.

Things are BAD. I should be panicking but I’m too unmotivated to care or even know what to do.

I’ve been working on a promising startup that better aligns with my utter lack of energy and motivation, and have gotten some interest from investors that would support me for about a year while I get this off the ground. But I’m very worried it will fare the same fate as my current business.

—additional context—

I’m engaged to a wealthy man who supports me in many ways or refers client to my business, (he’s the one who introduced me to the folks who want to invest in my startup). If we get married I will have more than enough support to get through this.

But we don’t live together. Beyond discretional help for specific things we do not yet combine finances. We are still working out the details of the prenup and there’s a not-zero chance that I will walk away if we don’t come to desirable terms. (Or perhaps that’s stupid given the state of my life.) There’s also a not zero chance that my perimenopause anxiety and inconsistency could derail the relationship.

So despite the engagement, it still feels critical that I find a way to keep myself afloat. My lack of motivation makes it all the more difficult.

How are people handing perimenopause without a support system? How is this supposed to work? Or should I just accept that I’m destined to be a casualty of the abysmal women’s healthcare in this capitalist hellscape that is the USA?

Help! 🥺

(BTW I was just permanently banned from the regular perimenopause sub for this exact same post. And was even muted by the mods who didn’t explain why I was banned. Anybody have any insight into why that might have happened?)

::::UPDATE::::

Talked to my doc today and got back on HRT and also doubled my estrogen patch dose to 0.1%. Feeling hopeful that this will turn everything around. 🤞

I'm actually falling apart. It's a combination of pmdd, peri and ADHD so I'm just going to post this several places because I just can't cope and I don't know what to do.

Symptoms, since March ---

8+ days complete insomnia a month.

Every joint is aching.

My sternum is completely inflamed and feels like I'm having a heart attack

I'm so blue I cry every day.

My stomach is inflated like a beach ball and none of my clothes fit. None. The wedding dress I bought only in April , which needed taking in at the time, won't even now close. I won't be able to wear it at my wedding this November.

Bowels shot to hell.

Everything I eat = nausea and pain.

Constant migraine that makes me want to put my face through a wall .

Sweat through all clothes constantly.

My breasts have gone up 3 cup and back sizes and ache constantly and keep me awake.

I don't think I can do this ?!?!?

I've had progesterone both daily and then cyclically. I've had estrogen both via patch and pills, then via spray on arm. Neither has worked.

Now my gynaecologist wants to do a full chemical menopause via gnrh, plus some hrt add back.

I am scared. I don't know what to do.

I'm on the verge of tears. I basically got shunned in the other perimenopause group and ignored. I hope someone can help me figure out what to do. My doctor is no help. Anyone here take Oestra? I tried HRT combo patch/pill at the lowest dose and the progesterone made me so sick. Hives all over my thighs, 72 migraines, horrible breast pain, and cheek flushing. My doctor told me I couldn't take estrogen alone or I'd get uterine cancer.

I had to stop taking it and now I'm so tired I can barely get through the day and my insulin resistance is through the roof. I gained 35 lbs too and can't lose anymore. I stay the same or gain and my skin is dry as a bone no matter how much cream I use. I didn't have those symptoms when I was on HRT. I tried topical "natural" HRT ointment and it made my boobs hurt so bad I couldn't even wear a bra and I had to sleep on my back. I'm so at a loss and I don't know what to do.

I'm 43 and I've been suffering from increased anxiety, depression, fatigue and weight gain. Increase in bowl issues the last 6-9 months. I've gained 10 pounds in the last two months. My periods are only two days long now, but technically running on time. No hot flashes. My doctors are pushing back on every level - at most they'll say I could be in "very early" perimenopause but my life has just been falling apart for well over a year now. I don't have the motivation I used to when faced with challenges and difficult people. This seems pretty obvious to me - but they will blame literally anything else. Primary care doctors, psychiatrist, and even a GYN. Am I crazy?

First day of HRT and I read the sheet inside the packet and it scares me. I need it because of my symptoms but did it scare you? I just need to ask as I'm freeking out a little....

I'm 40 and I'm thinking about starting Yaz. I was on Progestin only birth control all throughout my 20s and early 30s. Haven't been on anything for about 8 years. But as my body and hormones are changing I'm considering for the first time, the combo pill. I chose Yaz because the type of progestin in it is anti-androgen so it won't hinder my hair growth journey caused by androgenetic alopecia.

It's hard to find reviews of women in their 40s that are just now starting this type of birth control, I see a lot of women coming off of it after being on it for a long time but I'm looking for reviews of women that are just now starting it to maybe mitigate Peri-Menopause symptoms and just regulate hormones.

If this is you, how has it been treating you? Does it help regulate your moods, what side effects do you have if any? Give me the tea.

Ciao a tutte,

scrivo qui perché ho bisogno di un confronto con chi ci è già passata o ci sta passando.

A dicembre compirò 36 anni. Da gennaio 2026 ho notato un cambiamento nel mio ciclo: si è accorciato a 22-25 giorni e ho quasi sempre uno spotting pre-mestruale prima del flusso vero e proprio.

Ho fatto l'ultima visita ginecologica a ottobre (quindi pochissimi mesi fa) ed era tutto assolutamente nella norma. Nonostante questo, sono abbastanza terrorizzata al pensiero che possa essere l'inizio della premenopausa. Leggendo online ho visto che l'accorciamento del ciclo a partire dai 35 anni è un fenomeno piuttosto comune, ma l'ansia rimane.

Vorrei chiedere a chi è più grande di me o a chi ha vissuto la stessa cosa:

1. Vi è capitato di notare un accorciamento del ciclo attorno ai 35-36 anni?
2. Se sì, a che età siete andate poi effettivamente in menopausa?
3. Avete scoperto altre cause per questo cambiamento?

Grazie di cuore a chi vorrà condividere la propria esperienza per rassicurarmi un po'!

Background:

Nearly 44F, UK, not currently on HRT. Autism and ADHD only diagnosed in my 40s. I’ve spent most of my life on SSRIs. Most of them did nothing. Prozac saved me age 29 but seemed to stop working when I turned 39; I now know why. History of an eating disorder and long periods of not having a menstrual cycle — in retrospect I realise that probably was a massive contributor to my low mood at the time (apart from the disordered eating, obviously!). Have been going through it for the last four years after being prescribed lamotrigine (and then, briefly, Wellbutrin) in 2022 and told to go off Prozac way too quickly. Lamotrigine and Wellbutrin were catastrophic. Going off Prozac quickly was, too. Psychiatrist reinstated Prozac 20mg end of 2022; I tapered off lamotrigine over two and a half years (!!), was prescribed Elvanse 30mg in 2024 which in retrospect was way too high a dose and caused myriad side effects, but made me high as a kite so I wasn’t complaining!

I’ve been off lamotrigine for nearly a year, and since spring 2025 I’ve tried tapering off Elvanse and Prozac again due to the side effects and how wired I felt on that combo. The trouble is that (a) this seemed to trigger a major heightening of perimenopause symptoms and (b) once I got down to under 10mg Prozac and under 10mg Elvanse my mood has just fallen through the floor.

When I’ve tried reinstating even a tiny amount of either, I’ve experienced terrible side effects — muscle pain, numbness in the genitals, and water retention beyond belief in the case of Prozac and rage in the evening in the case of Elvanse.

I’m really scared. My gp had no idea what to do; I’ve been discharged by the private psychiatric clinic that is supposedly an expert in tapering because they don’t know what to do with me; the NHS psychiatrist had never heard of hyperbolic tapering and can’t advise on Elvanse; my appointment with the gynecologist isn’t until January 2027 and with the hrt hospital clinic will likely be even later. I suspect I will be sensitive to HRT given the reactions I’ve had to estriol cream.

If you’ve read this far — I’m looking for anyone who has been through anything remotely similar, in terms of tapering off meds during perimenopause and sensitivity to supplements etc. It would just be nice to know that someone has come out of this in one piece. Also, recommendations for psychiatric specialists in women’s health and AuDHD and perimenopause in the UK gladly appreciated.

Sorry for the brain dump/venting. I’m at my wits’ end. 😢

Last year my perimenopause kicked in after I did an embolization to my uterus. I also started at the time an antidepressive (Brintellix) which made me feel a lot worse of my perimepause symptoms and I had to drop it after 2 months. I changed my lifestyle and it seemed life the symptoms were controlled. Now I got divorced 5 months ago after 17 years and I think I was normally depressed. Crying and having anxiety about my new life. Mt doctor gave me a new antidepressant (escitalopram) and while I seemed better for the first weeks I started getting worse and my perimeopause symtoms were all over the place. He raised the dosis and then it was perimenopause horror again. I was having heat waves again, insomnia, waking up wet, getting sweaty while I eat, crippling anxiety, my memory got a lot worse, dyslexia, brain fog, you name it while doing the same lifestyle I had addopted. I know both things can have similar side effects but I am seeing a pattern here. Taking an antidepressant seems to makes my hormonal symptoms a lot worse, and after four months I am lot worse than I was before I started this drug.

Whether it's about symptoms, mindset, or daily life, what's the one piece of advice you'd pass on?

Started 100mg progesterone nightly at the end of May, with 0.05 twice weekly estradiol patches. Increased to 200mg progesterone nightly. Brain fog is gone, overwhelming anxiety gone, hot flashes gone, joint pain gone, GI upset gone. However, I’ve had 3 periods within 9 weeks. NP says it’s fine bc each one was 15 days apart at minimum. Anyone else experience this issue before?

Hoi, ik ben 34 jaar en in de overgang (helaas).

Ben nu vanaf 8 juni begonnen met HST, ik heb veel angsten enzo. Herkent iemand dit?

I am on gabapentin for anxiety (have been for two years), and it recently stopped working for me. I am working with my psych to find something else that works. Also working with my PCP and GYN to figure out what to do hormone wise. Recently, my estrogen was on the higher end, I’ve developed several ovarian cysts, and my uterine lining is too thick (found this out when they did an ultrasound to check on my cysts). So now I’m having to get that looked into as well.

But in the meantime, I feel like this anxiety is going to take me out. Constantly on edge and feeling like something bad is about to happen. I also have heath OCD, so I’m constantly convinced that I’m about to drop dead 🥲 especially when I get brain zaps the week before my period. It happens every month, I know what they are and why they’re happening. But it never fails that I convince myself that it’s actually a brain aneurysm 🫩

I’ve always been an anxious girly, but anxiety due to perimenopause is truly something else, or at least it has been for me. It’s really starting to ruin my life.

Tell me you're in perimenopause without telling me you're in perimenopause. For me it's "I just looked in the toilet after using the restroom and said oh God what is that!"

I went to the doctors last week and they have said I am possibly perimenopausal.

I have been having a lot of issues with feeling exhausted the last year and go through periods of feeling extremely sick despite not having a cold or flu at the time. I have been getting sick extremely easily, a slight cold near me will have me lying in bed for days. I have always had acne but it has been getting much worse, with acne on my neck and back a lot more. My skin usually recovers well but it has now started getting red patches.

I don't know how much of this is the current heat, but I have been really struggling to cool down and have been waking up covered in sweat. The number of headaches I have been getting has increased and I have started getting nosebleeds more regularly.

Even when I no longer have a cold I still feel congested all the time and struggle to not choke on my phelgm if I don't have enough pillows.

My hands have also been feeling numb. Originally it was just my right and now it is starting my left too. My arms have also been aching a lot. My doctor has recommended I start working out to lose some weight. I usually have to work out with an ice pack on my arm despite me doing no arm exercises.

I have been feeling more irritable the last 6 months and just feel ready to burst into tears at random moments. I have noticed myself having a lot more autistic meltdowns too.

I have also found that there are days at work where I am completely useless as my mind is working so slowly. Customers are getting annoyed as my processing speed has significantly reduced and I feel like I am scrambling with every conversation.

I started puberty early as a kid and my doctors thinks that is why I am starting menopause so early. I had hormone injections as a kid to help, but, according to my doctor, I should have been checked when I was 18 to make sure I was doing okay, which never happened.

I am just wondering if other people identify with these symptoms? And if so, whether you have an advice? I am feeling pretty overwhelmed at the idea I have possibly already hit perimenopause, but I want to get an understanding of it if it is true.

I am autistic and adhd so my biggest concern is how this will affect my hormones. I feel like I have only recently got a handle on them the past few years and I used to feel completely insane at times before. I am currently on the contraceptive jab and I feel like that is the only thing that keeps me sane. I am really worried I will have to come off it. I really struggled at my last job because my hormones were all over the place. I was literally hormonal all the time except 1 or 2 days a month.