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Peri-menopause symptoms & experience
Wednesday, January 10th, 2024 02:50 amI am nearly 52 years old and haven't had a period featuring significant red blood in over two years. I consider myself to be out of peri-menopause and in menopause now.
Since that last "real" period, I've had about 6 instances of minor spotting - yellowish brown or small amounts of dried blood; even a few pinkish chunks. The last instance was 3 months ago.
My hot flashes haven't bothered me. In the very beginning they were sudden pleasant strikingly warm sensations. Since then they've been like "Ho, I'm feeling warm again". So off goes the sweater (or jacket) for twenty or so minutes till I start feeling chilly again, and then I put it back on. It doesn't happen every day. That may be normal temperature fluctuations rather than hot flashes.
Night sweats are sporadic. I keep a small towel by the bed to dry myself and the sheets with when it happens. Again, this may just be from piling on too many blankets, not from menopause.
Otherwise, my sleep is fine. Except that I still don't go to bed early enough to get as much sleep as I should.
I am quite glad to be without the bloody bloody bloody freaking leaking blood. It feels very normal now to be without it. I don't even have to wear panty liners most days anymore; I used to wear them nearly every day because even if I wasn't bleeding, clear discharge could and would happen most any day of the month.
I had one (thankfully only one) instance which gave me the horrible thought that maybe I'd been freed of leaking blood only to have it be replaced by old-age urinary incontinence.
Barring that, joint problems (mostly the hands) are possibly the worst potential symptom. That started many years ago for me though, 2008 if not earlier. So again I'm not sure if it is at all related to menopause or not. The joint problems have been quite sporadic. They flare up for a while, and then get better for a long time. Lately my wrists have been fine or only mildly achy. My trigger thumb that I had last year finally got better on its own (I want to post a better update on that sometime).
The skin on my hands tends to get dry and rough, mostly during the winter. To ameliorate this, I apply a certain lotion on them (and on my lips & nose, which also get dry) before going to bed. In the last few years, the skin at the edge of my fingernails and toenails has gotten noticeably thicker and dryer. I often find myself picking at it. I use glass nail files to file away the worst spots - that works better on my fingers than my toes. The thick skin makes it harder to clip my toenails, and I hope it doesn't someday cause ingrown nails.
Sometimes, the skin around the edge of my heels gets dry and rough too, catching on my socks. Glass files work well on that.
The following symptoms I have had are more likely related to menopause, yet were more unexpected to me.
Several times, my vulva got inflamed and felt itchy and sensitive for a few weeks to a month at a time.
I also had instances (many days in a row) with a lot of clear or yellowish vaginal discharge. These tended to coincide with the inflamed vulva, though not always.
A few times, my labia felt very weird; loose and thin, floppy maybe. I'd especially notice it while using the exercise/elliptical bike, with them rubbing or flapping against each other which they don't normally do.
Since that last "real" period, I've had about 6 instances of minor spotting - yellowish brown or small amounts of dried blood; even a few pinkish chunks. The last instance was 3 months ago.
My hot flashes haven't bothered me. In the very beginning they were sudden pleasant strikingly warm sensations. Since then they've been like "Ho, I'm feeling warm again". So off goes the sweater (or jacket) for twenty or so minutes till I start feeling chilly again, and then I put it back on. It doesn't happen every day. That may be normal temperature fluctuations rather than hot flashes.
Night sweats are sporadic. I keep a small towel by the bed to dry myself and the sheets with when it happens. Again, this may just be from piling on too many blankets, not from menopause.
Otherwise, my sleep is fine. Except that I still don't go to bed early enough to get as much sleep as I should.
I am quite glad to be without the bloody bloody bloody freaking leaking blood. It feels very normal now to be without it. I don't even have to wear panty liners most days anymore; I used to wear them nearly every day because even if I wasn't bleeding, clear discharge could and would happen most any day of the month.
I had one (thankfully only one) instance which gave me the horrible thought that maybe I'd been freed of leaking blood only to have it be replaced by old-age urinary incontinence.
Barring that, joint problems (mostly the hands) are possibly the worst potential symptom. That started many years ago for me though, 2008 if not earlier. So again I'm not sure if it is at all related to menopause or not. The joint problems have been quite sporadic. They flare up for a while, and then get better for a long time. Lately my wrists have been fine or only mildly achy. My trigger thumb that I had last year finally got better on its own (I want to post a better update on that sometime).
The skin on my hands tends to get dry and rough, mostly during the winter. To ameliorate this, I apply a certain lotion on them (and on my lips & nose, which also get dry) before going to bed. In the last few years, the skin at the edge of my fingernails and toenails has gotten noticeably thicker and dryer. I often find myself picking at it. I use glass nail files to file away the worst spots - that works better on my fingers than my toes. The thick skin makes it harder to clip my toenails, and I hope it doesn't someday cause ingrown nails.
Sometimes, the skin around the edge of my heels gets dry and rough too, catching on my socks. Glass files work well on that.
The following symptoms I have had are more likely related to menopause, yet were more unexpected to me.
Several times, my vulva got inflamed and felt itchy and sensitive for a few weeks to a month at a time.
I also had instances (many days in a row) with a lot of clear or yellowish vaginal discharge. These tended to coincide with the inflamed vulva, though not always.
A few times, my labia felt very weird; loose and thin, floppy maybe. I'd especially notice it while using the exercise/elliptical bike, with them rubbing or flapping against each other which they don't normally do.
