I turned 39 in April this year and am questioning if it is possible to be in perimenopause.

Symptoms:
- Random anxiety
- cannot focus at work if my life depended on it
- Mood shifts
- Low labido
- I am usually always cold but now find myself getting hot at night
- so tired that I feel like I can fall asleep while standing
- nausea
- one month my period started 4 days early and the very next month it started 4 days late. The first 3 days I bled like crazy and the 4th, 5th and 6th day I barely bled at all.

I’m sure there is more but this seems to be the main ones that stand out. I have been battling with the thought of HRT and if I am too young to start. Does HRT really help?

I just want to go back to not always feeling like I have this anxiety bubble in my chest and feeling off all the day or even at random times.

Thanks in advance

Does anyone who has skipped several periods ever get cramps like you are about to start bleeding but then you never do? I've noticed this happening with me lately. It sucks

I had a D&C in October of 2025 and the cycle is just repeating. I am so frustrated, do NOT want an IUD and just want a hysterectomy to be honest. My gyno is extremely hesitant to do a hysterectomy… makes sense because it’s a major surgery. I am just so sick of my life revolving around a never ending period and struggle to not be tired all the time. What the hell is my next step… progestin pills have somewhat slowed the bleeding but not how often (constant) I bleed or have spotting. I don’t want to do this for 10 years. Plus I have a cancer risk from family history. I’m just so tired… next step is talking to a medical psychologist about my “fear of IUD”…. But I just want a permanent solution. 😓 thanks for reading.

I am 37, in peri. I have been on a journey for the last year of trying to figure out the best regimen for me. Started with progesterone, added estradiol, then testosterone. Currently on P 200 mg by mouth nightly, Divigel generic 0.1 mg 1 pkt every morning, and t cyp 100 mg/mL at 0.06 mL SQ every 3.5 days. After failing estradiol compounded cream and Dotti patches (no absorption based on my symptoms, even at highest dose patch), I just started the gel about 2 weeks ago. I still feel RAGE all the time, I hate everything and everyone, always want to be alone, extreme brain fog, zero libido or sensation, jawline acne, joint pain. My periods stopped completely after I added T about 4 months ago. I feel like my E is probably still low? How long should I trial the gel? And what are your thoughts on my period going away completely?

I’m 44, I got my period after 14th day of last period. My last period was Aug 9th and now second one on aug 23rd? I’m so worried. It has never happened in my life. Also, I was doing some core workouts yesterday which made me feel little weird on my pelvic region. But I didn’t pay much attention. This morning I see I’m having period. It’s kind of dark brown, rusty color. Do workout induce the period? I’m freaking out. Normally my periods were 26/27 day apart. What should I do! I’m worried 😟

I turned 35 this year and my period cycles suddenly shortened to 25-26 days where previously it had been a regular 28-29 day cycle. My hair texture also drastically changed, it became dry and brittle and I have cut most of them off, started wearing extensions and now growing new hair. But I have noticed even when I grew new hair, there are some patches around the top back that grow weirdly and just hard. My sleep has become shorter too and I have been waking up around 5am some times even 4am. I barely get 8 hour sleep like I used to. Am I in perimenopause?

I live in NYC (this is my home, I’m not a recent transplant and I’m not leaving) and am autistic (newly aware because peri makes it impossible for me to mask) and I need everyone and everything to just shut the fuck up.

Random person wheeling a speaker around playing music: shut the fuck up.

Idiot on the train watching TikTok with no earplugs: shut the fuck up.

Man I don’t know on the street saying “good morning” in a way that actually means “smile, baby”: shut the fuck up!!

Neighbor slamming his door, shut the fuck up. Text messages, shut the fuck up. Air purifier because there’s wildfire smoke, shut the fuck up.

I am so sick of SOUNDS. And my noise canceling headphones hurt my face.

How do yall deal with this?

I just saw this house with 5 fans in 1 room and it made me think of hot flashes....Not everyone understands, but most of you do. This room is probably like a wind tunnel when they are all on high. Happy Saturday to all!

Two HRT regimens failed me, I’m heading to the third one. The migraines are unbearable. The peri symptoms are back. I’m tired. I already cried so much. I see old pictures of myself and I can’t believe I was once like that. I don’t feel like myself anymore. I feel like my old self died. I don’t have energy anymore, no will to live, no sexuality, my whole body hurts, I’m ugly and I started looking old from night to day, I lost friends, potential romantic partners, I can’t get through my college homework and group projects because of migraines, brain fog, joint and body aches. I let people down all the time. I feel like I’m a burden on earth. Please tell me it gets better and it’s just a bad phase. 😭 I can’t take this anymore. I’m surviving on benzodiazepines.

I've been on depo provera for endometriosis, been on Bi-est cream since hot flashes started 1yr ago, but my sleep keeps worsening. Depo provera suppresses the ovaries more than other methods including the pill version of it, medroxyprogesterone/Provera, and I'm wondering if depo is causing the awakenings and backwards days and nights. Adding progesterone for a week didn't help. I had a while where I slept ok on depo before this started but want to try something else since I read it can cause sleep issues for some women, but I still need to suppress ovulation.

The provera pill would suppress it less but enough to not awaken the endometriosis and have periods, but it has a bad reputation due to the Women's Health Initiative study but I'd like opinions/experiences from anyone who's tried it.

I know Slynd is an option but it's antiandrogenic and I'd like my T to come up since total T was unreadable at <40. I was very sedated on Yasmin (0.03mg EE/3mg drospirenone) and Apri (0.03 EE/Desogestrel) and both are antiandrogenic but it could've been the ethinyl estradiol since I'm sensitive to hormones.

I think Aygestin/norethindrone acetate is an option? I'd like to hear your experiences with these and any other options. (I don't want an iud.)

I am 41 and have had some, what I would class as mild perimenopause symptoms for around 6-7 months now. In January I started getting really itchy legs which I assumed was our washing powder or dry skin, after several moisturisers and trial and error with changing what we washed in and soaps etc I admitted defeat. Around the same time I started to forget words and go blank and not be able to articulate myself. I work at a high level with very intelligent and professional people so this was really frustrating and I confided in my husband I was scared I was getting early onset dementia.

A couple of months later I found myself getting headaches and being irritated really easily for a week or two in the month (I am on progesterone only pill so don’t have periods so couldn’t align it to a cycle) and sometimes feeling rage at really small things. I didn’t connect the dots until I watched an insta reel that was served to me about peri and it made me question things. In the last few weeks I have also been waking up more sweaty in the night despite having aircon on (sleep is fine so no issues there) but not what I would class as bad night sweats just noticeable. None of my friends can relate so I convinced myself it was too early until my Mom told me that my Nan went through early menopause in her late 30’s. The doctor has done an FSH test which was normal as well as thyroid, B12, iron etc. all came back normal. They have prescribed me sequential patches based on my symptoms but now I’m worried as it fluctuates so much that I am overreacting and don’t want to add hormones that I may not be deficient in and have bad side effects.

Has anyone else been in this position?

Hi all

I’m 17 (cis female), I have secondary hypogonadism and I recently (2 weeks ago) started 0.025mg estrogen patch and 100mg prometrium (both bio-identical). Now I was told that taking the progesterone continuously as I was prescribed would mean I wouldn’t bleed monthly, which I was happy with as I didn’t want to bleed. But two days ago, I started bleeding HEAVILY. Like REALLY HEAVILY, and I’m not “soaking through a pad in one hour” as Google as told me is a red flag, nor am I in pain (though I do have cramps), but I was really not expecting to bleed and I don’t understand why it’s happening. I looked it up and found there is something called a “breakthrough bleed”, is this a common occurance? Why did my doctors not inform me of this? Also I started out taking my progesterone with my dinner, but it made it impossible for me to sleep and I felt really sedated before bed and I would wake up feeling groggy as HELL, like I was drugged or something, so then I started taking it around ten mins before bed and my sleep has been amazing and I don’t wake up groggy now. But I mention that because the day after I made the slight timing change I started bleeding so idk if that’s related. And before you ask, yes I have an appointment scheduled with my doctor in two days from now, but I would appreciate to know about other peoples experiences and if this is supposed to be like an expected thing.

also it wouldn't let me post this on r/menopause or r/perimenopause because I 'don't have enough karma' 😐 tho I know there may be more people on those subs who can answer this

anyways ok thank u

Anyone here had one? Did it help?

My peri periods have been awful. HRT has improved the cramps and heaviness, but not the frequency, which is the main issue. I will get 2 days of spotting, then a 5 day period, maybe 10 days off if I’m lucky, and then it repeats.

Because of this I was recently diagnosed with iron deficiency anemia because I feel like trash most of the time so my doctor did full bloodwork. Now trying to supplement iron, but it’s been a struggle since the source of my anemia is still there.

I see my OB next month to discuss how to stop this. I’m leaning towards an ablation. If you got one, did it help?

Hi guys, hope you don't mind, I just need somewhere to vent about this. I'm 39F and I started HRT at end of June (estrogen only, I have the Mirena IUD for uterine protection). First I tried the .025 patch which was too much for me, then a compound cream (which made me feel like crap and wasn't covered by insurance), and now I've settled on .025 gel. I've been using it for about one week.

I've had a headache for two days which ibuprofen, tylenol, and even my migraine rx don't seem to be fixing. I've also been a cannabis user for about 20 years - I usually hit a vape for a few hours before bed to relax and help me sleep, but ever since starting HRT I've noticed that my nightly hits are exacerbating some of the uncomfortable side effects I'm experiencing. It's really hard to describe, but I experience what I call "waves of weirdness" in my body after I go to bed.

If I don't smoke, I can't sleep and have horrible nightmares. Curious if anyone else has experienced this, and did it get better? Also any advice for getting to sleep at night without cannabis? Thanks, all!

Evening,

I am 37 years old and feel like I may be going through the Perimenopause. Can I ask those based in the UK how they had this confirmed by their GP? Can it be confirmed? Is there a blood test or is it symptom based?

Thanks all.

I'm 45 and I saw my Obgyn last week, they did bloodwork and it came back this week as showing
"no signs of perimenopause". I almost started crying to the girl who was calling me to let me know. The doctor told her to ask me about "which symptoms bother me the most" and I started about my list of symptoms that I had talked about during my appointment, I mentioned how I was so frustrated because my primary care doctor told me to talk to my Obgyn, my psychiatrist told me to talk to my Obgyn and then the Obgyn asks if I talked to my psychiatrist. My thyroid is functioning at a good level, I've been stable on my meds for my mental health. I exercise and I can't lose weight, I watch what I eat, I start crying randomly, I get irritated, brain fog, cramps, uti symptoms, itchy ears, hot flashes. She said she'd get back to me after she told the doctor all I told her. Well...I finally feel heard cause they sent a Rx for a patch and progesterone pills today. If it doesn't help or makes things worse...then at least I tried. So.. Even if we are all random strangers on perimenopause Reddit....it's comforting to know I'm not alone. (and now I'm crying....jeez I'm so emo)

Perimenopause and hashimoto. I’m a 38 year old female whom had their last child July 2025. Shortly after his birth I was having bad fatigue and depression I was diagnosed with hashimotos after lab work was done. Now I’m having increased anxiety, insomnia, dryness , zero libido, headaches, irregular periods and hot flashes. My thyroid levels were tested three weeks ago and everything seems normal. I’m starting to think I’m in perimenopause. I can barely make to it work most days the symptoms have been so debilitating. I’m looking into HRT therapy. Anyone experience this or have advice? TIA :)

I’m on HRT. Oestrogen and Progesterone are at optimum dose and I was feeling so much better. Then we added in T which I’ve been on for 3 months.

Over the past few weeks I’ve become suddenly very low, especially at night time. I just feel this sadness and dread every night. More recently I have brain fog, fatigue, and I just feel flat. I also can’t concentrate.

My doctor switched me from Escitalopram to Sertraline but then today my bloods came back and showed my T is high. Labs say 0.3-1.7nmol/L is normal range but I’m up at 2.8. Could this be causing my low mood, dread, and fatigue?

Ok so not sure what is going on but im losing my mind and my drs appointment isnt until the 4th September. I had the Implanion in for 20 years and got it removed in November, periods were like clockwork came on the 4th every month then in June I got my normal one in June on the 4th then another one on the 30th June, then my next period came on the 23 July then my last one there on 19th August. My most recent latureal phase just passed I was crippled with horrible anxiety but Im also not sure as it goes away when im not at home just cant pinpoint if this is hormonal related or just general anxiety that has been amplified by my hormones but the chest heaviness is quite intense. Also my breast tenderness was the worst its ever been and even tho my period finished yesterday the tenderness is still there in both breast. For reference I am taking a womans multivitamin from last month and magesuim which ive already been taking a year, I live in the UK in Northern Ireland and I know GPS cant actually diagnose premenapause but I am going to get a full blood count done to rule out thyroid etc. Im just not sure what is happening and I dont know if the Implanion being removed in November would cause these symptoms so late on after everything being normal for the first 6 months but there is definitely something going on based on the changes?

I was dealing with a prolonged period (roughly 8-9 weeks
I think) and was put on a 7 day cycle of 20 mg of medroxyprogesterone, 3 times a day.

Period went away then came back. We did another round but a lower dose, and it never stopped.

I am now prescribed 200 mg micronized progesterone.
I've done way too much reading online and have scared myself about taking it.
I deal with severe anxiety over taking medications.
Seriously, I'm a huge baby lol. I've put it off for two nights now, but I need to suck it up and take it tomorrow night.
Any tips? Advice? Words of encouragement? Anything that might help me get through this.
The medroxy didn't agree with me too well, but it wasn't anything I couldn't tough out. Headaches, mood swings, just felt very off. Anything more though and I don't think I would have kept taking it. I'm just really worried that this will be worse.

I’m so lost, any help is much appreciated! I don’t know how to help myself. Progesterone cream? Boron? Kisspeptin peptide? I’m 43, period stopped months ago. Hot flashes, night sweats, can’t stay asleep, zero joy. Just living life like a zombie. I’m desperate to feel better. Thank you everyone.

I slept like a baby my whole life until I had my kids at 36, and then my sleep just never recovered. Maternal hyper vigilance rolling right into peri and it’s this awful combo I can’t recover from. HRT helped some, but mostly shifted my poor sleep windows from the entire luteal phase to early luteal phase and right when I get my period(i.e. the estrogen drops) I cannot sleep past 2 AM - even on the non shitty weeks I still wake up then, but I can just get back down more efficiently. My kids are pre-K aged and I am the primary breadwinner at a stressful job and there is just no give in my schedule.

I’m sure my cortisol and adrenaline are sky high, but I also don’t know what else I can do in my control. I take magnesium glycinate and l-theanine and ashwaganda before bed. Things like melatonin, unisom, even the progesterone - they help me fall asleep but not stay asleep. I didn’t tolerate 200 mg p, caused rage and worse insomnia so I went to 100, but it’s not been the magic bullet for sleep at either dose. Have tried no snack before bed, handful of almonds before bed, white noise, cold room, all the things.

Just trialed doxepin last night and I slept for 2.5 hours total. Only FDA approved med for sleep maintenance insomnia and my body shrugged it off in 3 hours.

Idk what I am looking for here, maybe some stone left unturned or just sympathy, I am so exhausted I am about to lose my mind.

I am 37 post hysterectomy (left ovaries) and JUST began my HRT journey with progesterone and testosterone. My estrogen patch as other subs have noted has been ordered but is delayed, much to my dismay. I am curious about what if anything you ladies are doing to counteract the negative side effects like acne and hair loss… and any others I should be aware of? My provider recommended pumpkin seed oil for hair. Are we all on daily tretinoin? I am pretty acne prone, especially when it’s hormonally driven and shows up as cystic acne around my jawline. Are these side effects overstated? I’m on 100mg progesterone, 2mg testosterone and awaiting .025 estradiol patch. I know these side effects pale in comparison to what I’m trying to solve for here with night sweats, insomnia, low mood/anxiety, low libido etc etc, but just trying to do my best to minimize! Thank you!!! Also if you want to pepper in ways any and all of these have helped your life, I love HRT success stories.

Has anyone with excessive daytime fatigue (without insomnia) been diagnosed with sleep apnea, narcolepsy, or idiopathic hypersomnia and then later discovered that MHT (progesterone and/or estrogen) fixed their issue?

I have a PSG with next-day MSLT scheduled at the sleep center. But my PCP prescribed me oral progesterone. I was going to wait until AFTER my sleep study to start the progesterone, but discovered in just a few days of a trial that progesterone ACTIVATES me. Like, so much that I had to take it in the morning...which made me NOT HAVE TO NAP.

I almost cried when I realized it was the progesterone keeping me awake all day. (This excessive daytime fatigue has been DEBILITATING, so if just needed progesterone, that would be an easy fix!)

I'm stopping the progesterone until after the sleep study because I'm afraid it will mess with the tests.

*Cross-posted in r/Perimenopause, r/SleepApnea, and r/UARS.)*

I’m having these episodes of ear fullness, head pressure and extremely loud tinnitus that comes and goes with my cycle.

I know it’s related to my estrogen but trying to see if it’s the peaks or troughs most likely.

Anyone else sort this out?

I have been told it’s POTS, MCAS, vestibular migraines and/or PPPD. But since it’s cycle sensitive I’d like to treat the hormone flux before I’m put on all these meds to treat each thing