I know. I know. I need to eat. I need protein and fiber and vitamins and blah blah blah. But now that I’m in Peri, I hate food. Nothing sounds good. I’ll sit and stare at my fridge and can’t decide and just walk away empty handed. It’s easier to go hungry. And when I do eat, I choke it down and try not to barf it up

Am I alone in this???

Does anyone know why doctors readily prescribe oral birth control pills that contain estrogen without a blink of an eye, but when estrogen is requested as part of HRT they balk and suddenly have concerns about blood clots and cancer? If those concerns are real why wouldn't they apply to BCP?

Sorry if this has already been posted today. I just saw it. Print it off to take to the doctor, if you need!

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/15/well/live/menopause-hormone-therapy-acog.html?unlocked_article_code=1.I1E.kFyv.OHTHVvvm0-Lv&smid=nytcore-android-share

I am 45 and have 0 will or energy to do much of anything. I thankfully work from home but I'm an online teacher, and lately I've had 0 energy to focus or function well with my students. It's like my brain is dead and I could just drift off in my chair. I crawl through a class and then have to lie down to recover before the next one. I just want to stay in my bed forever at this rate because it's the only place I feel safe, and somewhat ok, as my health anxiety is also through the roof.

I'm 49 have been perimenopausal for a bit. I haven't had my period for six months...SIX. I thought I was gonna be free and clear. That mfer arrived today. I nearly cried. Menopause clock T=0 again.

Hello everyone, I hope you’re all doing okay 🙂.

So I just wondered how common tinnitus is a peri symptom. I’ve been in perimenopause since turning 51 and aged 52, developed tinnitus. There’s no physiological reason I should have it according to the audiologist it’s just one of those things that can happen to people as they get older. I find it quite an irritating symptom to deal with along with the other usual suspect symptoms.

So yeah would be interested to know of anyone has experienced similar and better still, if it ever went away.

Thanks in advance!

Now that I'm in Peri menopause my periods aren't regular but I feel I get an extended luteal phase.

I know my period is coming but it takes its time.

My luteal phase always kicks my butt emotionally and mentally.

Have you any advice or help?

I went to my doctor today to get an increase to my HRT and I mentioned wanting to try adding testosterone to my routine. I'm desperately low on energy and my libido is D-E-A-D. He flat out told me he'd never prescribe it.

He instead said he'd perscribe me vaginal estrogen so sex wouldn't hurt and seemed pleased with himself. It smacked me in the face so hard that it doesnt matter if I WANT sex. Whats important is I can lay back and take it without too much discomfort.

I'm so tired of being treated like a freak or a fiend because I want to enjoy intimacy with my partner.

I'm just fucking tired, period.

You guys. My cycle dropped to 23 days last May, and since then I feel like I’m falling apart.

-Stunning anxiety, especially premenstrually.
-Or utter depression snd lack of interest in, well, much of anything.
-My executive function has gone to shit. I can’t sequence complex tasks. I’ve been trying to get my family passports together for over a year and the series of steps required seems like a mountain.
-I’ve started getting wicked untreatable headaches during my period.
-My gut is a mess. I can’t digest gluten anymore; it makes my gut swell up like a balloon.
-Sleep is an elusive beast. Can’t fall asleep, or wake up in the middle of the night and can’t fall back, or wake up early in the morning in a panic.
-My sense of smell is flared up; there are people who smell so intensely I have to leave the room. (Not artificial scent and not unwashed. Just their natural scent). Sometimes this includes my partner and kids.
-I’ve gained weight for no obvious reason.
-My immune system has tanked. I’ve gotten seriously ill (Covid, flu, assorted viruses) 5 times in the last year. I generally have been a pretty robust and healthy person, getting ill once a year or every couple years.

And the latest kicker- I was telling my partner I’m having these flushes of heat, often when I’m working. They said “you mean hot… flashes?” 😮 and I was like, oh shit oh dear, I mean yes, I mean hot FLASHES. Which I associate with my frumpy old middle school Latin teacher and just can’t believe it’s coming home.

What is happening to me! What the actual fuck! Anyone else getting it from all sides? How do we survive this without tanking everything in our lives? Are we just destined to be shells of our former selves from here on out?

I’m 42 and already on transdermal estradiol patches and progesterone pills. I just. I can’t believe this. I feel like I have a different body than I did 18 months ago. Tell me I’m not alone!

Is anyone experiencing heart palpitations at night before bed and while sleeping? What are you doing to assist with the palpitations? I personally think this is from taking 200mg P. This dosage hasn't been good to me. All feedback welcomed!

Hi Peri.
What the fuck? Yes I have fibrous, dense breast tissue, but that does not mean to make it rock hard. When I have the period that should have flown the fucking coop, I don’t enjoy this. Yes it will go down in a few days. Yes I’ve had a mammo and it’s ok. Yes I know it’s cyclical. For fucks sake leave the tits alone.
I’ve breastfed two kids. Gone through two pregnancies. Been dealing with breasts not liking hormonal changes. This is too fucking far.
I’m Gen X. I have no fucks left. Just stop.
Thanks
Tired ass human

I have been referred for this so just wondering if anyone has had it and if it helps.

Hi everyone! I'm 48 and in late perimenopause. For a while now, I've noticed that my armpits seem to have a strong odor all the time, and my old deodorant just doesn't cut it anymore. I feel like I can't even step out of the shower without already smelling bad!

What am I supposed to do? Should I try an antibacterial deodorant? Would that be too harsh on my skin? I've also heard about persimmon soap, but I'm not sure whether it's meant to help with this particular issue.

**P.S.** The smell doesn't seem to be related to how much I sweat. Even when I barely sweat at all, the odor is still there... I feel like I'm a teenager all over again! 😩

I just want to know if it gets easier. I was on 100 mg and just went up to 200. 100 made me groggy in morning but now with 200 that feeling is worse.

Will I adapt?

It made me sleep for 9 hours straight, felt difficult to wake up, and now it’s noon and I have low motivation and I feel sleepy and slow and dumb.

Hi everyone,

I’m wondering if anyone who is feeling untested / having poor sleep at times uses a tracker to check ehats actually going on at night and how HRT impacts it?

I’ve been wondering if it would be a good thing to have to get more black and white what’s going on or if my sleep is good.

I just notice my recovery is just terrible at the moment - I often feel like I’m in fight or flight and since starting going to the gym (twice a week) and after a big day of extra physical / stressful day at work I feel this constant lingering of being worn down as if I’m about to get a cold. it’s like I’m on the verge of it.

not sure if getting a device could help explain things or if it will just say things I’m already feeling 😂

Wondering if my sleep is perhaps shittier than I’m aware of.

My body fluctuates from sweaty hot to painfully freezing cold regularly throughout the day, it is so annoying and frustrating! I don't get night sweats, but I am shivering cold when I crawl into bed for an hour or so before I heat up. Has anybody experienced this and had HRT help?

47yo w PMDD and ADHD and feel like I’m losing the plot 🫠

I was on the Estrogel-Prometrium combo for about a year and it was working well to combat brain fog, low mood, etc. Not perfect (the hassle of the gel was annoying) but really pretty good, and sleep was great as the Prometrium acted as a sedative.

But my periods were getting heavier and heavier each month, and despite taking a daily (high quality) iron supplement for over a year, my ferritin levels just wouldn’t get above the danger zone.

I asked my women’s health GP about having an ablation and she suggested it would be better to try Zoely instead as it uses the same estrogen as Estrogel and is prescribed for women with PMDD, and it would enable me to skip periods to limit the iron loss.

I’m now halfway through month two and I’m sleeping about 4.5 hours a night. I don’t know what to do. I had a follow-up consult with her two weeks ago and she said it would be ok to take Prometrium with it to help the sleep piece, but that just made me feel awful emotionally.

I don’t know how to properly articulate what’s going on or figure out a way through because my brain just feels like it’s stopped functioning entirely.

Appointments with this doctor are $250 a pop so I’m reluctant to make yet another one if this is just a stage I need to ride out.

Please, if anyone has any suggestions, I’m all ears.

Hey all

If you’re reading this .. firstly grab a brew, secondly please drop a response, thirdly forever in your debt!!!

Tired for over a year.. looked into all explanations, Iron, thyroid etc. I cannot accept that tiredness/ dry etc is simply the menopause..

Rolled my sleeves up and took on the GP ..

GP blamed menopause- would not consider Iron ( ferritin low or thyroid fairly high and antibodies very high .. instead told my oestrogen is low and upped my patch from 50 to 75.

Bloods did not show this and still having regular periods ( this was Feb 2026) .. may extreme shoulder pain, X-ray osteoarthritis discovered, admittedly quite bad but I questioned why no pain before May .. ignored.

May to July - horrendous, I actually have PTSD, nerve stuff, all down my arms, felt like I had water running down my arms, vice life pain upper shoulders and neck, eyes drying than ever, nerve and numbness in legs, hip and groin pain..

Crying fits with GP - blamed shoulder OA and menopause- upped patch to 100mg no change to P ( currently 100)

July until now .. the above and so much more, flu like symptoms, every virus gping I’ve caught and now a bout of invitigo, breathlessness, three day migraines, joint pain but weirdly the nerve stuff has gone

I’m 52 periods each month .. I have explored autoimmune but could this be that my patch is to high ..

I’m so sorry this is so long winded but you are my go to before attempting to discuss with GP as the dismissal is just soul crushing!

If you could find it in yourselves to please advise I would be most grateful

Hello everyone!

Can someone please tell me if the fact that my vagina is now a completely smelly mess is somewhat ‘normal’ for perimenopause!

I have big thighs and find that even sitting for a few hours, I can get sweaty and smelly… it’s incessant!
I don’t believe it’s an infection of any sort, I’ve had them before and it looks and smells different.

Is this common or am I just the smelliest girl in the town?

Please help! I walk like John Wayne just to air the poor thing out.

EDIT: Wow, thank you all for taking time to give me some advice and make me feel less stressed about something that seems to be pretty normal!
I now have a wonderful list of locations, potions, soaps, underwear to try!! I am so appreciative of your replies. Thank you.

Pretty much what the title says. I’ve had zero energy for quite some time. For the past several months, my periods have been every 2-3 weeks. The periods are not heavier than normal, but the frequency is concerning. I got tested for low iron and ferritin and sure enough, I’ve got it. However, just taking an iron pill isn’t going to be enough. I need to address the root cause. So I’m going to the gynecologist next Wednesday.

Symptoms: fatigue, headaches, dizziness, shortness of breath/air hunger(also have asthma), brain fog, irritability, distract ability (ADHD meds not working well due to iron deficiency), hot temper, etc.

I am fed up with hunting around to find my Estradiol patches, so I called the manufacturer and the distributor today. Maybe if more people call, they will have the motivation to fix the issue.

Manufacturer: Kindeva, 11200 Hudson Rd, Woodbury MN, 55139. 800-643-8086

When I called them, they transferred me to the Distributor, because apparently that is who should lodge and report the complaint. However, it may not hurt to call both, to show them how bad the shortage is.

Distributor: Sandoz, 100 College Rd West, Princeton, NJ 08540. 800-525-8747 (option 1)

The distributor reported two reasons that there is a shortage of the Estradiol patches. First, the warning that these products may cause cancer was removed, so more women are willing to try it. Second, they are supposedly running out of the raw materials to manufacture them.

They have to report complaints to the federal department that oversees them, so complaining will also alert the government that something is not going well. The more calls they get, the more likely that we'll see this problem get fixed. Help a sister out, call today!

Really curious to see if anyone else has experienced this.....but has perimenopause ever SUDDENLY gotten worse for anyone here? As in your symptoms just made an abrupt switch seemingly in no time at all?

The reason I'm asking this is because I think it may have happened to me. At least I'm wondering if perimenopause is the culprit. A little over two months ago, it felt like someone pushed a button and I went from bad to.....feeling absolutely horrific.

My mood is all over the place between bad and worse, I'm crying A LOT, it feels like there is a wall between me and getting every day life stuff done, I'm having issues eating at all because it just feels like too much effort to cook, my sleep schedule is a mess, I feel especially lonely/suddenly have trouble being alone, ruminating thoughts.....the list goes on and on.

Of course it could be life stressors because honestly a lot of things feel like a huge dumpster fire right now, but I'm not sure. It's just really weird how it got suddenly worse. It was not gradual at all. Now I'm in a dark hole that I can't seem to get out of. Whatever happened to me has also reactivated the grief I've felt over losing my mom, and that's the worst part.

Or maybe it's a combination of perimenopause and all this crap I'm dealing with and the dam just finally broke? I don't know. It's driving me crazy trying to figure it out. I'm talking to my therapist about all this but I'm not sure it resonates. All I know for sure is that I hate the way I feel right now and I'm desperate. I started on HRT (estradiol and progesterone in pill form) in mid-September but I'm on hiatus from that after talking to my doctor because September was a lot medically. My body needs a break. But feeling like this preceded the HRT, so I don't think HRT is the problem.

I'm desperate for answers. This sucks!

44f ( almost 45) I think I have been in Peri for 4 or so years. I just started HRT 4 weeks ago. At first I started with just 100mg of progestrone... First 5 nights were lovely... I felt almost drunk... Slept like a baby.... then it switched on me... caused extreme insomnia

10 days ago I started the estrogen patch .... .025.... I have been taking some progestrone but I can't figure it out. It is either hit or miss... My periods have been all of the map so it is hard to know when I am starting to gage any kind of cycling use.

Here is the thing... my libido has tanked... I am happy about this. I am single and was walking around before so over stimulated... it felt like I was on the verge of an orgasm 24/7 and I would sleep with an ex I should have no business hooking up with as he treated me awful.... But I was that feral... I didn't care.... Now no want for sex...

I feel bloated and it feels like my body is almost recomping...

POSITIVES

1) Crashed Libido ( good thing for me right now )

2) Brain Fog is improving a lot

3) I have had only one hot flash in 10 days since starting the estrogen

4) Mood feels like it is starting to get better. Hard to tell as it is 2am and I am up

NEGATIVES

1) Insomnia is still bad some nights ( as I write this at 3am)

2) My tummy feels puffy in the front but the sides are starting to go in...giving me more of an hour glass figure but I feel bloated

3) I can't figure out the progestrone part and the panic attack it gave me on occassion scared me but the nights it relieves my insomnia is amazing... Just can't figure out the routine.

I have a huge work project that is over on Saturday so I will have a little more time to see how and when the progestrone plays into everything

Question: ANYONE else feel similar to me?