Perimenopause: The Dreaded 13-Letter Word

I’m going through “The Change.” There’s a very good reason that nickname is used to refer to this part of a woman’s life: I’ve changed from a level-headed, efficient, competent, healthy person to an amnesiac, insomniac, bi-polar basket case with a laundry list of physical ailments.

Besides the common symptoms of night sweats and irregular periods, I have issues with my hair, skin, hips, joints, memory, temperament, and sleep patterns. It’s amazing what women have to suffer just because the baby-making factory is slowly shutting down.

And, “slowly” is the operative word here. The entire process of changing a fertile woman into a non-fertile woman can take up to 10 years. The first stage of menopause, called premenopause, can begin when a woman is in her late 30s with subtle changes in the menstrual cycle. The cycle may be shorter and the bleeding may be heavier. PMS symptoms may be worse or new ones may appear. Off we go.

Perimenopause refers to the next stage, a four- to six-year period when estrogen and progesterone levels fluctuate and diminish. These hormone imbalances can cause a list of symptoms so long that it would make a hypochondriac envious.

Full-blown menopause is reached when a woman’s ovaries quit releasing eggs and menses cease permanently. But don’t plan your party just yet: You have to have a whole year without a menstrual cycle to be officially menopausal. Not having a period anymore isn’t such a bad thing, but reaching that point can be horrible.

I’m hoping that when my uterus is finally defunct, I’ll regain some of my previous stability. Sometimes I long for the days when I was young, healthy, and at peak performance. Then, one of two things happens: my memory gets fuzzy and I can’t remember those days, or the apathy phase moves in and I don’t care anymore. Maybe there’s a blessing in that.

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