Perimenopause VS. Menopause

Why I Created this Site

"Menopause is the period of natural cessation of menstruation occurring usually between the ages of 45 and 50."* Much has been made of the turbulence of menopause. But many women have often found it to be the calm after the storm.

The "storm" is pre-menopause (also called perimenopause) ... the period before menopause. It's a time when your hormones are wildly fluctuating, a time when your body is shifting gears.

Perimenopause and its related symptoms are under-reported in the media and often misdiagnosed by doctors, facts which are all the more disconcerting when you realize that nearly 33 million women in the U.S. will suffer symptoms caused by perimenopause at some point in their journey toward menopause.

Perimenopause can last up to a decade before menopause kicks in, and is often accompanied by frightening and difficult symptoms. The last time your body experienced such profound changes was during adolescence. Think about puberty (ugh) ... in reverse.
During our 30’s and 40’s, estrogen levels drop and ovulation occurs less frequently. As a consequence, progesterone levels decline as well.

Women often become frightened and confused when they experience symptoms such as hot flashes and fatigue, but are only in their mid-30s or 40s and still menstruating. "I can't be in menopause," they think. And they're right.

I'm one of these women. Over the past nine years, I've suffered with many of the symptoms you'll find on these pages. There was so little information out there, and being far from menopause, I never thought there was a connection between my hormones and my symptoms. That's why I developed the Perimenopause Support site, so other women would have a single source to get more information and help for the vast range of symptoms that plague women in transition.

On this site, you'll find easy-to-understand information and solutions for common (and not-so-common) symptoms of perimenopause. Let's face it, it's our symptoms that makes this transition even harder on us. Not only that, but it's not like adolescence, when we are running toward blossoming hormones, wild sex, and the beginning of what will be. While we certainly aspire to maintaining our warm and loving natures, not to mention our sexuality and creativity, we are definitely moving into a phase that can be more challenging in expressing those characteristics.

*Merriam Webster Online Dictionary

Other Resources