Although I only experienced a few hot flashes, I did have extremely heavy periods for about 6 years which finally responded to birth control pill therapy. I quit having periods last March. Yeah! I had 10 months off. Last month I experienced some spotting. This month I'm back to having heavy periods. I cannot find any information about anyone else having this issue.

At 46 my life changed!! I seem to be continually overwhelmed with every little thing. Work was difficult and I took a short term absence because I was suffering from panic attacks. However, staying at home just didn't really help. I've never had anything like this before in my life! Now I am 49 a few days before my period I get night sweets that wake me up. BUT THE WORST symptom at the moment is DIZZINESS...

I also experienced the "warm foot" symptom. It was such a strange experience and I did not attribute it to menopause. It did start right before the hot flashes took over my life. I had a full year of no periods with no symptoms. I have been experiencing frequent hot flashes all day and all night for the past 6 weeks. Suddenly from one day to the next I developed vaginal discomfort and am treating it with the topical estrogen cream. It is very expensive and bothersome to use. I find it a catch 22: It is preventing the atrophy of my sexual organs but I'm too exhausted for sex and my husband has to sleep in the guest room as my fitful sleep keeps him up all night too. How much sex will we be having?! I'm reluctant to take hormone replacement therapy if I can stand the symptoms without it but am not sure I'm ready to give up the sexual side of a great 32 year marriage. I don't want to be "old" at 54 and my husband deserves a normal sex life. Is the risk of HRT worth it???

I'm 47 and started getting hot flashes and random periods a year ago. But I've had a funny experience that I have never read about. My husband has to leave the country for several months at a time. When he is home I have regular periods and no hot flashes. Within days of leaving, I return to having menopausal symptoms. There is a clear link here, but I have never read about it. I'm so curious if there is research on a "partner absence/presence" effect.

I recently started to realize that I'm going through menopause (started about 6 months at age 39/now 40). A co-worker of mine suggested SAGE tea from a natural food store. My cycle would go off and come back after a week. Doctor recommended the pill for 3 months to regulate it. It worked for one month. I tried the Sage tea and it hasn't been back. The hot flash has decreased/has not disappeared but it is not as intense. I still get an unexplainable feeling of... hormones or something moving around in my body. The Sage tea recommends that you drink it daily. I'm not trying to drink that much tea. However, I'm going to try it. The tea is caffeine free. We will see.

Other symptoms I noticed are lack of energy, weight gain, sleepless nights, dry skin, lower sex drive. Oh how I can so relate to a comment sent in by a lady on here. My sex drive is nonexistent, I have a very patient husband and I thank God that he is so, I still have sweats but not as in 'hot flushes' it is in bed only, I wear summer PJ top only and have to have my top half out of the quilt, until I'm stone cold, otherwise I just flare up in this sticky sweat. I'm 57yrs and its non-ending, the weight is the hardest to overcome especially when you've been the opposite all your child-rearing life.

I started going through the "change" when I turned 50. I had night sweats and what I call "heebie-geebies" which is like the feeling you get when you walk on gravel bare-footed and scratch on a chalkboard. Other symptoms I noticed are lack of energy, weight gain, sleepless nights, dry skin, lowered sex drive, and you're on an emotional roller coaster. I've been married 28 years and thank God I have a patient husband. A soy product I found in pill form at Walmart helped for about 6 months. I'm scared of hormone replacement therapy and since I'm in my fifth year all I can do is pray it'll be over soon.

I just turned 37 and I think I'm peri-menopausal. My cycles were never regular (months, sometimes years without a cycle) I am finding myself emotional. I've had significant weight loss. I am normally an aggressive person, but I find myself indecisive at times. The emotional rollercoaster is VERY hard. Sometimes the hot flashes are unbearable but on the flipside my libido has dramatically increased, which my husband loves.