What are symptoms of perimenopause?

Unlike menopause, the symptoms of perimenopause are not always clear cut. The changes may be so slight that one may not even notice them. Some of the symptoms of perimenopause include:

Irregular menstrual cycles. As one approaches menopause, the menstrual cycles become irregular and erratic. The intervals between periods may become longer or shorter and the flow rate may also be scant or there may be no period. As menopause sets in one may start to miss periods regularly.

The next set of symptoms which occur in about 70% of women are hot flashes. Facial flushing and sensation of feeling warm occur periodically. Associated with the hot flashes are difficulty in sleeping, chills and drenching sweating episodes. Sleeping difficulties are one of the most common complaints in women in the perimenopausal period.

Mood changes are also common in the perimenopausal period. Some women may feel down or depressed for no reason. These mood disorders during menopause are not strictly associated with fluctuating hormone levels but to other factors which remain unknown. The depression does tend to be mild but can be easily triggered by any number of factors.

Other common symptoms of perimenopause include vaginal dryness or loss of lubrication in the genitals. Thus, sexual intercourse is very uncomfortable or painful. Most women will not be able to conceive during perimenopause because the menstrual cycles have started to become irregular. In any case, if you do not want to get pregnant, use birth control until you have complete absence of periods for at least 6-12 months. Fortunately for most women perimenopause does not depress libido but in fact creates more desire for sex. This is a common observation in many women. Some unlucky women may start to complain of bone pain due to excessive bone thinning. In general, osteoporosis does not become evident much later after menopause has set in.

One does not always need to see a doctor when perimenopause sets in. If the symptoms of perimenopause are mild and tolerated, simple changes in life style and homes remedies will suffice. However, if the symptoms like depression are severe, then it is important to seek medical help.

Is menopause and perimenopause the same thing?

Perimenopause is the transition period or the interval before one truly becomes menopausal. The perimenopausal time period is a natural shift of the hormonal cycle to irregular cycles and finally towards permanent infertility – the loss of eggs. The timing of perimenopause is variable and starts at different ages. For most women it starts in the 40s but in some cases, it may even start in the late 30s.

A woman may notice that her periods are becoming irregular and may vary in length of days from longer to shorter; and the actual menstrual cycle may also vary. This may go one for several months and eventually lead to permanent cessation of the menstrual cycle.

Associated with the perimenopausal period is the start of some symptoms like hot flashes, difficulty sleeping and vagina dryness. In most cases, the perimenopausal period lasts about 9-12 months. Once a woman has gone through 12 consecutive months without a menstrual period, she has then medically reached the stage of menopause.

Bio-Oil for Scars and Wrinkles

I’ve been using a little bottle of Bio-Oil made by a company in South Africa for a couple of months when treating a scar and then for much longer as an anti-aging wrinkle preventer.

Recently I had a mole removed from my face by a plastic surgeon. For scar recovery, the plastic surgeon suggested I start out using pure vitamin E to treat the scar over a period of two months. By simply pricking the vitamin E capsule and pressing out the pure vitamin E oil and gently smoothing it over the scar. After the two month period, he said I should use Bio-Oil, available in any drugstore. This is how I have treated my scar. After all was healed, I was left with a barely noticeable scar.

Since then, I’ve been using Bio-Oil over a night time moisturizer around the eye area and above my upper lip to try and prevent and get rid of my wrinkles. This is where my wrinkles seem to be appearing first.


Bio-Oil is an orange colored oil containing something call PurCellin Oil. It is recommended for uneven skin tone, scar healing, stretch mark prevention and wrinkle prevention and treatment. I checked out the website and they say that there have been studies on Bio-Oil done over a period of time for all of these problems. All of these studies show positive results.

The ingredients of this product are listed as the following from the company’s website (www.bio-oil.com:

Paraffinum Liquidum
Triisononanoin
Cetearyl Ethylhexanoate
Isopropyl Myristate
Retinyl Palmitate
Tocopheryl Acetate
Anthemis Nobilis Flower Oil
Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil
Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Oil
Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract
Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil
Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil
BHT
Bisabolol
Parfum
Amyl Cinnamal
Benzyl Salicylate
Citronellol
Coumarin
Eugenol
Geraniol
Hydroxycitronellal
Hydroxyisohexyl 3-Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde
Limonene
Linalool
Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone
CI 26100

As you can see, it’s got some very nice oils in it such as vitamin E, rosemary, lavender, calendula, sunflower and soyabean oils, all useful for skin healing and wrinkle prevention. You might ask what is PurCellin oil. I was curious to find out to. It’s a lab creation oil from the glands of a duck, secreted when the duck is preening its feathers. It is used as a delivery system for the other oils.

It’s a nice oil to use for both scar healing and wrinkle prevention/curing. I saw the results of the scar healing properties of the oil and the jury is still out on whether it helps prevent wrinkles. The price is reasonable for a bottle of Bio-Oil. I’ll buy it again for its antiaging benefits when this bottle runs out.