Well Kristie from personal experience my body began in my late 40's to change and I was into full fledge Menopause at age 50 when my period stopped and never returned. I am one of the lucky ones I guess, other than mode swings which could also be attributed to a rotten marriage thats the only suffering I've done. By age 60 a full ten years all's well and NO ladies it doesn't go on forever. I said in an earlier post that all I ever took was Wild Yam Capsules, one a day did the trick. Stopped those about 4 years ago. I felt fine and still do. I looked forward to NO MORE PERIODS!! I think going into this condition, "The Change" happily does make a difference. There is nothing to fear.

I started having period changes in my early 40s. The last time I experienced a period was September, 1996, when I was 47 years old. (Must have been a red letter date for me since I remember the month!)

The only symptoms I ever had were rather unique hot flashes. One ear would turn bright red! I could feel the heat. So I knew it was happening, but when you have short hair with exposed ears, it can be rather embarrassing. It wasn't always the same ear - so they were balanced hot flashes (!) My husband says that I never had mood swings that were any different than the ones I had before

I tried hormone therapy once for about two weeks at my mother's insistence. It made me feel weird. So I quit. I tried Estroven once to see if my ear thing would stop, but I didn't like them either. I guess I don't like to take medicine.... Anyway, I always feel better without the treatments. I took birth control pills for 15 years when I was young - so I definitely didn't want to get back on them.

Anyway, I'm 56 this month, and I have no more symptoms of any kind that can be blamed on menopause. Now if I could figure out how to live a stress-free life, I would either have a perfect life or be bored out of my mind.
LOL

I went to see Menopause the Musical yesterday with some girlfriends. Getting ready, I rushed around looking for my glasses, got flustered, had a hot flash, almost cried, and flew out of the house without my glasses OR my coat!

How appropriate to have a menopausal meltdown on the way to a play about menopause...

Has anyone seen the musical yet?

I've not seen it, but would love to hear more. Several years ago I wrote a short musical called Hormones, Hormones, Hormones and was recently contacted by a Women in Business organization about performing it. Any info about the Menopause musical would be helpful.
smile

smile, they have a website at Menopause the Musical

how exciting! where and when will you be performing Hormones?!

Thanks Prez. I'll check that out. The performance will be in Michigan. Not sure of the exact location or date yet and I know from experience that lots can change before anything actually hits the stage, but it's been fun revising the script and songs. The Menopause website will help I'm sure. Thanks again.
smile

Kathryn, I saw it with some friends about a year ago. We laughed so hard. Every single topic they touched on hit home. We guffawed so much that a man sitting with his wife kept giving us dirty looks, but we couldn't control ourselves.

Smile, tell us more about your play.

I saw it too, last summer, with my mother and sister. It was absolutely hysterical! I think it is on national tour, so it comes to your area, do yourself a favor and check it out.

Dotsie, I don't know the answer, but I'd like to know, too. I haven't had a period since September, but I've had hot flashes consistently. I won't miss those!

Also, I constantly crave sweets. I wish that would go away. It's a fight to keep the weight down.

Coffeemom

I read somewhere that menopause can last from 12 months to 6-7 years..