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