Premenopause takes place beforeperimenopause, which leads up tomenopause. More specifically, it’s the time between a person’s first period and the onset of perimenopause.Premenopause is not a medically accepted term.
Your menstrual cycle begins to change during perimenopause. It’s considered the beginning of your transition to menopause. This is when you start to have the symptoms of menopause.
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Symptom Onset
You won’t experience symptoms during premenopause. Symptoms start in perimenopause. They are a result of the ovaries producing lessestrogen.
When you enter perimenopause, you may experience the following:
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Complications
Symptoms don’t usually start in premenopause, so it’s not associated with complications. The symptoms of perimenopause, however, are serious and life-changing.
Complications of perimenopause can include:
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Beyond diagnosis, there will be some other situations that call for medical help, such as:
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Summary
Premenopause is the stage before perimenopause, when a person begins to experience menopausal symptoms. You won’t experience symptoms during premenopause. There’s generally nothing to worry about in terms of menopause during this time. Symptoms of menopause, like hot flashes and insomnia, only start appearing after you enter perimenopause.
4 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Penn Medicine.The change before the change: 9 questions about perimenopause.The Cleveland Clinic.Menopause, perimenopause, postmenopause.Khoudary E, Samar R, Greendale G, Crawford, Sybil L, Nancy AE, Maria BM, Thurston RC; Karvonen-Gutierrez C; Waetjen EL, Matthews K.The menopause transition and women’s health at midlife: a progress report from the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN).Menopause. 2019 Oct;26(10):213-1227. doi:10.1097/GME.0000000000001424Nutt D, Wilson S, Paterson L.Sleep disorders as core symptoms of depression.Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2008 Sept;10(3):329-336. doi:10.31887/DCNS.2008.10.3/dnutt
4 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Penn Medicine.The change before the change: 9 questions about perimenopause.The Cleveland Clinic.Menopause, perimenopause, postmenopause.Khoudary E, Samar R, Greendale G, Crawford, Sybil L, Nancy AE, Maria BM, Thurston RC; Karvonen-Gutierrez C; Waetjen EL, Matthews K.The menopause transition and women’s health at midlife: a progress report from the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN).Menopause. 2019 Oct;26(10):213-1227. doi:10.1097/GME.0000000000001424Nutt D, Wilson S, Paterson L.Sleep disorders as core symptoms of depression.Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2008 Sept;10(3):329-336. doi:10.31887/DCNS.2008.10.3/dnutt
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Penn Medicine.The change before the change: 9 questions about perimenopause.The Cleveland Clinic.Menopause, perimenopause, postmenopause.Khoudary E, Samar R, Greendale G, Crawford, Sybil L, Nancy AE, Maria BM, Thurston RC; Karvonen-Gutierrez C; Waetjen EL, Matthews K.The menopause transition and women’s health at midlife: a progress report from the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN).Menopause. 2019 Oct;26(10):213-1227. doi:10.1097/GME.0000000000001424Nutt D, Wilson S, Paterson L.Sleep disorders as core symptoms of depression.Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2008 Sept;10(3):329-336. doi:10.31887/DCNS.2008.10.3/dnutt
Penn Medicine.The change before the change: 9 questions about perimenopause.
The Cleveland Clinic.Menopause, perimenopause, postmenopause.
Khoudary E, Samar R, Greendale G, Crawford, Sybil L, Nancy AE, Maria BM, Thurston RC; Karvonen-Gutierrez C; Waetjen EL, Matthews K.The menopause transition and women’s health at midlife: a progress report from the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN).Menopause. 2019 Oct;26(10):213-1227. doi:10.1097/GME.0000000000001424
Nutt D, Wilson S, Paterson L.Sleep disorders as core symptoms of depression.Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2008 Sept;10(3):329-336. doi:10.31887/DCNS.2008.10.3/dnutt
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