From womens’ own observations, these 35 symptoms describe what you may experience by way of signs and symptoms in the lead up to menopause.

• Hot flushes, flashes, night sweats and/or cold flashes, clammy feeling
• Irregular heart beat
• Irritability
• Mood swings, sudden tears
• Trouble sleeping through the night (with or without night sweats)
• Irregular periods; shorter, lighter periods; heavier periods, flooding; phantom periods, shorter cycles, longer cycles
• Loss of libido
• Dry vagina
• Crashing fatigue
• Anxiety, feeling ill at ease
• Feelings of dread, apprehension, doom
• Difficulty concentrating, disorientation, mental confusion
• Disturbing memory lapses
• Incontinence, especially upon sneezing, laughing
• Itchy, crawly skin
• Aching, sore joints, muscles and tendons
• Increased tension in muscles
• Breast tenderness
• Headache change: increase or decrease
• Gastrointestinal distress, indigestion, flatulence, gas pain, nausea
• Sudden bouts of bloat
• Depression
• Exacerbation of existing conditions
• Increase in allergies
• Weight gain
• Hair loss or thinning, head, pubic, or whole body; increase in facial hair
• Dizziness, light-headedness, episodes of loss of balance
• Changes in body odour
• Electric shock sensation under the skin and in the head
• Tingling in the extremities
• Gum problems, increased bleeding
• Burning tongue, burning roof of mouth, bad taste in mouth, change in breath odour
• Osteoporosis (after several years)
• Changes in fingernails: softer, crack or break easier
• Tinnitus: ringing in ears, bells, ‘whooshing,’ buzzing etc

When I stopped reeling after finding that list, I had to take a note of the few signs and symptoms I didn’t have and count my blessings.

This list of signs of peri-menopause and menopause was developed by women on the Internet ‘Menopaus’ mailing list, hosted by St. John’s University. The list 35 symptoms is based on the real life experiences of these women. All symptoms appearing on the list were experienced by numerous women and were either cyclical in nature, or responded to treatments (both traditional and alternative) known to address hormonal imbalances.

The women who directly contributed text and/or ideas to this list of signs are: Judy Bayliss, founder & owner of the Menopaus mailing lis, Lucy L. Brown, PH.D., Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Krista Glickman, Susan Jessen, Roberta J. Leon, Susan Klee, Betty Clark, Jennifer Hesketh Aviles, Christine Cody, Keri Webb, Bonnie Dreps Voigtlander, Jean Bauer, Joan Starker, Miriam Biddleman, Graciela Spivak, Susan Ariew

* July, 2008 : The original website has vanished now, but I have left the original link as a mark of respect for those women