Perimenopause, or “second puberty,” is the two to ten years before the final period. It’s different from menopause (or post-menopause), which is the life phase that begins one year after the final period. Symptoms can occur during perimenopause and are temporary.
perimenopause and menopause
Perimenopause is the two to ten years leading up to menopause and is the time when symptoms are most likely to occur. Symptoms of perimenopause include anxiety, insomnia, weight gain, night sweats, and a reduced ability to cope with stress. Treatment options include magnesium and body-identical micronized progesterone such as Prometrium capsules.
The Crucial Difference Between Progesterone and Progestins
Progestins such as drospirenone, levonorgestrel, or medroxyprogesterone are not progesterone.
That’s because progesterone is not a generic term like estrogen. Instead, progesterone refers only to the hormone made by the corpus luteum or taken as oral micronized progesterone.
How Science Got It Wrong About Progesterone
Progesterone has been both ignored and mistakenly blamed for side effects it does not cause. How did that happen?
First, progesterone was discovered after estrogen, so, according to endocrinology professor Jerilynn Prior, missed being part of the tidy hormone dichotomy of “testosterone for men and estrogen for women.”
What Estrogen Does in Your 40s (and How Progesterone Can Help)
Night sweats, mood swings, and crazy heavy periods. Is this menopause already? And you’re only 42? No, menopause could still be a decade away. This is perimenopause or second puberty, which is up to twelve years before your final period.
Perimenopause is different from menopause (or post-menopause), which is the life phase that begins one year after your final period.