The symptoms of perimenopause are long and varied. You may have many or you may have a few. But there is no typical perimenopausal experience, though most women seem to have hot flashes, night sweats, irregular periods and mood-swings. In fact, these four symptoms are usually what signals to women that they are in perimenopause.

Currently, most experts, health care providers and those devoted to understanding and helping women in perimenopause agree there are at least 35 symptoms of perimenopause. It’s not necessarily a comprehensive list but it’s a good starting point.

• Hot flashes, flushes, 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; urge incontinence
• 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, vertigo, light-headedness, episodes of loss of balance
• Changes in body odor
• 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 odor (despite sticking with your regular brushing routine)
• Osteoporosis (after several years)
• Changes in fingernails: softer, crack or break easier
• Tinnitus: ringing in ears, bells, ‘whooshing,’ buzzing etc.

For relief from some of the most common and debilitating symptoms of perimenopause, the BedJet is an excellent solution. It’s the first and only clinically proven device to relieve perimenopausal sleep disturbance due to night sweats and hot flashes. In a 2018 study of perimenopausal women, 85% of study participants reported reduced hot flashes and night sweats when using the BedJet during sleep, and 94% of study participants reported improved sleep.

Many women choose hormone therapy to help with the symptoms. If you decide you would like to use hormone therapy be sure to do your research on the difference between synthetic hormones and bioidentical hormones and discuss with your doctor.

Here is a link to a PDF file put out by Harvard School of Medicine which outlines the difference between synthetic hormones and bioidentical hormones. It’s a great reference sheet to have and to take with you when you see your physician.