Perimenopause Quiz: How to Tell if You’ve Reached Perimenopause

The symptoms of perimenopause may be numerous, but they can also be easily confused with other things going on in our bodies. Those symptoms include:

• Hot flashes/night sweats
• Stiff and achy joints
• Lack of focus
• Weight gain
• Mood swings

When listed here, these symptoms paint a picture of a perimenopausal woman. But in real-life situations where you’re juggling all the world throws at you, they can easily become confusing. You may also wonder:

• Am I just stressed (work, world events, family life, etc.)
• Am I just run down?
• Maybe I’m coming down with the flu/cold/COVID?
• Maybe my body is just a little out of whack?
• Have I let my healthy habits slide a bit?
• Perhaps I’m just PMS-ing!
• Am I pregnant?

This means it can be difficult to say decisively if one is experiencing perimenopause or something else. And the situation can be even more confusing if you’re typically prone to an irregular menstrual cycle. It might be hard to spot the differences.

To help you navigate these uncertainties, we’ve devised a little quiz. 

Please note that taking this free quiz is NOT a replacement for medical diagnosis or advice. 

Perimenopause Quiz: Are You Experiencing Perimenopause (Or Is it Something Else?)

1. How Old Are You?

According to Mount Sinai, perimenopause has two stages:

1. Early perimenopause: This can begin in your 30s but most often starts between the ages of 40 and 44.
2. Late perimenopause: Usually occurs in your late 40s or early 50s

Of course, these are average ages. Your body is unique and may defy these averages, but if you’re in or around these ages and experiencing other symptoms, you may be experiencing perimenopause.

2. Changes to Your Period

Compared to your ‘normal’ experience of menstruation, are you experiencing any of the following:

• Irregular periods (closer together, further apart, or completely missed)
• Never
• Sometimes
• Often
• Heavier-than-usual periods (including bleeding through clothes/sleepwear)
• Never
• Sometimes
• Often
• Worsening or constant PMS
• Never
• Sometimes
• Often

If you’ve answered ‘sometimes’ or ‘often’ to these questions, you may be experiencing perimenopause. But there can be other explanations too. For further confirmation, keep going!

3. Other Perimenopause Symptoms

While your age and changes to your period are the main indicators of perimenopause, many women experience a host of other symptoms. Compared to your normal experience, are you experiencing any of the following?

• Hot flashes/hot flushes
• Never
• Sometimes
• Often
• Night sweats
• Never
• Sometimes
• Often
• Breast tenderness
• Never
• Sometimes
• Often
• Racing heartbeat
• Never
• Sometimes
• Often
• Joint pain, stiffness, or muscle tension
• Never
• Sometimes
• Often
• Headaches, vertigo, or dizzy spells?
• Never
• Sometimes
• Often

Again, if you answered ‘sometimes’ or ‘often’ to some or all of these questions, you may be experiencing perimenopause. Keep going for more indicators that you might be experiencing perimenopause.

4. How’s Your Sleep?

While many of us struggle to get a good night’s sleep (work, kids, stress, amirite?) if you notice changes to your sleep, you may have an explanation in perimenopause:

• Fatigue: Do you feel tired more often than normal?
• Never
• Sometimes
• Often
• Insomnia: Are you having a hard time falling asleep or waking up more often during the night?
• Never
• Sometimes
• Often
• Poor sleep: Do you just never feel properly rested?
• Never
• Sometimes
• Often

It’s important to note that sleep alone may not point to perimenopause, but if you’re checking more ‘sometimes’ or ‘oftens’ than ‘nevers’ as you go through this quiz, perimenopause might be your answer.

5. Stress, Emotions & Memory

We women know all too well the effect hormonal changes can have on our moods. Some of us already experience quite the shift in moods over the course of our monthly cycle. Again, you’re looking for changes that deviate from your norm. Maybe the symptoms are worse, or maybe they’re more frequent. 

Have you noticed an unexplained increase in:

• Mood swings (depression, sudden fits of rage)
• Never
• Sometimes
• Often
• Anxiety (do you feel anxious?)
• Never
• Sometimes
• Often
• Brain fog / feeling fuzzy or confused
• Never
• Sometimes
• Often
• Increased forgetfulness or changes to your memory 
• Never
• Sometimes
• Often

6. Weight & Digestion

Sudden changes in weight or digestion can also point to perimenopause. Remember if you have a clear alternative explanation for these things, they may not be connected to perimenopause. For example, if you’re busy at work so you’ve stopped exercising as much and find yourself skipping meals and then carb-loading (hello, it’s me!), some weight gain is pretty understandable.

However, if your diet, nutrition, and exercise levels are fairly stable and you find yourself experiencing the following (along with checking some boxes in other categories), your answers are certainly pointing to perimenopause:

• Unexplained weight gain or difficulty losing weight
• Never
• Sometimes
• Often
• Water retention or bloating
• Never
• Sometimes
• Often
• Other digestive issues (gas, diarrhea, constipation, nausea, or heartburn)
• Never
• Sometimes
• Often

7. Sex Life

“The change” can also bring changes to your sex life. Have you newly experienced the following:

• Vaginal dryness or pain during sex
• Never
• Sometimes
• Often
• A change in your sex drive (lower desire for sex)
• Never
• Sometimes
• Often

8. Skin & Hair

One last area to reflect on is your skin and hair. Again, we all have our own issues with our skin and hair. But, generally, we know the range of what’s ‘normal’ for us. Reflecting on what you usually experience, are you noticing:

• Dry or itchy skin
• Never
• Sometimes
• Often
• Thinning hair
• Never
• Sometimes
• Often

How to Understand Your Answers

If you have a bunch of ‘nevers’ and a few ‘sometimes,’ there’s probably no real reason to believe you’re experiencing perimenopause. This, of course, could mean you’re just lucky to experience fewer symptoms. 

However, if you have more ‘sometimes’ and ‘oftens’ and you’re the expected age and you’re noticing changes to your period, you may have good reason to believe that you’re experiencing perimenopause.

Regardless of whether it’s perimenopause or something else entirely if you’re experiencing these changes you should visit the doctor as they could be symptoms of other treatable concerns.

If you find yourself on the fence about whether you’re experiencing something “sometimes’ or ‘often,’ consider starting to keep a journal tracking your well-being. You will be able to see patterns emerge and whether the frequency or intensity of certain symptoms is increasing over time.

Unique Situations Where This Quiz Might Not Be Straightforward

Wouldn’t life be grand if our bodies were as simple to read as an internet article? Unfortunately, it’s seldom the case. We’re all unique and it can make it difficult to judge what’s going on based on a checklist. Good news: There are medical professionals who can help! They’ll take the guesswork out of what’s going on.

In particular, online quizzes may prove difficult for more unique situations, like:

Hysterectomy

A hysterectomy is the surgical removal of the uterus. Depending on your unique situation, your surgeon may also recommend the removal of the ovaries, this would mean you stop ovulating and therefore become menopausal as a result of this surgery.

However, a hysterectomy can also leave the ovaries intact, which means you continue to ovulate every month. But since you don’t have a uterus after the surgery, you won’t have periods. For women who have had a hysterectomy but kept their ovaries, it may be harder to detect perimenopause, since they’re not observing any changes to the monthly menstruation.

Nevertheless, the other symptoms can still manifest. 

High-Stress Times

It’s easier to observe changes in the body when things in life are stable. If you’re going through a stressful time (bereavement, work stress, divorce or separation, even moving home,) your body may manifest symptoms that are easy to confuse with perimenopause.

No matter what the cause, stress is not good for us. So try to make some time for relaxation. Keep your diet as healthy as possible and try to make some time for exercise, even if it’s less than you usually do. 

If your stress levels continue to be high and manifest in physical symptoms that cause concern, it’s also worth visiting the doctor. 

Other Medical Concerns, Like a History of Hormonal Imbalance

If you have a medical history that includes a thyroid condition, PCOS, insulin resistance, diabetes, or other diseases and conditions that may manifest symptoms on this list, it may be difficult to pinpoint what’s what. 

It’s never a bad idea to talk to your doctor about how to understand your symptoms

Medications, Including HRT and Hormonal Birth Control

Any hormonal medications, including hormone replacement therapy and the hormonal birth control pill, can create symptoms that might confuse you as you approach perimenopause. 

If symptoms are severe, don’t wait to talk to your doctor. But if you’re on the fence, consider keeping a daily log so that you can go to your doctor and confidently relay the frequency and intensity of your symptoms, whether they are worsening over time.

What Is Perimenopause?

Perimenopause means “around menopause.”

The time before menopause is known as perimenopause. During perimenopause, your menstrual cycles and periods gradually come to an end.  It can last anywhere between 1 and 10 years. The average length of perimenopause is four years and, during that time, your period can become irregular and there can be irregular bleeding between periods.

This is a transitional time for the body (like puberty) and refers to the time your body is making a transition from fertility to menopause, which marks the end of your reproductive years. Perimenopause is sometimes called the menopausal transition.

According to the Mayo Clinic, “You may notice signs of progression toward menopause, such as menstrual irregularity, sometime in your 40s. But some women notice changes as early as their mid-30s.”

From a hormonal standpoint, perimenopause is characterized by irregular estrogen and progesterone levels. These changes to your hormone levels can cause many symptoms, which if severe, you might want to seek medical advice. Among those symptoms are changes in your menstrual period.

Once you’ve gone 12 months since your last period, you’re considered in menopause.

Symptoms of Perimenopause

The quiz above covered the main symptoms of perimenopause, but some symptoms may escape your notice. Others might just need a little more explanation, including:

Irregular or Skipped Periods

Because you will start ovulating less as you approach menopause, your entire menstrual cycle may not run like clockwork anymore. This can mean less frequent periods, including skipped months.

These infrequencies will increase as perimenopause progresses. This is part of the reason why doctors wait a full 12 months before confirming that you have passed into menopause.

Hot Flashes and Night Sweats

Hot flashes are commonly associated with menopause. According to the Mayo Clinic, “The cause of hot flashes isn't known, but it's likely related to several factors. These include changes in reproductive hormones and in your body's thermostat (hypothalamus), which becomes more sensitive to slight changes in body temperature.”

Night sweats are hot flashes that occur while sleeping. They can have the added complication of disrupting sleep and causing insomnia.

Vaginal Dryness

Vaginal or endometrial atrophy occurs in some women after menopause. The body produces less estrogen after menopause, which can lead to the thinning, drying, and inflammation of the vaginal walls. During perimenopause this process can begin, resulting in dryness.

Bladder Problems

Low estrogen levels may also make you more vulnerable to urinary or vaginal infections. Loss of tissue strength may contribute to urinary incontinence.

Bone Loss

The hormone estrogen can protect your bones. With declining estrogen levels, your bone density may decrease as you start to lose bone more quickly than you replace it. For some, this can increase the risk of osteoporosis — a disease that causes fragile bones in women.

When to Talk to Your Doctor

If you’re finding these changes difficult to tolerate or you’re feeling uncertain about what’s happening, it’s definitely worth chatting with your doctor.

The majority of women would prefer to manage these changes through lifestyle and your doctor will certainly recommend ways to adjust your lifestyle to manage the symptoms of perimenopause.

These changes might include:

• Healthy diet: Of course, a healthy diet has many benefits for your body but some of the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause are more severe when you don’t maintain a healthy lifestyle. Dairy products and dark leafy greens are rich in Vitamin D and Calcium, which can help with other symptoms. 
• Regular exercise, including strength training: Staying fit and flexible can mitigate some of the symptoms associated with this time of life. Strength training in particular can help maintain strong bones, which can help offset the decrease in estrogen and its effect on bone density for women.
• Stop smoking: Smoking can increase the risk of many diseases, including cardiovascular disease. 
• Less alcohol: Alcohol consumption can worsen the effects of hot flashes or night sweats, so abstaining or drinking less can help bring relief to those symptoms.
• Vaginal lubricants: These can help with vaginal dryness.
• Leakproof underwear: If you’re experiencing irregular cycles, spotting between periods, or bladder control issues, leakproof underwear can provide you with extra reassurance and confidence.
• Supplements: According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, “Plants and herbs that have been used to relieve menopause symptoms include soy, black cohosh, and Chinese herbal remedies. Only a few of these substances have been studied for safety and effectiveness”. Always talk to your doctor about taking new supplements, including over-the-counter supplements.

If your symptoms are more severe and making lifestyle changes does not impact them, you and your doctor can explore other courses of action. These might include hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and even surgical options, including hysterectomy.

We hope you found this post informative — but remember: we’re not doctors and this post is not medical advice! While all posts are fact-checked and well researched, we always recommend you chat with your doctor about any questions or concerns you might have regarding a medical condition. We’re here to support and educate, but never with the aim of disregarding professional medical advice you’ve been given. Phew, now that that’s out of the way, you can go on living unapologetically free.