Reply #13: Same here...

[Hell Hath No Fury]

I went peri just before 40, am now 4 years in and getting my butt kicked. :)

Out of the blue "annui" or "melancholia" such as you describe can be very common with peri. You might start noting when you experience it and see if it correlates with a certain time in your cycle. Finding out if it's hormone related can be helpful and reassuring -- at least you know what you're dealing with.

I found that taking flax seed oil (1 tbl) daily during my early peri really helped with my mood (blues/crying/anger). I noticed an uplift within one week of starting.

There is a great site that saved my neck when peri started getting hairy -- http://www.power-surge.com

Women are criminally under educated on all that they can experience during this time of life and all that can be done to remedy any problems they experience.

I had always thought peri/meno just mean hot flashes/night sweats and irritability. Little did I know it could include:

Crying for no reason for three years -
Premenstrual anxiety that was so great I thought my head was going to explode -
Hot flashes so severe I wanted to run screaming -
If you're breathing you're bothering me levels of irritability -
Killer insomnia -
Fatigue like I have never felt before -
Premenstrual sensitivity to noise -
Feeling like I have a bug in my ear for weeks at a time (no joke!)
Suddenly smelling like a sweaty 13year old boy -
Low blood sugar problems -
Skin going to hell -

And a hundred other little weird-ass things that made no sense to me until I started hearing from other peri women with the exact same same problems. On edit: all of my symptoms started off very slowly and at low levels, and got worse the further I got into peri.

Power-Surge has a great listing of many of the peri symptoms that women can experience and not relate to peri. Check it out and drop by the discussion boards -- you'll be blown away.