premenopausal

pre·me·no·paus·al (prmn--pôzl)

adj.

Of or relating to the years or the stage of life immediately before the onset of menopause.

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premenopausal

[-men′əpô′səl]

Etymology: L, prae + Gk, men, month; Gk, pauein, to cease

before the start of menopause.

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premenopausal

adjective Referring to the period in a ♀ preceding menopause, aka 'change of life'. See Menopause.

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Patient discussion about premenopausal.

Q. How do I know the difference between the symptoms of premenopause and stress? For the past year, I've been having weird periods, hot flashes, mood swings, and most recently, a lack of enthusiasm for sex. I asked my doctor and she said I'm too young (I'm 38), so I'm thinking it may be stress. I bought 'The Menopause Bible' and it seems that perhaps my doc was wrong, but then I thought that maybe it is stress and I'm wondering if some of the symptoms of premenopause are the same for stress. Can anyone provide some thoughts on this? I would really appreciate it.

A. here is a nice site i picked up one day i was looking for something that will match the symptoms i had. it's a site that you can enter the symptom and it'll tell you what causes them. just enter all of your symptoms and see what keeps poping up:
http://www.healthline.com/symptomsearch

good luck!