How long does perimenopause last?

The length of perimenopause

Transition length versus symptom length

Read how each source below describes the stages, check whether it means the transition or the symptoms, and ask your clinician where your own history places you in that timeline.

What to look at

Start with the Cleveland Clinic perimenopause page, which covers age, stages, signs, symptoms and treatment. The Office on Women's Health menopause basics page gives a government health office's overview of the same transition. For one symptom that often comes up, the Menopause Society's hot flashes page shows how a society explains it.

A skeptic's question: does "how long" mean how long the transition lasts, or how long your symptoms last? Those can be different things. Check which one each source is describing before you compare them.

Tracking your own timeline

• Write down when your symptoms started and how they have changed.
• Ask your clinician what signs would suggest you are early or late in the transition.
• Ask whether the length of your symptoms changes which options are worth discussing.

A note on expertise

A published timeline is a starting point for questions, and your clinician can review your history and talk through what fits you.