First of all, thank God for this forum. I never knew how ingnorant I was about menopause until it hit me - and since my mom had a hysterectomy at 40 and my sisters haven't experienced it yet, I find I don't have much guidance about what's "normal" for us. I'm sure I'll be reading all the posts for days to catch me up to speed.

A little background. I'll be 47 in July and always was very regular until a year and a half ago. Last July after several months of no periods and two weeks of hot flashes, I had a doctor's appt and told her I was done, LOL. She said I'd have to have not had a period for a year to be considered post-menopausal and didn't believe I was through it already - the blood test did indicate I was on the beginning levels of post menopausal though. Then I had maybe four or five more periods, then no symptoms of any kind for months.

I have to say it was the easiest menopause I've ever heard of, apart from total lack of libido and vaginal dryness which I kept hoping would get back to normal.

Now I've started having hot flashes again after a year or more, only mine don't seem to be like what I've always heard described as hot flashes. They start with my ears burning and it's only my head that ever gets hot, usually. It seems very different from the ladies I remember in my office fanning themselves constantly. Mine consist of my ears get very hot and my head follows and it fades within a minute. It's always just my head and it's annoying and frequent but brief.

Is that what most of you experience or is this very different? Lately, it does seem to be a bit more like what I think of as a hot flash as I've had some sweat forming on my brow or face sometimes. I get these hourly at times. I have had night sweats once in a while also.

I just don't know if it's bad enough to seek hormone treatment and I wish I had some idea of how much longer it could go on for! That's the frustrating part for me, the not knowing how long it could last or if it will get worse or better!

I wish there was something more definitive than "everyone's different" or "some people can be in menopause for months, others for years". I understand that, but there still must some "average" experience of how long hot flashes last, for example! I truly felt done with menopause (maybe because I never had any difficulty with menstruation either) and wonder if I'm really just beginning or if this is like the last bit before I'm truly done.

Somewhere in there is a question, I'm sure of it! Sorry for being so wordy - it's just great to find a forum like this.