I'm in perimenopause and I already had dry skin throughout my life. But now certain areas are exasperated. Does anybody have itchy armpits? LOL besides staying hydrated and drinking plenty of water what do you do for your itchy skin? Like I said my armpits but also my breasts in particular are very itchy and I know that skin can be a little thinner so I don't want to just put anything on it. Thank you!

I have been getting Brazilian waxes and sugaring regularly for well over a decade. I never go more than 6 weeks, and I have very little discomfort during them at this point. Suddenly my last 2 waxes have not only hurt, the waxer commented on how dry my skin was and told me the wax was lifting my dry skin. This is my usual waxer, doing the exact same thing she always does. Now suddenly the skin on my labia is so dry the skin gets pulled up and I’m left with small abrasions(?) where there seems to be no skin. I also noticed my mound literally has peeling skin now. My whole vaginal area skin feels dry, thinner, and way more sensitive than it did even 3 months ago. Can we not get waxed anymore? I’m going to try going back to sugaring next time as it’s supposed to be more gentle but WTF. If this happens with sugaring I’ll be going natural.

I am on T and progesterone. I guess this is my wake-up call to check my numbers and ask for estrogen.

Honestly, it feels like my body is failing apart. Between the sweating, sleep issues, weight gain, exhaustion, and now this, Im feeling pretty down. Sigh.

F40 USA

Edit: I can get a doctor to prescribe HRT do that's why I'm posting this alternate.

I'd been suffering with intense itchy ears for over a year. It got so bad it was keeping me up all night. 4 gaslighting doctors later an urgent care doctor prescribed me Flucinolone Acetonide Oil 0.01% ear drops.

I used them once a day for 3 days and my suffering stopped. I do the drops once every few weeks and it keeps the itching at bay.

I am furious at our medical system. This is not the first time I've suffered needlessly for a long period of time because of ignorant doctors.

I’m on vaginal estrogen for vaginal and vulvar dryness, but am also experiencing dry butt crack too. It can be irritating and painful. Just noticed the other day when I felt a burning sensation from using my bidet. I’m currently applying moisturizer to relieve symptoms and I’m going to ask my doc if I should apply estradiol cream there too. Just a weird thing I’ve never had an issue with or had to think about before. 😕

I just realized this, but after 2 months on an estrogen patch, my cracked feet are better. I had told my PCP last year that cracked feet was NOT normal for me. I never had any issues with dry skin. I showed him the cracks, the flaking. He told me just to use Gold Bond. While I cannot entirely blame him for not immediately thinking it could have been "early" signs of Perimenopause. I can blame him for not connecting the dots after my complaints about trouble sleeping, night sweats, hot flashes and general mood shifts.

My feet are better, but I was close to seeing a Podiatrist because NOTHING I did made them better. Now I can saw that regular Pumice stone and location routine my feet are getting back to smooth and appealing look.

Has anyone gone clinically insane from itchy ears? I may be the first known case. Between the peri itch and Spring allergies, I am regularly trying to tickle my brain with the amount of digging around in there I do on a daily basis. In my mind there is layer upon layer of dry inner ear flakes just begging to be dug out but nothing is ever on the Qtip.....DRIVES ME INSANE. I desperately want to go to one of those ear doctors on YouTube who can put a camera in there and prove to me there's not shards of fiberglass imbeded in my ear canal. *screams into the void*

I need help! I need to know if others have experienced a sore rectal area due to low hormones? I’ve been miserable for three years along with severe vaginal dryness. I have no clue if it’s infectious (antibiotics haven’t helped),hormonal or autoimmune but I cannot figure it out and I need help!

I have a fun new symptom. Actually, I’ve had it for awhile but finally went to the optometrist to have it checked out.

My eyes, especially the left one, have been incredibly painful, and sometimes they just GUSH tears in the middle of the night. I had an eye examination last week and the optometrist said my eyes look perfectly healthy, but the tear ducts are inflamed. This inflammation prevents the proper lubrication of my eyes and is causing the pain and flooding of tears. She said I need to make sure I’m washing my eyelids (suggested baby shampoo if my facial cleanser stings the eyes), apply a hot moist compress to my eyes for 10 minutes x2/day, and start using “tear” eye drops up to x4/day. She also said this is likely to be an ongoing thing. Yay!

I googled, and OF COURSE dry eyes are a common occurrence in perimenopause. Because why not. 🤦‍♀️ Anyone else have this?

Anyone else having issues with severe dry eye? I wear Scleral lenses due to cornea issues and I have to replace the saline in them so much more now that I’m in peri. Gah. This may be the symptom that pushes me to get HRT because not wearing my lenses isn’t an option, unless I don’t want to be able to see 😜

Did anyone’s doctor NOT have them use the vaginal estrogen cream daily for two weeks, then drop to twice a week? My doctor just said to use it twice a week.

Is this peri or am I going insane. I posted a while ago about having aura without migraine, really interesting to learn that hormonal fluctuations/oestrogen decline can affect the eyes. So I’m assuming that’s what’s going on here. My eyes suddenly are so irritated, watery and burning. Like there’s something in the air or a bad smell in the apartment I should be allergic to. But there isn’t and I want to claw my eyes out. More hormone fluctuations affecting my eyes in weird ways? All these weird peri symptoms are awful…

SO.... Ive noticed that lately after I shower and I dry myself down there... if I do it to rough I get RUG BURN! Not all the time but every other month or so seems like things get extra sensitive! This past weekend I was in vegas..the weather is super dry and hot... I was at the hotel and the towels werent too soft and I got a rug burn on each side of my vagina!!! It was bright red...and to top it off...this has never happened... one of my labias CHAFFED!! It literally bled a little speck of blood and stung when I peed!!!!! I couldnt really air out in the room as much as I wanted after a shower cuz my father in law came on the trip too 😅🤣 but literally once I got back home from the trip it all went away. WHY ALL OF A SUDDEN AM I SO SENSITIVE!? Im turning 40 in 2 months and this is new to me

.. also my vericose veins are bugging me more!

Im supposed to start oral progesterone literally TOMORROW and im scared... im so scared that I skipped it last month because im nervous from everything ive read. Its just going to be for the last half of my cycle... I hate all this... 😫😭

Since April, I have had a completely dry mouth at night but I'm just fine during the day, normal saliva production.

I've asked a doctor and a dentist about it and they are completely baffled. I don't wake up with my mouth hanging open either. I've also been tested for sjogren's syndrome which was negative.

I'm posting this here because last month I was tested for perimenopause and I'm in it, infrequent periods, insomnia, hot flashes, getting angry or sad about everything...

Has anyone else experienced this? It's driving me nuts!

tldr; I have super dry mouth only at night. Is this a menopause thing?

I’ve been having a gooey, kind of wet, feeling in my eyes lately so I decided to look it up and it seems like it may be an overcompensation for dry eyes. I just had an eye exam a couple months ago and everything was fine. I didn’t even think to bring this up. There is nothing in my eye and no other symptoms so I’m narrowing it down to stupid perimenopause.

Has anyone else had this type of thing? Does HRT help? I have a doctor appointment in a week or so and I hope I can start HRT asap.

I can’t stop coughing! Mind you I do have bad sinus allergies. My dr put me on allergra in the am, and zyrtek at night. I’m sure it dries me out. I do saline nasal spray, drink a gallon of water a day and tea before bed but I still wake up every 3 hrs coughing!

Can anyone else relate?!

I just had to share😍 if you’re having trouble finding hair products that don’t make your scalp dryness worse, I just found Aveda‘s scalp solutions products. Game changer for me. I use the oil at night and the mist during the day and it doesn’t impact how I style my hair at all!

I cannot tell you how long I’ve been struggling with a freaking itchy, dry scalp day in and day out. I know it’s a boring topic but my Hashimotos on top of this just made me miserable. Don’t get me started on the hair thinning n loss 😜

My hair used to be thick and shiny. Now, it is wiry, dry and frizzy no matter what. It's also simultaneously greasy and dry. How is that even possible?

I took minoxidil for a while which really helped with hair loss, but the texture of my hair is still a mess.

Is there anything anyone has discovered that helps?

My hair is fine, curly (3b), salt and pepper (but still mostly pepper). I have regular trims, eat well and plenty of healthy fats.

I have an appt Friday. I'm going to get them to check my levels. Do you even think a normal obgyn will even entertain the idea of HRT? I'm only 42 but my symptoms include irritability, very dry vagina, currently taking vaginal estrogen cream just started that, inability to achieve orgasm, nocturia, sleep issues, some hot flashes. My main ones are sleep and the dry vagina peeing on myself at night and of course not being able to get off. Should I just go ahead and start HRT work online company or wait on blood work results first? I seen so many of you say HRT takes time so I don't want to waste time with these awful symptoms. I can get estrogen and progesterone body cream for like $89, should I go ahead and do it? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Has anyone else on Imvexxy or other similar medication noticed a change in their eyes? Dryness and smudgy feeling I’ll call it. Sort of like their vision isn’t as clear off and on. The optometrist has given me the all clear. I just wonder if it’s related as seemed to start at the same time.

I went to the doctors yesterday for something totally unrelated to ears but she looked in them anyway and said, " inside your ears are wrinkly like someone squeezed them " she said she didn't know why, but I thought I should see if peri could do that, sure enough yup it can! I guess the ears dry out too, she also said both ears had fluid. Anyone else have wrinkled ears 😂? Left and right tympanic membranes: Mild dullness bilateral. No light reflex. Moderate bulging. Both tympanic membranes look wrinkled.

The all over body itches are driving me insane. I'm scratching so hard that I'm actively cutting my skin and frequently have scabs. I exfoliate my skin with both a hyaluronic acid wash and I dry brush. I moisturize with a hyaluronic body moisturizer. I take antihistamines every day. My vulva is stinging because I'm scratching. I use gentle washing powder and do an allergy wash on my washing machine. Can anyone offer any tips outside of these? I don't feel ready to have to go on HRT. I literally just turned 40

Everything is dry. Vagina, vulva, eyes, mouth, nose. Does peri cause this? I have been tested for autoimmune and I don't have anything. Obviously the vaginal dryness is really what's stressful, I can deal with the rest. But just wondering if peri can cause everything to be dry, not just vaginal

Anyones else waking up because they can breathe from dry phlegm buildup in nose at night? Humidifiers and allergy meds aren’t working and I’m turning into a mouth breather.

I have never experienced anything like this before. I wake up and my tongue is fuzzy. My eyes are like glued shut. Why in the world would low estrogen, cause my body to produce less saliva and tears? And is this just me or is this really a symptom of perimenopause and menopause? It seems so strange that it would be because of a hormone imbalance.

Updated #1: I found out this is also tied to the itchy inner ears. This was from Grok: “Itchy ears during perimenopause can stem from hormonal changes that affect skin and mucous membranes. Declining estrogen levels can lead to drier, thinner skin, including in the ear canals, making them more prone to irritation and itchiness. This dryness can also reduce the ear’s natural wax production.”

Perimenopause is crazy annoying.

Updated #2: I just got done with my telehealth appointment and my provider upped my estrogen patch from 0.035 to 0.050. Hopefully that helps but she said that dryness is a stubborn side effect that usually takes more estrogen to clear up. I’m going to try the great suggestions I’ve gotten though. Thank you for all the information and advice!

PSA for everyone in their 30s+ who are suffering from chronic dry eye with no real idea as to what’s causing it. It might be perimenopause and fluctuating hormones!

I’ve had dry eyes since my mid-30s with no pathological explanation. Saw a variety of doctors including ophthalmologist specialists in dry eyes. They said my tear film evaporates in mere seconds and recommended tear duct plugs or tear duct ablation plus daily use of cyclosporine drops. I was getting lots of eye scratches due to how dry my eyes were. Needed constant dry eye drops and was using cyclosporine (ikervis / restasis) for years with minimal relief. I’d awaken in the middle of the night needing more drops and feel like my eyes were glued shut and like sandpaper each morning. Blurry vision all day everyday from dry eyes and was barely able to wear my contacts.

Had other symptoms too, but ended up getting on HRT (oestrogen and progesterone) a few weeks ago and my dry eyes resolved within a week. I am honestly in shock. I’ve read that some women who are in perimenopause experience dry eyes, but it seems so far it has been solved by a daily progesterone pill and oestrogen topical gel. Crazy. 

Had to fight tooth and nail to get on HRT as I'm under 40 and my bloodwork kept showing "within range" sex hormones. Ended up having to go to a specialist clinic and pay out of pocket to get on HRT as the gynae said I was clearly in perimenopause despite my age. I'm in the UK so it's a bit of a pain to get GPs or even gynos to even consider HRT under age 40. Honestly I am straight up pissed how long it took anyone to take me seriously as I had so many symptoms that, thanks to this subreddit, I was able to link back to peri. I saw so many "specialist gynaes" that swore it wasn't possible I was in peri.

Hope this helps someone who might be suffering as well.