Perimenopause: can it change your body TYPE? Ie pear/hourglass etc

Me too. I'm much more pear shaped than I ever was. I changed from a small 36B bra to an E cup during the menopause and they haven't shrunk back! I have more belly fat too.

NOTANAN, I have the opposite. I have always had an hour glass figure, but when I was 70 I suddenly grew this fat belly and midriff. I asked my Dr. to check it out, she said as you get older any excess weight starts to go to your tummy instead of your hips. But judging by what you say it must our genes which decide where to send the extra weight not medical statistics.

I'd love to be a pear.
I'm more of a space hopper, I'd say.
I think chunky thighs and bottoms are great.

As long as you are healthy why worry?

I have no bum or thighs to speak of. It makes buying jeans very difficult as they need to fit my waist!! I really wish they made a 13!! But I've always been bigger on top.
I thought I my menopause was full swing, no periods for 3 years! Then last weekend I get one out of the blue ?. Not needed.

Purple
Might be worth going to the GP as it's odd that one has appeared after 3 years.

This is from NHS website:
Menopause is usually diagnosed in women over 45 who haven't had a period for more than a year. Any bleeding from the vagina after this needs to be checked by a GP.

Please go.

Its the hormones what does it.

Check with your doctor, Purplepoppies, the same thing happened to me and to my sister, but there was nothing wrong at all with either of us, so don't start worrying! But do play safe and see your doctor.

I think we all change shape after or during the menopause, my tummy has certainly become more protuberant than ever before!

I started to put on weight after my 70th birthday and it caused a muffin top.
A lot of walking and cycling reduced it and I have since fasted on two days a week drinking only water, lemon in hot water, milk and coffee.
No, I don't get hungry and I make those two days, pamper days, hair masque, face ditto, pedicure, long soak in the bath and an early night. I lose about 4lbs if I don't overdo the liquid intake.

I heard a talk from a doctor once where he said that as you age your spine shrinks and your stomach has nowhere to go, so it sticks out. "Don't worry, ladies", he said, "Just let it do that".

Another odd menopausal thing, my hair used to be straight and now has a very definate wave, have had to change my hairstyle a bob is impossible to tame

Purplepoppies See your GP. It has been many years since my p's finished but around two years from the last one I had what you have experienced. Went to GP and I was referred to gyno where under anaesthetic a procedure was carried out which in those days??? was known as a scrape ! I was informed it was 'debris'??and nothing to be concerned over.Better to be safe than sorry.

I too had bleeding for 16 months after no bleeding for 2 years. All of 2017 and 4 months of 2018 it carried on. . I went back and forth to gp asking for help. Told to keep a diary. I didn't need a diary...l was bleeding every day and huge clots at that! So gave up seeing my female gp and saw a male gp. Within weeks was at hospital seeing gynaecology...had scans and biopsy ( no anaesthetic..painful) and a smear..no cancer...phew.....was told it happens...hmmm...would l like a coil..No Thanks...anyway...since then...I am every 4 months for 2 weeks at at time. I have been told l have NOT been through the menopause...l am nearly 59!!!!

its not actually menopause, as we get older we shrink. and the extra bits of us settle on the hips and bum. take me i was 5ft 8ins in just over 2 years i am know 5ft 7 ins and got a lot of weight on my hips and now classed as obese..isnt life wonderful....

I was just thinking the other day that my boobs have shrunk.
So, now I'm like a flat chested space hopper.

Wish my fat would gravitate to my behind. It has all but disappeared. Makes sitting on bony chairs very uncomfortable. Likewise my formerly muscular arms and thighs have gone puny. Fat belly is there and growing, though. Bad.

That's interesting because I HAVE shrunk I am half an inch shorter than I used to be. But its not just that my fat distribution has changed. Its very odd to be a different shape!

Some of our kitchen cupboards have doors which rise up. I've always managed to reach up- on tiptoes- to close it but recently have struggled and now can't reach handle to pull it closed. I've shrunk!! What can I do about it? Is it worth going to doctor??

Stop it Miss A I've got the giggles now.

I'm glad..

I haven't really changed shape since puberty, except when I was pregnant. I have a somewhat lumpy tummy as a result of two lots of life-saving surgery some twenty something years apart. The boobs have dropped/drooped a bit, but I am still a size eight in jeans and skirts and a size 12 in dresses and tops. What I am relieved about is that I haven't started shrinking yet, as I understand osteoporosis is painful; still 5 ft 9 inches and holding up straight. However, I don't think my feet have ever recovered from endless pushing a pram or buggy while wearing flat shoes all those decades ago; what were once slim and elegant have become rather splayed. I also think I can detect signs of arthritis in my hands.

I've never minded being pear shaped, but having always struggled with my weight I do envy apple shaped ladies, because most of you have lovely slim legs and can still wear shorts when it's hot...something I've never been able to do...well, except when I was a teenager!.. but I do agree, your shape changes from at least having some shape I now resemble the wardrobe I keep my clothes in... ? ya gotta laugh...

I only joined Gransnet for a comp-been on mumsnet for over 10 years and have fallen into this interesting thread! Oh the joys of being a woman.