I started, at about 47 or 48 with the light/heavy periods, miss a month, have two in a month, for about 2 years. The times that I would skip a month, would be when I had hot flashes, when the HF would go away, I would have a period. It has been 4 years since a period (yay!) and there were times I would wake up in the middle of the night in a panic, I knew my bed was on fire!! I was in a store once, talking to the owner about a product, and had a HF and my glasses fogged up, that was rather embarassing!! In the last year, I think, they have become more like "warm" flashes, so I am hoping I'm on the downhill slope of all this. The worst part, I think, is being so scatterbrained. I was never, ever described as scatterbrained before. I can't cook, or bake, and visit with someone at the same time, there is no telling what might happen with the recipe! I can't remember if I did something just an hour ago! Please someone tell me that this will also get better.