@CoolLioness- I had Epstein Barre. I really think that is why I have MS now.

I quit the pill many years before perimenopause set in. I ceased the period like I did breast feeding, naturally. I think the pill and hysterectomies work against the natural bodily functions. My sisters all either had one or the other and they all had effects of hormone imbalances. I didn't start experiencing the muscle fatigue & weakness until I was a few years after menopause & years, decades even went between the obvious ms symptoms. It's only now looking back I can see they were ms related & all were ignored as cfs related as listed on a symptom list I was given by a general physician back in '88.

I have read about studies showing how estrogen has a beneficial affect on MS. With perimenopause and menopause, estrogen levels drop. That's my concern.

Always the exception to the rule, I never got a gusher my sisters told me about. My periods got lighter and shorter and skipped months over years until they finally ceased altogether. I started to get what I thought were "hot flashes" after the periods stopped. Mostly my head gets extremely hot and sometimes my upper torso, mostly at night. I wasn't diagnosed until January this year (ppms), so I don't see any link between either perimenopausal or menopause. Now I feel the so called hot flashes when I exert myself. I am planning on asking my neurologist if these hot flashes could be ms related. I see him in May, but I'll probably ask him via the office website.,

I have heard that can occur. ^