You've been living with the changes for a while now. The hot flushes, the broken nights, the periods that turn up whenever they like. And at some point, usually in the middle of a bad week, you want to know one thing: how long does menopause last?
It's a fair question, and the honest answer has two parts. Menopause itself is just one moment: the point when your periods have stopped for good. What lasts is the run-up to it (perimenopause) and the symptoms, which can carry on for a while afterwards.
The NHS says symptoms usually last for 7 to 9 years, sometimes longer, and that they can change along the way. That's the average picture. Your own timeline could be shorter or longer, and this guide explains why.
How long does menopause last? The short answer
- Perimenopause (the years when periods become irregular) often lasts several years. In a large US study, the typical length ranged from about 4 to 8.5 years, depending on when it started.
- Menopause is a single point. You only know you've reached it once you've gone 12 months without a period.
- Symptoms usually last 7 to 9 years in total, says the NHS, and sometimes longer.
- Hot flushes (hot flashes) went on for a typical 7.4 years in the same large US study, and for about 4.5 years after the last period.
The rest of this page explains each of these in plain words.
What do perimenopause, menopause and postmenopause mean?
These words get used loosely, which is part of why "how long" is so confusing.
- Perimenopause is the time when your periods become irregular, as the NHS puts it. Hormone levels go up and down, and this is often when symptoms are most noticeable. Women's Health Concern, the patient arm of the British Menopause Society, says it can start in your late 30s or early 40s.
- Menopause is defined as not having had a period for 12 months, when you're not using hormonal contraception. The NHS says it usually happens between the ages of 45 and 55.
- Postmenopause is simply the time after that point. It isn't a stage that ends. It's the rest of your life.
So when people ask how long menopause lasts, they almost always mean: how long will I feel like this?
How long does perimenopause last?
The best figures come from SWAN, the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation. It's a long-running US study that has followed thousands of women through midlife.
A 2017 SWAN paper looked at 1,145 women who kept daily period diaries. It measured the time from when their cycles first became irregular to their final period. The typical (median) length ranged from 4.37 years in women who started latest to 8.57 years in women who started youngest.
In other words, the earlier perimenopause starts, the longer it tends to last. The same paper found that smokers tended to start earlier and have a shorter transition, and that African American women had a longer one than white women.
Perimenopause has two broad stages. In the early stage, the length of your cycle starts to vary by a week or more. In the late stage, you start going 60 days or more without a period. The researchers who set out these stages (the STRAW+10 group) estimate that the late stage lasts 1 to 3 years on average.
If you think you might be in that late stage, our guide to the signs perimenopause is ending goes into it in more detail.
When does menopause end?
Strictly speaking, menopause doesn't "end", because it's one day rather than a stretch of time. It's the date of your last period. But you can only spot that date looking back, once a full 12 months have passed.
NICE's menopause guideline (NG23) says doctors can recognise menopause without blood tests in women aged 45 or over who haven't had a period for at least 12 months and aren't using hormonal contraception. If you've had a hysterectomy, it's judged on your symptoms instead.
Whether menopause ever really ends, and what life afterwards looks like, is a big question in its own right. We've answered it in signs perimenopause is ending (and does menopause ever end?).
How long do menopause symptoms last?
The NHS says symptoms usually last 7 to 9 years, sometimes longer. It also makes two points worth knowing:
- Symptoms can change over time. Some may improve and be replaced by others, such as low mood and anxiety.
- Some symptoms can carry on after menopause. The NHS gives joint pain and vaginal dryness as examples.
Vaginal dryness is a good example of a symptom that doesn't follow the usual pattern. The STRAW+10 researchers note that vaginal dryness and bladder-related changes become more common in the later years after menopause, not less. So if a symptom like this starts years after your periods stopped, it's still worth mentioning to your GP. It's common and there are treatments.
Other symptoms tend to cluster around the years either side of the last period. Hot flushes are the one that's been studied most closely.
How long do hot flushes last?
There are two ways to answer this: how long each flush lasts, and how many years they go on for.
Each flush. The NHS says hot flushes can happen during the day or night (as night sweats) and last for several minutes.
Over the years. The clearest figures come from a 2015 SWAN paper by Avis and colleagues, published in JAMA Internal Medicine. The researchers followed 3,302 women at seven US sites between 1996 and 2013. They looked at the 1,449 women who had frequent hot flushes or night sweats, meaning on 6 or more days in the previous two weeks.
Here's what they found:
| Group | Typical (median) length of frequent hot flushes |
|---|---|
| All women with frequent flushes | 7.4 years in total |
| After the last period | 4.5 years |
| Flushes started before or early in perimenopause | More than 11.8 years in total (9.4 years after the last period) |
| Flushes started after the last period | 3.4 years in total |
| African American women | 10.1 years in total |
A median is the middle figure. So half the women had flushes for less time than this, and half for longer.
The study also found that flushes tended to last longer in women who were younger when they started, and in those with lower education. Higher stress, anxiety and low mood when flushes first began were also linked to longer-lasting flushes. That's a link, not proof that one causes the other.
The authors' conclusion was that doctors should tell women frequent hot flushes could last more than 7 years. The British Menopause Society gives a similar picture: flushes may last several years, with an average of seven years shown in some studies.
If flushes are your main problem right now, our pages on hot flushes, night sweats and why hot flushes are worse at night have practical tips.
Why does it vary so much from woman to woman?
Women's Health Concern puts it simply: every woman's experience is different. Some get through with no symptoms at all. Others find them very disturbing.
The SWAN research points to a few things that go with a longer run:
- Starting perimenopause, or getting hot flushes, at a younger age.
- Ethnicity. In the US studies, African American women tended to have a longer transition and longer-lasting flushes.
- Feeling very stressed, anxious or low when symptoms first appear.
None of this lets anyone predict your own timeline. It just shows why your friend's menopause may look nothing like yours.
Does treatment change how long menopause lasts?
Treatment doesn't change your body's timeline. It's aimed at making the symptoms easier to live with while they last.
NICE says doctors should offer HRT for hot flushes and night sweats. If you choose HRT, NICE says your doctor should talk with you at the start about how long you might take it. They should also explain that symptoms may come back when you stop, and that you can restart if you need to.
There are also options if you can't take HRT or would rather not. NICE recommends doctors consider menopause-specific CBT (a talking therapy), and there's a newer non-hormonal medicine called fezolinetant for some women. Our guide to menopause without HRT covers these.
If you're taking any treatment, don't stop or change it without talking to your GP first.
When to see your GP
The NHS suggests talking to your GP if you think you have symptoms of perimenopause or menopause and want to know your options. You don't need to wait until things are unbearable.
Please also see your GP if:
- You have any bleeding after 12 months with no period. Even once, even just spotting or pink or brown discharge. The NHS says it's not usually serious but needs checking. See our page on bleeding after menopause.
- Your periods stop or become irregular before 45. NICE suggests a blood test may be used to check for menopause in women aged 40 to 45, and in those under 40 where it's suspected.
- Your mood is low most of the time, or symptoms are affecting your work, relationships or sleep.
Where relaxation fits in
If hot flushes are the symptom that's hanging on for you, and they're making your days and nights feel long, you might like something calming to come back to. Cool and Calm, our hypnosis download for menopause hot flushes, is a gentle relaxation with soft cooling imagery, to help you unwind and feel calmer. It's a relaxation recording, not a treatment, and it doesn't replace advice from your GP.
For the full picture of what can happen along the way, see our plain-English list of perimenopause symptoms, or read about menopause mood swings and perimenopause fatigue.
This page is general information, not medical advice. If you're worried about any symptom, please talk to your GP or pharmacist.
