I have not had a period for 3 years. I was premenopausal, am I in the full blown menopause now or am I out of it now?

Congratulations, you are officially post-menopausal.

Your 'menopause' is officially the date of your last period, but obviously you don't know at the time that it's your last one! So people commonly refer to the period of time you spend waiting to see if your periods reappear as the menopause.

A year without periods is considered to confer 'post-menopausal' status on you, but we find that many women get a rogue period again for up to 2 years after they appear to have stopped. 3 years, however, is pretty safe!

Eileen Durward