Thank you for your replies. I've been sterilised, so am not on the Pill, never have been in fact because I discovered very early in life that it didn't suit me, so there are no 'artificial' hormones in my body at all, and haven't been since I was 18. I'm wondering if that means I've just got too much estrogen without any added by the Pill or similar. My periods, before all this perimenopause nonsense, were regular, every 25 days like clockwork for 3 days with a pretty light flow, so to suddenly experience heavy painful periods was a bit of a shock to the system!!! I've had hot flushes too, but they seem to have died down a bit recently. Over the last 18 months of these weird symptoms, only my last blood tests (March this year) came back as 'possibly perimenopausal', but my doctor assures me I've been perimenopausal for 18 months. I think hormones are hard to quantify. I have had the Mirena suggested to me by my GP, but as I've not had artificial hormones in my body for so long, I am a little reluctant. That said, there's no way I can experience pain like I did when I was admitted to hospital again - it was just like childbirth!
From what I understand, the lining of the womb thickens when there's a build up of estrogen. Is that possible when it's just my own body that could be producing it?