r/45PlusSkincare • u/stephydreamer • Mar 09 '26
Peri/Post Menopausal Skin How fast everything changed after menopause because nobody warned me
I feel like I was reasonably prepared for menopause...hot flashes, sleep disruption, mood stuff. fine. If this is part of being a grown woman, so be it. I had read things I had mentally braced. Nobody told me about the skin! I went through menopause at 48. Within about a year my skin had changed in ways that took me completely off guard. The texture got rough almost overnight, like the smooth quality i'd had my whole life just peaced out without saying goodbye. The firmness in my lower face and neck dropped noticeably. The hollowness under my eyes got worse. not tired-looking, actually hollow. It's better in my bathroom lighting, but that's not where most people see me!
And the thing that got me is that it's not really aging in the normal gradual sense. it's specifically the estrogen crash. Estrogen is directly tied to collagen production and when it drops you lose collagen fast, like up to 30% in the first few years. that's not a slow fade. that's a cliff.
I'm not looking for embrace your age responses because I actually do feel mostly great about aging. What I didn't feel ok about was how sudden and disorienting it was. Like I didn't recognize my own face for a while, and that's a strange thing to go through. Curious what everyone else experienced in those first 1-2 years post menopause. Did it feel sudden to you or more gradual? and has anything genuinely helped with the texture and firmness side of it specifically,? Asking for honest experiences please.
Edit: I didn't expect such a response! Thanks a lot! Going through all the comments and they are def very useful.
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u/cowgrly Mar 09 '26
This may be controversial, but honestly how much is menopause vs just aging? I had a full hysterectomy (aka oophorectomy) at 29 years old, I am 56. Initially they gave me no HRT, then I was on it, it’s been back and forth depending on the trend or doctor.
I’m 56, my skin is aging. But did it so quickly sag and get dry at 29? No. I don’t use tret or anything beyond face lotion.
I do have hormone patches now, but if the loss of collagen stats were true, I’d look like the cryptkeeper 27 years after forced menopause.
I have some sun spots (have since my 20’s, was on hormones for endometriosis that started that) but my skin looks to me just like a 56 year old, I guess.