I had to be scoped a couple of weeks ago. My surgeon feared that i may have Barretts esophagus...turned out to be just a really bad case of acid reflux...but, when i checked into the hospital for the test, the nurse asked all the usual questions...one of them being..and just how long have you been post menapausal?...i suppose, because of my age (54), she just assumed...well, i gave her one of MY looks and told her, if anything, i was just perimenopausal...let me knock on wood, i havent had TOM since April 9th...so, i spose i could be expereincing the beginnings(fingers and toes crossed)...my question is...when is one teetotally post menopausal...i have heard that if you go ONE year without TOM, that you are...just wondering...if so, 10 more months....YOOHOO

1 year without OR  a hormone test from your OB/GYN.  Either way my question is why do people call it "POST" menopause?  Is there something that happens after menopause?    I hope not because I have been in menopause for a while now and I've never understood the Post Menopausal comments.....

it has to be 1 year AND a hormone test test from a OB/GYN or Endocringolist.  I  had to make a slight change in your first sentence, it is definitely 1 year without your period but the hormone test test is in addition not OR.  My Endocrinologist does all my hormone test and has for the past 15 years due to the fact that I have hypothyroid, hypopituitary and adrenal problems so she checks all my hormone levels.
I went 3 years with elevated levels when we thought I was going to stop my periods,  but sure enough they kept coming - only 2 or 3 times per year.  Overall, it took 10 years of starting and stopping = perimenopause.

For those people who are on hormonal contraception, "periods" are not true menses and so amenorrhea (or not) doesn't mean anything to them. I have no idea whether I have periods or not as I have a Mirena IUD and before that was on a contraceptive pill and so only had withdrawal bleeding.

I would have to discontinue contraception to discover if I were amenorrheic.

This is why we are given FSH tests and why the results of this test are used as the diagnostic tool.

I do know that periods when you are on contraceptions arent true periods.  I was on either OrthoEvra Patch or OrthoTrycryicline tablets for years both to stop my periods when I had severe iron deficiency.Both of these meds try so you can stop your periods if you take them continually. 

In order to determine menopause - you need FSH, LH and estrodial levels.  Without all 3, it is an inaccurate diagnosis.  I am not sure how they would determine in your case, but just hormone levels isnt enough.  My levels showed menopause for 5 years before my periods stopped completeley.

If I decided to undertake treatment for menopausal symptoms, I may well decide to get additional testing to ensure that my levels were treated correctly - at this juncture, there isn't any point.

I have a degree in midwifery (women's reproductive systems from puberty to menopause) - I am more than happy with my knowledge and diagnosis - you really should consider some sort of medical career with all your experience and self knowledge

I wish I was physically able to work - that is exactly what I would do.

An FSH test between 24 and 100 was determined as being IN menopause when I had mine tested (mine was 80 something).   

I have had an odd period and times of spotting in the last year so wouldn't qualify under the "no periods for one year" criteria!

I will consider myself post menopausal when I no longer have any periods or other symptoms (like these bloody hot flashes!!!!!!!)

Sin,
 
the bloody hot flashes continue forever unless you get on hormone replacements.(from what I am told)..  I'm not doing the hormone replacements because of the cancer risks that run in my family...  I've been period free for 5 plus years now and the hot flashes are the same today as they were when all this mess started....  I guess that is our punishment huh!!!! 

My theory was that if I kept my Mirena IUD, it might help the hot flashes - synthetic progesterone is clearly not working LOL!!!!

My mother and sister didn't get hot flashes for more than a year or two so I'll keep my fingers crossed that this is genetic and that getting hot flashes "forever" is not a given!!!!

I'm not doing oestrogen replacement whatever happens - my symptoms do not warrant the cancer risk ...

I have high FSH and high LH levels for about 3 years while I was still getting my periods about 2 or 3 times per year.  I got my last period the day of my RNY - I woke up with it and never got another one and that was Oct. 2008.  Once after that I had some bleeding - I called my GYN and she said it isn't normal to bleed once you are considered post menopausal, it can be a sign of uterine cancer and she sent me for a transvaginal ultrasound.  I actually had thickening of lining of my uterus and had to repeat it in 3 months and thankfully it was normal that time.

It is determined by your doctors when they see your labs, your symptoms and when you have your last periods.    You say you will determine yourself postmenopausal when you have no periods and no symptoms like hot flashes.  I do hope you dont expect the hot flashes to stop when you start menopause? They continue and sometimes they get worse.  I know myself and a few of my friends (they are even worse) turn to look like a tomato.

I had to have a partial hysterectomy in my 30s so get tested to see if I am menopausal.  I've yet to get there.  I hope I don't have a lot of symptoms when the time comes. 

Thank you for the replies. It seems I have a lot to look Forward to, huh? I refuse to take HRT also, because of the risk of breast cancer that runs in my family, I had no idea the hot flashes last soooo long,