In addition to being long and painful, do you have heavy flow during your periods? If so, then you could have fibroids. In order to get this diagnosed, you would have to have a pelvic ultrasound done. If fibroids are the cause, then there are alternatives --- surgery in extreme cases or hormonal treatments. You could try bio-identical hormones but unless you have a definitive diagnosis, it might be to no avail.

hi ...... I am also perimenopausal, and boy, is this fun!!! .. lol ....yeah, right! WEll, let me first say, that is very normal, so don't worry, i get this too, and so do most of the perimenopausal women i know. Check out a very wonderful site for perimenopausal women, called power-surge ... it's great, the member ship is free, and easy to join, and you won't be sorry! It is a community of women in the same boat.....the perimenopause/menopause boat! We share our symptoms, and fears, and reassure each other ... i think you'll feel much better! I'm surprised that THIS is the ONLY symptom you have...you're lucky!