SoftaStage Map
The Stage Map: Perimenopause, Menopause, and What's Next
“Menopause” gets used for everything midlife — the truth is more specific, and clearer words are kinder to you. Softa splits the transition into stages so you can see what's common at each one: not a diagnosis, just a plain-English map you can compare your own experience against, then take to a clinician.
Perimenopause = the transition (often several years). Menopause = one point in time — 12 months in a row without a period. Postmenopause = the years after that point.
How the four stages connect
Early signs, perimenopause (early and late), menopause, and postmenopause move in one direction — nobody moves “backward” a stage, and there's no fixed calendar attached to any of them. Perimenopause is usually the longest stretch and where most day-to-day symptoms show up; menopause itself is a single point in time (12 months in a row without a period); postmenopause is everything after. Softa's quiz suggests which stage your answers look most like, you confirm or correct it, and it can update automatically once you cross the 12-month mark from your own logged period data.
Softa helps you see which stage your experience looks most like — a clinician confirms it.
Early signs
Periods are still fairly regular — small changes may be starting quietly.
See the guide →
Perimenopause
Periods start changing — timing, flow, or length — and gaps often widen over time.
See the guide →
Menopause
One point in time: 12 months in a row without a period.
See the guide →
Postmenopause
The years after that 12-month point — hormone levels stay low, steady.
See the guide →
FAQ
How does Softa figure out my stage?
From your answers to a short quiz — your cycle pattern, when your last period was, and what symptoms you're noticing. It's a starting point based on what you told us, not a diagnosis. Only a clinician can confirm where you actually are.
What if my stage doesn't sound right?
Tell Softa. On your result you can pick “Something else” and choose a different stage, or “I'm not sure” and leave it open — either way, you can change it any time.
Is menopause a phase or a moment?
A moment: the day you complete 12 months in a row without a period. Perimenopause is the run-up (often several years); postmenopause is everything after.
Can Softa tell me exactly how long I'll be in perimenopause?
No one can, including Softa. Research describes a typical range — commonly several years, sometimes shorter, sometimes close to a decade — but your own timeline is individual. A clinician can help you make sense of your own pattern.
Sources
- NICE. Menopause: identification and management (guideline NG23). Published 12 November 2015, most recently updated 2024. www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng23
- NHS. Menopause (covers perimenopause within the same page; 12-month definition of menopause). www.nhs.uk/conditions/menopause/
- Mayo Clinic. Perimenopause – Symptoms and causes. Duration described as most often 4–8 years, sometimes as short as 1–2 years or close to 10 years. www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/perimenopause/symptoms-causes/syc-20354666
- ACOG. The Menopause Years (patient FAQ). www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/the-menopause-years
- The Menopause Society (formerly NAMS). Position statements on menopause management. menopause.org
- Harlow SD, Gass M, Hall JE, et al. Executive summary of the Stages of Reproductive Aging Workshop + 10 (STRAW+10): addressing the unfinished agenda of staging reproductive aging. Climacteric. 2012;15(2):105–114. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22338612/
Medical review: pending — no named clinical reviewer has signed off on this page yet.