answer:It varies from woman to woman, just as the start of menses do. And it doesn’t exactly start but creep up on you. Periods become less regular, either further apart or closer together, sometimes more uncomfortable, and gradually peter out, at least in my case. I stopped entirely rather late…just after my 57th birthday. My doctor said that I held the record among his patients. It’s not so bad; I used to go out in the snow in my underwear when I got really warm and sweaty. It was fun. And getting rid of all the mess and paraphenalia was a great relief, for me at least. And NO more worries about pregnancy. Here’s what the Mayo clinic has to say. Menopause