Hello Carol, Yours is a common problem since most people define menopause as being "without menstrual bleeding for one year.  The best way for you to recognize perimenopause is from the symptoms which occur to a majority of women.  These are some combination of hot flashes, sleep disturbance/insomnia, mood swings, lack of sex drive, bladder issues, vaginal dryness, fuzzy thinking/short term memory loss, hair thinning/loss, dry skin-hair-nails....to mention only the most common.  You won't know when you have actually hit menopause which is the last period.  However, as your symptoms gradually wane, you can be pretty sure you are past that and into postmenopause.