'menopause' is the first 12 months without a period, after that a lady is post-menopausal, with or without symptoms.
i belong to a couple of meno forums and it's really surprised me how old some ladies are when they're still actually getting periods, some are late 60s. and i have spoken to a few ladies in their 70s who still get some of the symptoms. it's worth remembering that these ladies are the exception though.
agree with you, dris, you're only putting off the inevitable if you go on hrt. easy for me to say though, i never had bad headaches or depression or some of the other really awful symptoms some ladies get. maybe if i had, i'd have been begging the doctor for it :) having said that, sometimes it was no picnic but i knew it would settle down at some point...and it did.