I'm going to try to put this the right way...
I don't think your doc understands what ME/CFS are.
There is another syndrome that has to do with menopause and thyroid and adrenals, and it's pretty darned awful, but it's caused by hormone changes and it really wouldn't (thankfully for you!) be diagnosed as Chronic Fatigue. There are some pretty basic signs of CFS. The most important being that this just doesn't go away after menopause is done, it's lifelong and mostly unrelenting; where other fatigue disorders like hormone imbalances can be dealt with and can relent later especially with hormone treatment.
Have you seen an endocrinologist? If not, I'd say that would be an excellent place to start...but hey I could be wrong.
Here are the symptoms of CFS that rarely vary person to person.
From the Mayo clinic website:
Chronic fatigue syndrome has eight official signs and symptoms, plus the central symptom that gives the condition its name:

Fatigue
Loss of memory or concentration
Sore throat
Enlarged lymph nodes in your neck or armpits
Unexplained muscle pain
Pain that moves from one joint to another without swelling or redness
Headache of a new type, pattern or severity
Unrefreshing sleep
Extreme exhaustion lasting more than 24 hours after physical or mental exercise

The last thing mentioned is the hallmark of our illness. It's called post exertional malaise (most of us call it "crashing"). Essentially when you do exert yourself you use up what little energy you have and then you literally can't get out of bed and even rolling over feels like too much work. I'm not saying you don't have CFS. I'm saying the doc who told you that if you do have it you will get relief after menopause is just... well, misinformed.
38 is young for perimenopause. Again if you haven't seen an endo it would be a good idea, along with gyno.
Please understand it's not that you aren't welcome here! You are... I just don't think this is your problem.

well it was my gyno that diagnosed the chronic fatigue. so i dont know. i am sorry if i offended you.

Hi Annie!!

In this group we are so very used to people stopping by to discuss fatigue issues. That's just fine with us. What we are hoping for is that they do NOT have CFS. CFS is not chronic fatigue. It is a very severe and debilitating disease that does not relent, causes many of us to be bedbound, and may or may not have any relationship at all to menopause. It happens to children.

An Endocrinologist is really the person to help you exclude the many illnesses related to menopause that can be causing your horrible fatigue and general misery!! Fortunately, there are hormone replacements and other treatments that will be able to help you.

You are surely welcome here. We just want to steer folks in the right direction with this awful word "fatigue" that is present in our general vocabulary, but is not a word that suffices to describe CFS or the suffering that comes of it.

I hope you do not have this illness. I wish you the best!

No no, see things come across wrong on the page vs verbal.. I was not offended in any way shape or form. I'm hoping your doc is wrong and you can be helped, that it is not CFS. The first thing we nearly always do here is point out all the other testing that can/should be done before you settle for a CFS diagnosis because if anything else can help, we really want it to!
Here is a page on post exertional malaise. It is the defining tenent of this illness. The other is that just about every one of us can point to a virus that triggered it. Truly I wish you well.
http://www.cortjohnson.org/blog/2014/11/10/chronic-fatigue-syndrome-brain-exercise-pretty-sight/

And sorry you asked about how long peri lasts. For me I started at age 47 and ended just this spring at 55. I might depend on why you are in earlier than usual peri - if it's PCOS or something like that, it could be a different timetable. It's really individual, some women manage all of menopause in 2 yrs, some in 8 or more.

i have pco which is why my gyno believes i am starting menopause so early in life. that combined with al the women in my family have started between 30 and 35. at least i started at 38.
the fatigue i have i describe as extreme because while i am constantly tired every single day there are days where i am so tired i can barely move.if i do get any energy to do anything big like a day of shopping i swear i am going to fall asleep standing up. i get so tired my body feels heavy like a brick house.
working hasbecome difficult. i am ok at the begning of my shift. slightly tired but i can plow through it. by the end of my shift i have a hard time focusing and remembering anything i was told and i am literally dragging my ass around.

so i dont know if that is chronic fatigue or not but that is what i am going through

Hi, dear lady. I'm glad to know you. I have CFS, but I have noticed that my symptoms can get worse during certain times of the month. So, while the disease may not be caused by hormones, I think it is affected by it. Anyway, I hope they can find out what is happening to you. We know how it feels to be so tired you can hardly go on. It's so hard. We support each other. We're here for each other on our hard days and to share the joys we have as well. I'm so glad to have you with us. Many blessings on you.

Welcome, Anne Winnie. It's not like we're some exclusive club you have to struggle to fit into.... we are all hoping you do not really have CFIDS. (Don't be confused by the different names, they all basically mean the same...... in the UK, it's. ME.)

I do know that peri -menopause can start very early, in the early thirties. So it wad with my daughter. I agree with everyone who said endocrinologist. Also if you have a Fibromyalgia specialist in your area... Fibro n CFIDS tend to go hand in hand.

Did you have a virus when this started, that got better but symptoms kept coming back on you over time?? I ask this because that is often the case with us. For example, I know exactly when and where I wad infected. And my Mother and Husband also were ill, but I believe they had antibodies from when I had Mononucleosis in 1974, but somehow it took hold on me.

Often people diagnosed with CFIDS have also previously survived Mumps and /or Mononucleosis, both are Epstein -Barr virus.

Please get more opinions from specialists and other doctors before you resign yourself to having CFIDS/FIBRO. I'm not a doctor, and I don't know everything or anywhere near, but I have had this illness n been on forums since 1991 or so. Until now, I have never heard of any type menopausal situation causing or bringing about Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome, ME, or whatever you want to call it.

I have been through surgically induced menopause, and know how rough that passage in life can be. It's more than 20 years later, and I still have hot flashes and other bothersome symptoms, and can't take estrogens, soy, or anything that could help, because I've had a stroke.

Please, please, PLEASE get another opinion from a specialist who deals with CFS etc. We are sending you hugs and hoping you will be spared this diagnosis. Fatigue from menopause will go away. Ask your doctor about sublingual B-12, Ashwaganda, and other natural remedies. Also changes in what you eat that could help.

Lots O' Hugs...............Susana