Is it normal to get PMS late in life? (TMI, perhaps)

In My Humble Opinion
1

Before anyone says anything, yes, I am going to call my doctor next week.

I’ve never had PMS. I’ve been fairly regular with my periods, normal normal boring normal.

Now that I’ve hit the ripe old age of 40, I’ve noticed something the last six months that has me a bit concerned. In the few days before my period starts, I’ll descend into the black pit of despair. I feel like my entire life is hopeless, pointless, joyless, whatever other -less you can think of.

I finally told my husband about it last night. I think I finally figured out it’s got something to do with the onset of my period. The last week or so I’ve been on a screaming mission to find a new job. Get out get out get the hell out now. I can’t stand it anymore, I’m going to go crazy. But now, it’s like my equilibrium is back, and while I’m getting a bit tired of the shenanigans, it’s not a crisis anymore.

I also told him something that I’ve never ever done before. I don’t know where it came from. But a couple of months ago, I was in such a black pit I took my knitting scissors and scratched up the inside of my arm, from my wrist to my elbow. Looking back, I have no idea why I did it, other than I was hurting emotionally so bad I wanted something else to hurt so the emotional wouldn’t hurt so much. Does that make sense? I’ve never done anything like that before, and right this second I can’t comprehend doing it again.

I don’t know if it’s pre-menopause or what, but I’ve also had an extremely light period this month. I’ve noticed for the past year or so I’m down to one heavy day, but this week it was like I didn’t even need to bother protecting my underwear.

So, middle-aged lady Dopers…similar experiences? And yes, I will call my doctor next week. I just had a physical in September, and except for some cholesterol I need to get under control, everything was normal.

2

Mood swings are a very common symptom of peri-menopause and you’re the right age to start having those symptoms.

Definitely go to your gynecologist.

(Sucks, doesn’t it.)

3

Dammit. The price we pay for the ability to bear children.

I’m not going to freak myself out by trying to diagnose myself via WebMD. But I’ve always been such an even-keeled person, it’s just a bit disconcerting to find myself in this position.

I’ll let you know what the doc says.

4

ivylass it sounds like the beginning of menopause. Speaking from personally experience, you are in for a helluva bumpy ride physicaly, emotionally and mentally. See a doctor.

The good news is about ten years from now you are going to feel like you just stopped hitting your head with a hammer–it feels so good hen it stops.

5

I’m just hitting the 40 mark too and PMS symptoms are also getting worse. Physical symptoms and mood swings. Break out in tears at the drop of a dime.

My vote’s for peri-menopause too. Hormone levels are starting to fluctuate more.

6

42 here. Waiting for symptoms of the next chapter in Womanhood. PMS is about the same (fairly intense, but it’s always been so) but my periods stretch out more now–7 or 8 days. Gah.

7

My SIL (older than I) said her periods last about two weeks now. :eek: I had the opposite problem this month…it barely happened.

8

While I don’t know that my mother had symptoms like you are mentioning–she did mention to me that her cramps and her headaches got worse as she got older.

(She used to get hormonal migraines–and says she never gets headaches post-hysterectomy. I was fortunate enough not to inherit the tendency towards hormonal migraines).

9

Well, I guess I was wrong. After four days of a trickle, during which I decided that was that…my “heavy day” started yesterday. Cold water and hydrogen peroxide were used in the clean up. :mad:

I’m still going to talk to my doctor. I had some bloodwork done as part of my physical, but I don’t know if hormone levels were tested.

10

I’m almost 32, and the pattern of my periods has changed in the last year. Instead of getting a bit of warning spotting, and then a few hours later starting a day or so of heavy flow, then a lot less the next day, and virtually nothing after that, it’s reversed itself. So I get random spotting for several days and by the time I start thinking it’s never gonna get here, it does, but I have no idea when. And I’m getting worse cramps; not really bad ones, but worse ones, than I’ve gotten since I was a young teenager. I also need to chart a few cycles, because I swear they’ve gotten a couple of days shorter, which bugs the hell out of me, from 30-31 days down to 28-29 or so.

None of this is a real problem, but it’s irritating. The next ten or twenty years are going to be so much fun. Not.

11

When I was a teenager, I had no warnings at all, leading to some embarrassing moments in junior high where I had to walk around with a jacket tied around my waist. It’s only been in the past couple of years I’ve had some warning spotting. Since I never had PMS or cramps, I never knew it was coming. Yes, I know, I should have tracked my cycles, but I never got around to it.

12

I’ll be 35 this year and my cycles have changed significantly - I have PCOS and have always been incredibly irregular.

However, in July 2006, I cut out almost all refined sugar and my cycles went from once every 3-4 months to every month (as in I haven’t skipped one since). BUT, I also apparently managed to kick my hormones in in a way they’ve never been, because I go through 3-4 days every month with similar symptoms to what you describe, plus boob pain and bloating like I’ve NEVER had before.

I’m working on finding a doctor here - and yes, once I do, I’ll talk to them about it, but I just have to say that I used to scoff at the idea that PMS could be as bad as some people make it out to be - and seriously, when I’m not in it, I can still believe that. But as soon as it hits, I understand what people are talking about - and I know that it’s not nearly as bad as what some deal with.

13

I’m almost 41 and my periods, and PMS, have worsened over the last several years. My doc said that things usually go wacky for a few years of peri-menopausal (then the real fun starts, I hear!)

14

I’m 32 and starting to have PMS which I never did before the birth of my last child. Also expirienced “flooding” for the first time a couple of periods back. It was awful. Just glad I was home when it happened.

15

I’m 49, regular as clockwork, but I don’t pay a whole lot of attention. Many’s the time I’ve been in the pit of despair (and I’m taking antidepressants, for Og’s sake!) and the start of my period made me realize what the despair was all about.

I’ve scratched the inside of my arm with something sharp, too, and had exactly the same reaction afterwards that you did, **ivylass. **

Last month I was in the pit of despair and then had massive cramps AND hot flashes! Before that happened, I’d thought having to use zit cream and anti-aging complex at the same time was the ultimate in unfairness.

16

Ah, such delights to look forward to! Sucks to be a gal.

17

I have an appointment next Wed. I feel so silly now. The despair is gone, and it just feels like something that happened to someone else.

Ah well, if this my estrogen starting to go wonky, better to know now than later.

18

35 here, and things have been getting progressively more difficult. I’ve had cramps for years, but they’re narcotic strength now. My cycle went down to almost 21 days. I never had real PMS when I was younger, but as the years go by, every month it gets a little worse. I am not a stable person for about 3-4 days beforehand, and my boobs hurt. I have no need for this crap because I’m not going to breed, so yeah, on top of having to use zit cream and anti wrinkle spackle, I’m a little pissed.

19

I don’t know if it’s PMS, but the “warning signs” of my oncoming period have gotten weirder as I’ve gotten older. Nowadays, if I have a couple of days of intense nightmares (usually involving burgulars and death) along with mild incontinence (like I’ll have to go really urgently and I’ll be leaking by the time I make it to the bathroom), then I know I’m about to start.

20

You’re still going to the doctor, though, right? You need to go and tell me what she says, because I’m about the same age as you, and experiencing hormonal mood swings, too. I keep meaning to go to the doctor and get some kind of hormonal fix, but who has time to spend three hours in a waiting room when you work full time? (I know, I know, you have to make time for your health, grumble grumble).