I thought mine had stopped. No period in Nov., Dec., or Jan.
Then on Valentines Day, Surprise!
Other than the actual length of the period, It’s been regular since. I’m thinking the added stress I have during the Holidays was the cause.
Thanks, but I figured I’d pack a whole suitcase full and that would probably insure that it would decide not to come early. It hates it when I’m prepared.
I know two women who’s perimenopasue was hallmarked by skipped periods, then a period that went on for a more than couple of weeks solid. Both had to see their doctors as it just wouldn’t stop. I hope to avoid that myself down the road.
Well, off the doctor’s in about 1 1/2 hours…got the fluttery kinda ick feeling you get when you have to go (I don’t show up there but every couple of years or when I have a problem) and you don’t know what the result will be.
It’s very great to hear stories about this from other women … it’s not exactly party talk and sometimes it helps to hear that it’s not as weird as you think!
Well, got requisitions for blood tests but can’t go until Monday, sigh. Dr says highly possible it’s perimenopause. Need to track for six months. I can deal with that. I can’t deal with the other and until I know, it’s a dreadful feeling. So Monday it is.
Hmmm. I won’t have periods to warn me about menopause, because I had my uterus removed. I think I’m starting to have hot flashes, though! :mad:
I had to get three blood tests, a week apart, so they could check my hormone levels throughout the month. She said there was virtually no hormone activity and it was a pretty safe bet I was done. Nothing since, and I’m 52.
I began having irregular periods 2 and a half years ago, for about 6 months. My doctor put me on birth control pills to regulate my periods, I had some fantasy that I could keep them regular with the pill until I was completely through menopause, then stop the pill and be done with it. Stayed on the pill for 2 years
I stopped having any period, even with the pill. My doctor had me stop the pill and took a hormone test. I was pronounced absolutely menopausal. Then, in a month, I started having absolutely regular periods, the crampy heavy soak through your protection kind. That was 4 months ago and I haven’t even been a day late…oh well, I anticipated a long ride.
Another friend stopped having hers completely at the same time I became irregular. I was jealous because hers just stopped,but they started back 14 months later. Yet another friend went without for 3 years then had a period out of nowhere, I haven’t checked in with her to see if she had a repeat, though.
Except for the fact that it’s nice to know I’m not alone, you ladies aren’t helping my state of mind here. I’ve been waiting so long for this to be done, and now the PA tells me I’m only still at the average age, and you’re telling me I might go on to have ambush periods out of the blue for years after I think I’m done, which might be a few years down the road anyway. Oh, well, so far no hot flashes (knock on wood).
I’ve been going through this since I was about 34-35 (I’m now 42). I got pregnant (while on BC) and had my last child at age 36. I have no more than 1-2 periods per year now–usually just before that magical 12 month term is up!
(Yes, I started very young, but I was told to expect that–my Mom started in her 40’s, but I had an ovary removed when I was 26 due to a ruptured ectopic pregnancy. The doctor said that I would likely begin menopause even sooner than Mom did.)
Yes, I have heard that you can go by the ages the women in your immediate family went through menopause to figure when you will. My mother had a hysterectomy in her early 40’s so no idea when she would have gone through menopause. My older sister went through it when she was in her early fifties so going by that I still have a few years to go.
I’m not sure how to tell if I’m having hot flashes when the weather is well over 90 degrees F most of the time.
I had heavy periods for a couple of years. Mentioned them to my family physician and he said it was probably perimenopause. Then they stopped for four months. Around that time, I visited the doctor for prescription refills and got the requisite blood work done. The tests showed that I was insulin-resistant and slightly anemic. He put me on Metformin and iron pills. Then my period started again, was regular for two months, and then started in November and didn’t stop until February. Not heavy every day, not heavy most days, but something every single day. And I felt horrible - headaches, dizzy spells, too exhausted to do anything but go to work and come home. I had felt that way for the last few years but this was worse. I couldn’t stand up for more than about 5-10 minutes, my head hurt constantly, I caught colds and the flu. I craved ice and never wanted to eat; I lost about 30 pounds.
Looking back, it sounds like I was a real dumbass, but I was also fat, and we’re always hearing about how fat people feel horrible all the time, with loss of energy, and I thought it was my fault for being such a horrible human being. (Yeah, I was depressed, too; the kind of depression I got when I was pregnant. Of course, I was so low that I couldn’t see it. I thought I was worthless, lazy, and all that instead. It’s always easier to blame me.)
In February, I had a horrible headache for about four days. It was so bad I didn’t go to work, so then I needed a doctor’s note. I went in to see him and told him everything. He sent me for bloodwork. That same day I received a call saying my hemoglobin was at 7 and he was calling in stronger iron pills and he wanted me to see an OB/GYN; they had arranged an appointment for me that day. So I went to the OB/GYN, who did an exam, a uterine biopsy, and an ultrasound. The next day it was blood transfusions and a CT scan.
They ended up finding tumors the size of a football on each of my ovaries.
Funnily enough, the day I saw the OB/GYN was the day my period stopped, and I never had another before they removed my ovaries, uterus, and cervix. They claimed to me that they didn’t believe I had cancer, but wouldn’t do my surgery until they could have a gynecological oncologist available for consultation. When they did the surgery they told my family that the tumors were borderline, which none of us understood. A week or so later the path report came back that they were benign. So I really got lucky.
Probably very few people reading this will have an experience of this sort. Most will have a completely normal menopause with only the usual issues. But when I went to my seven sisters (my mom had died several years prior to this) for stories about their menopause, two had had hysterectomies (as my mom had also had), two had been placed on the pill until well into their fifties (one till age 60) and had no idea what was ‘normal’, and the rest hadn’t started menopause yet. I didn’t know what to expect, I didn’t know that the way I felt was abnormal, and since I was visiting my family physician regularly for checkups and treatment as needed, I thought I was doing what I needed to do to take care of my health.
So if anyone has these sorts of issues now or in the future, please visit your doctor. Get a referral if needed to an expert. Please don’t put yourself through what I experienced.
I’ve had the period that won’t end. And the sweats from hell. And the rage at the world. I got a doctor’s appointment coming up in a few days so I’ll keep my fingers crossed.
Well, got my blood tests…as of this morning, when I finally got the nerve to call, they said the results weren’t back yet : :dubious:
Then, five minutes later, the receptionist calls, said she found the results and I have an appointment tomorrow to discuss them. Hopefully it’s just high blood sugar, and perhaps the big “M”. What we DON’T want is the big “P”. :eek:
I am curious about those who went on the pill to control the erratic periods. When you stop the pill after 3 weeks, what do you do if the period doesn’t come? Do you still take the 7 days off and then go back on?
Well, results are NEGATIVE for pregnancy, 
Blood sugar high though. Getting info from the Canadian Diabetes Association to see how to control it…apparently not over 7 yet so on the border.
What a relief!!!
Add me to the lady dopers who just have to wait for a surprise, I suppose. Hopefully not during the next two weeks when I’m on vacation.
But I’m liking this no monthly thing!
Mine’s late again, too. It’s probably waiting two more weeks for my vacation.
Wile E - I remember starting one, in the airport, on my way to Mexico for vacation. :rolleyes:
YES
I didn’t get my periods most months while using the Yaz pill for regulation. Therefore the doctor took me off, but my regular periods soon came back with a vengance
Thank you! For being 47, I’ve wondered if my periods might just stop. Over the past year they have gotten very heavy and pretty much for the first time I had experienced cramps monthly. Hopefully things are nearing the end, but over a week late when I never very from every 28 days makes one a little stressed.