Telling people to get lost when they make comments like this. Seriously, did you not fucking read the thread? :rolleyes:
Can you guys just for once, restrain yourself? For godsakes, there are medical issues that can cause this, but omg, BOOBS!!! GAH!
This is out of line for this thread, do not make comments like this.
It’s what was said upthread about adipose tissue settling/sagging in certain places once you’ve gone through menopause. I’ve been more or less the same weight for maybe the past 10-15 years, same clothes sizes, etc. I’ve noticed, though, for the past couple of years that I’m gradually getting thicker in the middle, and my bust must be part of that middle because I’ve gone up a cup size. My jeans also aren’t fitting the way they’ve always been fitting and I’m like, “Cripes, I can’t afford a whole new wardrobe, stop it!”
Oh yeah… 
I know what you mean. It’s all still there, just in different places. Damn you, Gravity!! <Shakes fist at the ground>
When I was a little girl, I was told that I would grow boobs when I was just a little older.
When I was a teenager, I was told that I would grow boobs if I just gained a little weight.
When I was a young woman, I was told that I would grow boobs after I had a kid.
I’m not falling for this again y’all! 
Please get checked by a Dr.
I was a C for a long time… They started growing to FF! Then came the double mastectomy.
Q: couldn’t it be breast cancer? If there were lumps growing due to expansion and growth of cells that shouldn’t be there, might it not cause that?
INAD, but I hope that anyone experiencing sudden growth of extremities without explanation would go see one quickly.
Most women are used to their breasts changing size. Relatively small amounts of weight loss or gain can result in noticeable changes in breast size. Plus, they swell during menstruation. So women are not going to freak out about breasts getting bigger (at least if the changes are uniform) as you or I would about, say, an arm getting larger.
Epitome of a late bloomer I guess.
My posting time : 6:39PM 10/23/2014
Subterraneanus’ posting time : 6:57PM 10/23/2014
For my part, I apologize for not being psychic.
Will you apologize for not being able to tell time?
Additionally, Subterraneanus was modded for his comment.
Let’s just get back to the OP.
In the late perimenopause and subsequent, glandular tissue in the breasts is replaced by fat for many women, not all. Fatty (adipose) tissue will expand and the breasts take up more room. Fat replaced breasts are indeed easier to mammogram- they are more transparent, and the process is less uncomfortable. The hormonal changes (mostly lowered estrogen levels) also have an influence on where you store fat- in reproductive age women, it’s the hips and thighs, and for us old ones, it’s the middle. Weight gain in the late 40’s and early fifties is incredibly common, often due to reduced activity but also those pesky hormone changes.
Think of your milk producing glands as little pink suitcases, connected by ducts to the nipple. They go from nice hardcased carryons to softsided family size ;).
I second the wired sportsbras. Mine are New Balance Discreetly Sassy. I can get my 36 longs tucked away and there’s no jiggle.
FYI I was certified by the North American Menopause Society in 2007 as an NAMS CMP, have belonged to ISSWSH and ISSVD, and currently am ASCCP certified in advanced colposcopy and high resolution anoscopy. It appears there are a couple of you posters who need my expertise.
?!?!?!?
I have no idea what those acronyms mean.
Thanks oir the explanation, it was very helpful and eye opening.
I admit I was wondering exactly the question the OP posted. I’ve been scrawny thin my whole life, always small boobies. Never wore a bra until I was in my early fifties. (Because there really wasn’t enough to make jiggling an issue, and a camisole covered any headlight issues!)
Though I have been told my whole life, “Oh don’t worry, you’ll expand once…you have a child, pass 30, pass 40, hit menopause…etc!” None of which actually happened, so I call old wives tale on the lot!
My weight has not increased at all. I am not thicker in the middle, hips, bottom, etc. But my boobs are now big enough to actually jiggle, and I wear a bra whenever I go out of my house into public. (Mostly in the summer though, winter gear makes it impossible to tell if I’m wearing a bra or not - Yay!)
I have often wondered about this, but asking around usually produces such old wives tales as this thread contains. I’m very happy to learn the science behind it.
Thank you very much!
I was just being silly and tongue-in-cheek, but I apologize if I offended anyone.
Sorry- they are pretty obscure.
CMP- Certified Menopause Practitioner. I didn’t renew- family health interfered.
ISSWSH- International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health. They have a website. The annual meetings are a hoot. You never saw so many batteries in your life. We don’t have any local sex therapists, plus it’s not covered by our insurance plan. I am willing to talk about most anything, and with the other aspects of female genital health in my scope of practice have been able to help women figure things out. An old colleague from the health underserved urban clinic days is their token male sexual health guru.
International Society for the Study of Vulvovaginal Disease. That and ISSWSH have a lot of crossover. Genital dermatology is my deal. Libby Edwards and Hope Haefner are my heroes.
ASCCP- American Society of Cervical and Colposcopic Pathology. Cervical, vaginal, vulvar and and anal colposcopies.
I sincerely hope you’ve no idea any of these groups existed ;0
Zombie answer here. Had blood work done (years ago-I’m 50 now) and my estrogen levels were all on the high end of normal, most likely because I am peri-menopausal. FTR I’ve always had dense breast tissue (after my first mammogram, I got called back in & had to get ultrasound). I think dense breast tissue also has something to do with it based on comments in this thread and elsewhere, but my doctor said there were no medical studies that would support that at this time. But no cancer or any other negative diagnoses, so that was a relief.
Boobs are still a C & perky (I’ve even had people ask if I got a boob job!), but if this happens to anyone else, just know that the majority of the time it’s not cancer.
And I was rereading this thread. I’d forgotten you’d initially posted this a couple of years ago. I’d even forgotten that I’d replied a couple of times, LOL.
Just for a comparison, I had no issues with my last mammogram because my dense tissue is now a thing of the past. The NP there told me it’s because I’ve already gone through menopause, so, physically speaking, there’s “no reason” for my body to be holding onto all that tissue. Instead it becomes part of the general adipose and, as a result, sags.
Since we’re updating… Four months after the last Oct 2014 post, I went in for a regular mammogram (end of Feb 2015) and <longish story short> found breast cancer, very small, very early, lumpectomy two weeks later in March, slight detour while healing from surgery, no chemo, three weeks of radiation in July. Had follow-up mammogram last week-- all clear! Yay! I’ll be on Arimidex (estrogen-blocker for post-menopausal women) for at least five years.
That’s wonderful, ThelmaLou (not the cancer, but the fact that they caught it so early and your treatment is rather simple)! 
