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[Sally-cinnammon]

Hello all
I haven't posted on here for a while as everything's been going swimmingly.  I haven't menstruated since last May (yipee!) after years of the usual peri symptoms.  I was almost ready to celebrate being post meno and period-free when suddenly this week I got the dreaded pre-menstrual symptoms of sore boobs and a spotty chin (I've had the clear complexion of a baby for the last 9 months - a wrinkly baby, but still...it was so lovely to have no spots).

Can some knowledgeable poster tell me if I'm likely to menstruate soon?  I was practically praying I'd get to May again without the dreaded curse rearing it's ugly head, now I'm gutted.

If I was playing meno-bingo I'd have marked everything off the card except the 12 month gap.  I've long ago crossed off insomnia, night sweats, flushes, tearfulness and forgetfulness, irregular periods and just recently added vaginal dryness (yay me!), but I'm anxiously waiting to shout HOUSE!

So, what say you?  Any ideas?

Thx for reading

EDITED TO ADD:
Dalhousie's thread pretty much answered my question, but I hadn't seen it. See it here:
http://www.menopausematters.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,24061.0.html

[Taz2]

Sounds a bit like you may be going to have another period but it's difficult to tell. I got to eight months without a period and then nine months before going on to HRT so I have no idea when they would eventually have stopped.

How great to hear that you no longer get flushes and sweats though. How long did they last?

Taz x (fingers crossed smiley) 

[Sally-cinnammon]

Sounds a bit like you may be going to have another period but it's difficult to tell. I got to eight months without a period and then nine months before going on to HRT so I have no idea when they would eventually have stopped.

How great to hear that you no longer get flushes and sweats though. How long did they last?

Taz x (fingers crossed smiley) 

Thanks for your reply Taz

Sorry if I was confusing, I do still get night sweats and flushes and all the other peri things, I should have just been factual instead of trying to be funny about the bingo, doh.  I just meant I've had all those things (apart from the dryness).  I've had them for at least 3 or 4 years (might even be longer).  I don't find them that bothersome tbh.  Way less bothersome than periods, for sure.

Since I wrote this post I've read Dalhousie's thread, which has pretty much answered my question and it seems my obsession with the 12 month holiday is erroneous and I can still menstruate up to, and after, the 12 months.  Bah 

[Taz2]

It was my fault - I didn't quite register the bingo comment so when you said "crossed off" I thought you meant that you had had them and finished with them! 

I think that any bleeding after a twelve month gap -whether under or over 50 - has to be investigated unless you are a really young woman. So fingers crossed you WILL get to your 12 month milestone and be able to call yourself "post menopausal"!

I find the hot sweats more bothersome than periods. At least with a period they lasted for around five to seven days a month. The sweats are three times an hour day and night so no days off! Having said that I haven't had one for forty minutes for the first time in months.. 

Taz x

[Sally-cinnammon]

Gosh, I don't get them nearly that often, not even every day.  No wonder you find them a bother, what a pain! 

Thanks for the optimism and the crossed fingers, Taz.  I feel better just for asking someone instead of stewing about it.

Best of luck with your sweats, too.   

[Taz2]

Thank you! They were like this six years ago when I started HRT which stopped them dead which was lovely but I have had to come off for a while as I reached 60. I'm still pondering on whether to ask the doc to go back on. I've been off for seven months now and they are not improving. She did say that I should be through them in a couple of years which didn't really cheer me up 

Let us know how you get on!

Taz  x

[Sarah2]

You may get all the PMT symptoms but no bleed. I did sometimes.
On the other hand, I also had PMT symptoms and a couple of tiny one-day episodse of spotting many many months after my last period- up to 18 months after- and managed to convince my gynae that it was hormonal- spotty chin, sore boobs, feeling cross (er). I was being scanned for other reasons at the time (cyst) but just so you know that sometimes there can be long gaps.

Taz- you really should go back on HRT! My mum had a terrible meno but was not allowed HRT then (long time back now) because she'd have been starting it over 60( she put up with symptoms for years until asking about HRT). She had flushes well into her 70s and even early 80s.  My gynae says some women never get rid of them and is happy to give HRT to older women as long as they accept the small risks. My feeling at the moment is that I will stay on it for ever as long as I can and feel well.

[Taz2]

It's the accepting of the risks which I'm finding difficult plus the fact that if I restart it and then have to come off in five years time I will find it even harder to cope. It is much more difficult at 60 than it was at 53 for some reason but that may be a bit of negativity creeping in because when I started it at 53 I was convinced that when I came off the worst would be over or would at least soon resolve itself. Now I know that whenever I come off I will go through months and possibly years of symptoms. I reckon the longer I am without the more fogged up my thinking is becoming!!! You are right - I should go back on it!!

One plus side of not being on HRT is that I no longer get any bloating. I have lost 10lbs without changing anything and three inches off my tummy and another three off my waist. Sadly I have also lost it off my bust - can't get used to soft boobs with no "middle" if you know what I mean but at 60 this is to be expected!

Taz x

[Sarah2]

were you taking a lot of progesterone Taz- re. weight gain?
I am the same weight as when I started -but do find I get fatter when on 10 days of Norethisterone.

I think the way to look at risks is the absolute risks. And put them in perspective Do you travel on the motorway by car for example? You are more likely you have an accident or be killed on the road then die from HRT. (My consultant said this.)

I also think that things change- who knows what will have developed re. HRT in 5 years' time. It's becoming more personalised with lower doses being used and different progestins- so you need to decide what suits you now- not worry about what may be happening in 5 years. None of us knows what is round the corner.

[sallyt]

Hi

I have not posted anything before so not sure what I'm doing, I am 50 and my main symptom is sore boobs, for most of the time, one much worse, I eat healthy, exercise, and have just lost a stone in weight so not overweight anymore, I just wanted to ask what you other ladies find helps with sore boobs, I have tried Starfleet oil, and have just bought some menopause original, (and a new softer bra) it's got so bad I have made an appointment to see docs this week, but as its a man I thought I would ask what other sufferers have tried, I'm not on her.

Thanks for listening x

[Taz2]

Welcome to the forum sallyt. You are doing just fine. Someone will be along soon to answer your sore boobs question. It was so long ago for me now that I can't remember!! You may like to find the New Members thread and introduce yourself on there. More members will spot you then and you may get more replies to your question. 

Sarah - "I also think that things change- who knows what will have developed re. HRT in 5 years' time. It's becoming more personalised with lower doses being used and different progestins- so you need to decide what suits you now- not worry about what may be happening in 5 years. None of us knows what is round the corner."  This is what I also said seven years ago and to be honest nothing seems to have changed. It is a personal choice of course and it may depend on whether we know someone who has suffered stroke or heart disease and whether their life has been seriously impacted by it. I still find it strange that we fight to be referred to a "specialist" and when we don't like what they tell us we disregard it anyway 

Taz x