Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => Personal Experiences => Topic started by: Machair on August 22, 2012, 07:35:07 AM
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Can anyone tell me what happened to their periods during peri so I can work out what is normal?
I know that changes are to be expected as most of us don't just stop (how I wish!)
I feel this is the most difficult aspect of the transition as mine are all over the place with long ones, short ones, spotting, some lasting two weeks, some lasting 5 days, some three weeks apart, some 6 weeks apart and even some spotting mid cycle.
Has anyone not on HRT a similar tale to tell and if you have finished now how on earth did this all end?
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Hi Machair
My experience with periods and peri was to simply expect the unexpected!
I had long ones, short ones, heavy ones, light ones, went 6 months between, then 8 days between! My longest one lasted about 37 days if I remember rightly - and only stopped when I got norethisterone from my GP.
I am post meno now but I have consulted my diary for you - here's how the last few went:
April 2010 - lasted 21 days, heavy
July 2010 - lasted 10 days, very light
October 2010 - very weedy one, only lasted 3 days
November 2010 - heaviest one ever - lasted 21 days (I do remember being confined to the loo for a few hours with this one it was so heavy :o :o)
January 2011 - lasted 11 days but not heavy
April 2011 - lasted 10 days but not heavy
And that was it!
Hope that helps :)
Catweazle x
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Thank you so much Cat for that- it is so helpful. I bet you are so glad to be the other side of this!
xxx
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Hi Machair
Mine are all over the place too but also still a lot of normal monthly ones, this has been going on for almost 2 years now :( I recently had some spotting which scared me :'( so had another smear and a pelvic ultrasound (to reassure me) both normal :)
I think it's different for everyone but if you're worried, have a chat with your GP.
Libby
x
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I have been lucky with periods during peri, which started 3 years ago. Mainly I have missed one month or 3 months, or been 6 weeks late. They last the usual 6 days which I have always had and not heavier or lighter. They have always been painful for the first 2 days. I now haven't had one since January, and happy about that too! ;)
Any heavy or unusual bleeding that goes on should be reported to a GP. My colleague had heavy periods that went on and they were going to put a mirena coil in. Luckily for her, the GP did a smear before she put it in, although it wasn't due and unluckily she was found to have cancer of cervix. She has had a hysterectomy today and will have radiotherapy, she is 46years old, and was not perimenopausal. :(
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I think that was really the worst part of it all also Machair as its so unpredictable and you just don't know where you are. Mine started with periods getting longer and longer from 9 days to 2 months straight :o :o :o Those long ones happened maybe twice a year but with normal ones in between. Then last year I started at the end of January and it lasted for the next six months until I went in for a hysterectomy ( one year today) best thing I ever did. I wish I had been one of the lucky ones whose periods stopped over time but we are all different. I would watch out for extra long ones or those that are really heavy for a long time because it can lead to anemia,etc., and you should see your GP. Good Luck 8)
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Hi Machair
I've never missed more than one period at a time so far, started with hot flushes and night sweats when missed last one and have sore boobs last two days which is usually a sign that my period is a week to ten days away. I have had longer ones, but no more than 9-10 days, early and late ones and heavier ones. So like you, I'm a bit in the dark as to when it will all change completely - was kind of hoping after starting the flushes, that I don't get my next one as that would be the first time I'd have missed more than one.
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My periods have been weird for the last 6 years i went though a spell of having very heavy periods where it would flood out and then i thought it was stopping but then i could feel it gushing out i hated that as i was never sure if it had gone through my cloths. Then i started having 2periods a month always heavy which has lead to me having to take iron tablets now. when i was 50 last year i had my first ever late period by 3 weeks then they were ok for a few months then from january they have been 2 weeks late and then i missed july but was spotting for 3 weeks then after 5 weeks i had a horrible heavy one where i could hardly leave the house but it only lasted my usual 5 days. The spotting started again sunday but it has now stopped.
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For the past year my periods have been regular as in having one each month! I'm getting concerned now as it was due last Monday and it came on as usual on the exact day due. or so i thought . Within four days i realised all was not normal as i was just getting light spotting and the occasional seep which has been going in and out since then (some days there has been nothing). So one week on am not getting a period just what is spotting with the odd leak and it seems as if it is going to carry on like this. Not sure how long to wait this out. I seem to remember in the past this happening about twice but i usually got a full period within 4-7 days. Should i be worried?
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I have always had very light periods and mine got even lighter once I started being peri. I now tend to have a few weeks of sweats and flushes, then they tail off and I can go months with nothing, then a couple of periods before the cycle restarts.
So strange how everyone is different.
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Hi there well I thought it was just me I am 50 and looking back my periods have been haywire not heavy but coming every 28 to 62 days over the last year. But the worst thing is that my periods seem to only last a couple of days and then spotting for 15 or so days am just about to see GP. Reading on these forums it seems other people have had this woud love to hear from you.
Having health anxiety and thinking I'm dying doesn't help. I have no pain so that's one good thing
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Hi Jane :welcomemm:
You will find lots of help and advice on here. Although it's annoying the change in periods and especially the spotting is part of being in peri meno. The hormones are being switched on and off at the "wrong" time which is what leads to the starting and stopping. It can also happen that the womb lining doesn't build up enough to lead to a proper period.
Let us know what the doc says!
Taz :)
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Thanks Taz going to wait and see if I get my period this month which is due in a few days as fingers crossed it appears to have stopped . It is so difficult to know if its just a long light period or spotting all be it light as it doesn't require pads or liners !! What a journey thank you for replying will keep site updated as it is so useful for others thank you
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You can also introduce yourself under New Members so others can welcome you.
Taz x
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Hello ladies.
Just wanted to add that my periods were regular but became increasingly heavy, often passing clots and this made me aneamic. In April 2010 my period arrived as usual then nothing until a light bleed six months later and that turned out to be the very last one. So in effect my periods did just stop and that's when meno symptoms really began.
Wishing you well.
K.
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Just wanted to say thanks to all the women on here who come on and share their experiences; it's so helpful to see that what can be scary may be just part of a process, although a frustrating one. Looking back over my posts I realised I had a similar experience a year ago (except i started within about 9 days). Its now 9 days and i still havnt had a period and just the annoying spotting so I guess for now I'll just wait a bit longer and see what develops... good luck to everyone. x
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For the couple of years or so, mine have been changing. They are getting increasingly heavy (I have to use a super-plus tampon and a night-time towel together, and change them every 1-2 hours for 3 days each time - I actually find the whole thing disgusting now as it's such a mess - I have to use the disabled toilet at work so that the hand basin is my side of the locked door so there's no danger of anyone seeing the state I'm in - yuck). I also have much more pain with them now than I've had since I had my daughter 21 years ago, and there's the spotting too - never quite sure what's happening from one day to the next. I'll be more than glad when it's all over :(
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Can anyone tell me what happened to their periods during peri so I can work out what is normal?
I know that changes are to be expected as most of us don't just stop (how I wish!)
I feel this is the most difficult aspect of the transition as mine are all over the place with long ones, short ones, spotting, some lasting two weeks, some lasting 5 days, some three weeks apart, some 6 weeks apart and even some spotting mid cycle.
Has anyone not on HRT a similar tale to tell and if you have finished now how on earth did this all end?
Hi
I get periods like that and spotting. I also get other symptoms like low mood.
At first I thought it was my tranquiliser withdrawal, but there is no way that it could be as I am tapering really slow and am on the last leg.
It only occured to me that it would be meno, when some women said I was the right age. I have just turned 47 in September.
I am going to the doctors on tuesday to discuss a blood test I had last Friday. My doc said blood tests are not accurate though, dunno why they have them if that's the case.
I am hoping for bio-identical oestrogen and bio-identical progesterone.
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Hi Dandelion agree with you why do they do these blood tests if they are not accurate....
I have now started with palpitations or irregular heartbeat. Not nice keep thinking I am going to die...
I will go to DR but have a busy day ahead today thats if I don"t die in the meantime. It is rubbish all this. Have your periods got lighter and longer or do they start and stop. Everyone is so different. I mentioned it to a gynae consultant and she said I needed a hysteroscopy to rule out anything ....
That freaked me out. I am sure it is just peri meno have hot flashes but no hot sweats. Suppose they will join in the party soon. Oh the joys
Keep in touch x
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Hi Dandelion agree with you why do they do these blood tests if they are not accurate....
I have now started with palpitations or irregular heartbeat. Not nice keep thinking I am going to die...
I will go to DR but have a busy day ahead today thats if I don"t die in the meantime. It is rubbish all this. Have your periods got lighter and longer or do they start and stop. Everyone is so different. I mentioned it to a gynae consultant and she said I needed a hysteroscopy to rule out anything ....
That freaked me out. I am sure it is just peri meno have hot flashes but no hot sweats. Suppose they will join in the party soon. Oh the joys
Keep in touch x
Hi Jane
Mostly my periods are average. I get the heavy bit in the first day or so, and then it peters out. Once I got a period where I had to change my tampon, the super-plus size, every two hours. It would just leak after two hours. Yuk.
Have you seen your GP about it?
I went today, and she said my blood results said I was probably peri meno but a repeated test was recommended. My doc said that as tests are inaccurate and I was showing peri-meno symptoms, she just gave me the femoston, which I am getting from the chemist tomorrow.
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Blood tests are not reliable until you have missed periods for at least 12 months. Until then, they can flucuate a lot during the day.
Andius
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Blood tests are not reliable until you have missed periods for at least 12 months. Until then, they can flucuate a lot during the day.
Andius
My doctor said the same, but after she felt my wet neck, she decided she thought I was peri.
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Keeping a diary is very important. That way one can monitor what is going on and one can better tell the GP and not just guess.
When having periods I get put off on my own smell. I have been assured by my family and friends that I do not smell. So why am I so sensitive to my own smell, especially when the periods are really heavy, painful and long?
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I can 'smell' myself when i am at my heaviest flow.
I think we can smell our own scent even if we wash daily.
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I went into peri early 2010, missed one period then next after three months, then ok next month,missed another one then came on after missing two, then went on HRT patches, periods regulated and them dead on time every month on partch 7 ( estrogeon and prog) patch. They were fairly light and that was ok just go used to that and now seem to be out of sink last few months period changed to patch 2 then patch 7 one normal and other more brown/ stringy but lights few days then pinkish so now I don't know what to expect this month!
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I think it's the not knowing what to expect when we are all so used to regular cycles for thirty or so years. !!!!!! When it all goes pear shaped we stress and fret and wonder what is happening. Worry and health anxiety heightens and makes it all worse. From spotting to missing, to variable flow , it's all in the melting pot ... Keep posting