Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => All things menopause => Topic started by: honorsmum on February 18, 2015, 05:55:13 PM
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Do you think irregular periods are a reliable sign of peri?
Is there a standard pattern to the way periods go during periods - eg do they always get further apart before stopping altogether?
I've looked back through my diary over the last year and my cycles have been:
24,25,24,25,24,25,25,28,22,23,25,21,31,26,22,25 days.
The 21 day cycle was the first and only month of taking Cerazette, and the 31 days was following stopping it.
I first started to feel not right around the 28 day cycle point, which was actually when my GP first picked up on my tachycardia. She put me on Cerazette a few months later, because I complained about the shorter cycles and how I was getting PMT for a week before, as well as feeling rough for a few days around ovulation.
Are my cycle fluctuations indicative of peri? Can I expect them to lengthen as I get closer to menopause - or is every woman different?
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Mine were getting closer together, then further apart and now this month closer together again. Mine have been 25, 27, 27, 26, 26, 26, 27, 24, 26, 27, 24, 22, 25, 24, 26.
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Oh honorsmum - if only menopause was that simple. In the peri stage your periods can get closer together or further apart. Many women go without a period for 3 or months and then they start up again. Basically everyone experiences the meno differently. I think we must assume that for most women, sometime in their late 40s they will notice changes, not just in their cycle but often PMT types symptoms, headaches, heavier or lighter periods - i would interpret these changes as the body struggling to maintain the hormone levels. For some women this happens earlier in their 30s and some women don't get this till their 50s. When our periods will actually stop and we enter post meno nobody can tell - the peri stage is really tough. I'm not sure what the average time scale of peri is - maybe somebody else can tell us?
If a women decides the peri meno symptoms are really impacting on her life and has decided that HRT is something she would like to try - this is when it gets difficult. GPs don't often go by symptoms - they like to see the FSH level raised and this will depend on getting a day when the blood tests are done that shows this - impossible to predict.
I wen through a couple of years of random periods front eh age of 33, at 35 I had a D&C to check my womb and then everything stopped. My periods did return but were erratic - I kept thinking I might be pregnant. Then a blood test showed the high FSH level and then HRT was recommended.
Keeping a diary is really good, making sure you are doing all the things that will reduce the impact of meno symptoms with diet, exercise etc. I feel this strengthens your case as and when you discuss the HRT option with your GP.
Last autumn, I was struggling after coming off HRT because I had reached 58 and the GPs wanted me to take a break from HRT to see how I coped. When I saw a private gynae 3 month ago to discuss my options, I wrote everything down to show him. He could tell that I had thought things through, tried everything I could to cope with my symptoms and was fully informed about the risks (I am nearly 59) and we were able to discuss my options fully.
Am I happy to back on HRT - not really, as I would love not to need it - but I am really thankful I still have this option. DG x
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Oh we are all different, I never even noticed any difference in emotions whe periods went haywire first year every 3 months, second year every 4/5 months then every 6 months and I just mentioned to GP and that's when I was diagnosed. That's when all the other crap started! Must have been phycological (sp)
Where as my friend still gets regular periods only lighter and all other crap too x
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Thanks girls, especially for your patience in answering my endless, unanswerable questions. :)
I am trying to arm myself with whatever evidence is relevant to front my GP with, next time I need to see her. I know she will wave away insomnia (which is actually much better), palpitations, anxiety, even PMT and associated IBS as "anxiety", as she has already tried to - so I was really just wondering whether the fluctuations in my cycles was more definitive.
When I have been stressed previously, it's always made me miss periods (in my 20's, not recently), not brought them closer together.
I'm addressing all the other areas of my life - meditating, getting more sleep, taking supplements, exercising, reducing my stress levels etc and it has definitely helped.
I guess I'm trying to keep the faith, in the face of a tiny voice in my head that says, "maybe you should just take the damn antidepressants!"
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Oh honorsmum - I feel for you. Isn't it tough to know what the right thing to do is?
HRT isn't always the best option and maybe something like Quairi (not spelt right) that has been mentioned quite a lot recently and is a newish form of contraceptive pill that contains bio identical oestrogen - this is being used by women in their peri stage to some benefit I believe. Maybe an option for you? Perhaps someone who knows about this can advice?
If your anxiety is really getting the better of you then perhaps trying the SRRI/AD for while wouldn't be so bad? It's the same with HRT, if you don't try it you don't find out and many women find them wonderful help. However it's a very personal choose and I can really understand your reluctance to use ADs/SRRIs. DG x
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Change your GP ……….
My periods came and went for 2/3 years before stopping, in my early 40s; I was in the middle of much stress so didn't really notice …….. but oh the relief - no more bleeds and no more PMT ……….. so I ought to have noticed but I could justify the symptoms on the stresses …..
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Oh honorsmum - I feel for you. Isn't it tough to know what the right thing to do is?
HRT isn't always the best option and maybe something like Quairi (not spelt right) that has been mentioned quite a lot recently and is a newish form of contraceptive pill that contains bio identical oestrogen - this is being used by women in their peri stage to some benefit I believe. Maybe an option for you? Perhaps someone who knows about this can advice?
If your anxiety is really getting the better of you then perhaps trying the SRRI/AD for while wouldn't be so bad? It's the same with HRT, if you don't try it you don't find out and many women find them wonderful help. However it's a very personal choose and I can really understand your reluctance to use ADs/SRRIs. DG x
I'm seeing Annie Evans in a couple of weeks, so I'll ask her about that contraceptive pill.
The anxiety really isn't too bad - I have lots of days where it barely features at all, mixed with days where I don't feel like myself, but it's not anxiety as such. The problem is that when the GP persuaded me I had anxiety before, it was actually the SSRI she prescribed that caused horrendous anxiety - so not only is this "anxiety" nowhere close to that, but I really ,really don't want to go back down that road again.
Because she is so adamant that any symptom I talk to her about are anxiety, I find myself doubting myself - even though in my heart, I'm certain it's peri causing it. As I said on another post, she has made me doubt my own judgement and intuition. :'(
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Sorry to hear this honorsmum...
It must be frustrating to hear the doctor say this when anxiety is a symptom of something else!
I can't really add anything to what the others have said but good luck with Annie Evans and let us know how you get on.
Hurdity x
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Thank you, Hurdity.
Yes, her last diagnosis of anxiety was actually Crohn's disease, so you'd think she might look a little deeper this time around, wouldn't you?
I just need to believe in myself - hopefully, Annie Evans will help me do that.x
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honorsmum - sorry I suggested the SRRIs, I forgot you had tried the SRRIs before with very negative consequences.
Your GP seems to be rather poor on diagnosis - your gut is telling you very clearly what is going on and Annie Evans is the right person to see for advice; Her Youtube films are fab.
I bet you are counting the days. Keep us posted. DG x
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Change your GP :-\ …………
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My periods have been all over the place which I swept under the carpet as we had a lot going on last year. Cycles were 38 34 22 114 28 and 46. They were heavy or light and definitely more cramps and pmt. We had hubs retiring, an extension with builders turning bad, our twin dd with sleep and mental health issues at 5yrs old, a close bereavement and major work issues. I guess I wasn't exactly a happy person and was under stress when I cam crashing down with meno symptoms. My gp suggested ad, propanolol (ectopics), iron (anaemia), colofac (gut spasms) , time off work (fatigue) and migraine pills for my never ending list of complaints. My bloods showed random oestradiol and high fsh 30+ which suggested perimenopause. I couldn't take propranolol or ad due to hideous side effects and have now gone onto hrt. Most symptoms have improved except anxiety and overwhelming feelings at work. Not sure how to improve these as now using cbt and therapy. Not sure whether periods have a pattern in meno but I hope I am a fair way through peri even though I am 40. Having these symptoms and a 5-6 yr old trio at home while juggling a clinical career is no fun at all.
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Hi and welcome Chocolatechaos
What a tough time you're having. Do start your own thread so more ladies can offer support.
You don't say what HRT you are on or the dosage? At 40 it is important you are using HRT to protect your heart and bones until around 50 if you are having an early meno and will therefore be oestrogen deficient. The HRT will be controlling your cycle and as your hormones diminish, over the next few years, will maintain the oestrogen you need. You may in fact need a higher dose as your hormone levels drop. As to how long your symptoms will last , this is very difficult to predict; there is an interesting article from the Guardian about research on this:
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/feb/18/menopause-symptoms-12-years
Anxiety does seem to be the toughest meno symptom to get under control but it does take a few months for HRT to settle everything down so you generally feel better. I do think that sleep deprivation makes everything worse and if HRT stops the night sweats and you are able to sleep better then this will help the mind and body heal. CBT can really help if used properly - again this is tough to keep implementing. I use Mindful Meditation when I get stressed and over tired.
You are doing all the right things. Keep posting. DG x
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:welcomemm: Chocolatechaos from me too!
With regards work, could you have a phased return/job share? If you start your own topic in Private Lives you will get responses ;)
My periods were SO PAINFUL, heavy, clotting throughout most of my teenage years until I took The Pill that I despaired ……… and was glad to see the back of them in my mid-40s ::)
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Hi, my periods, after coming off coc, then a brief try of Cerazette, and Femulen were:
9 weeks, 20days, 46,21,24,19,37,8,14,25,27,24,11,12,25,16 (spotting, 15(spotting),24(spotting), 11,38,27. Somewhere amongst that, I tried Norgeston for a week, and bled afterwards.
I found a paper on the internet, after much searching. It was trying to find a pattern of periods for perimenopause. I can't remember how many women they studied. The pattern that they came up with was: periods getting heavier and/or closer together, then lighter and missing some until they stopped. I can't remember the time period this was over, but probably 2-3years.
In actual fact, this was true for only 20% of the women they studied. There was such huge variation, that this was the nearest they got to an actual pattern. I didn't bother keeping a note of which paper it was.
So in the words of the locum I saw when I first started with this - anything goes in menopause.
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Thanks, dahliagirl.
I guess any change to what's normal for you is indicative of hormones going awry, for whatever reason.
It was really only after I had my children that my periods became like clockwork. They became regular even in their irregular-ness - alternating 24 and 25 days.
The change does seem to have coincided with other peri symptoms, so that's quite telling.
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I think that changes are definately happening for you, how long they will last and what other changes will happen is the unknown, the annoying unknown ;)
I can say that I thought I would get heavy periods, light periods, delayed periods and all sorts as my only indication of menopause - how naieve I was, I didn't even know about the skin issues, the sleep etc. My changes seem to have been mostly symptoms and not really obvious changes to my periods.
There are so many individual experiences. My periods got closer together from 25/26 (cycle was always a bit short) down to 21/23 and now I have skipped two. As you know my GP thinks that's it. They were regular as clockwork, just shorter, which I think is progesterone levels (don't quote me ;) ) but things can change............mine didn't, just shorter and then more and more anovulatory cycles. I can say all this in hindsight. At the time, I didn't have a clue, I just knew they were closer together and the bleeding was different somehow, I just thought that it would go on for years, which it can.......
I think it's great to track things - I started a couple of years ago because I had a couple of strange cycles with intermittant spotting at the end and hardly any period.
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One has to be completely period free for 12 months to be over the peri stage ::)
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CLKD - yes, postmenopause is retrospective.
If I have premature ovarian failure I think it can be said that as you are producing postmenopausal levels of LH/FSH and probably have been for some time you are therefore unlikely to stop/start with periods as per 'natural' menopause.
Saying all that Premature Ovarian failure can remiss and ovulation kick back in (depending on whether you have follicle depletion or dysfunction) So really, the same 12 months does apply, but it's a different process. I think my GP wants to tick the boxes, confirm diagnosis and move me along, hence his insisting 'that was that' - harsh at the time, might not be true, but all this is quite mysterious really ;)