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[dahliagirl]

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.

[honorsmum]

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.

[BrightLight]

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.

[CLKD]

One has to be completely period free for 12 months to be over the peri stage 

[BrightLight]

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