I have always had a 28 day cycle and it was like clockwork! (I'm 42 years old) Within the last year my cycles have started becoming shorter in between. They now come anywhere from 21-25 days. My period itself used to last 7 days now it lasts about 4-5 days. I have always had very heavy periods with severe cramping. Now it seems like my periods are not as heavy but I actually get severe cramping a couple days before my period actually starts. The weird thing is that the cramps come while Im sleeping in the middle of the night. This has happened the last few months two days before my period, I wake up in the most severe pain with nausea, sweating,and cold clammy feeling. The pains are so intense it feels like my uterus is contracting. This usually will last for about 30-40 minutes. To relieve the pain I try taking a hot bath, and take Ibuprofen 800mg. I am literally doubled over in pain!! The other night it was so bad I almost called 911. Within the past 6 months I've also had trouble sleeping at night, I wake up numerous times in the night and cant get back to sleep. I wake up sweating and my hands have a pins and needles feeling. I cant stand the fact that my periods are not like clockwork anymore. I also have been getting bad headaches a week prior to my period. The headaches are awful I have to lay down with ice packs on my head. I have days I'm so irritable and moody. I have been reading alot of info on the internet about peri menopause. My question is how long do these symptoms last???
The amount of time varies from individual to individual. Mine lasted well over a period of nine years but not bad at first. Mainly, my periods became irregular and heavy. Sometimes, I skipped 4 months and then they started again. I got used to that. Then, in the last two years all havic set in and I believe that I have had every symptom imaginable. IBS, irritable bladder, itchy crawling skin, dizziness - you name it. I am now 57 and have only a few hot flashes and indigestion and a few others, mainly anxiety from going through the whole thing. This is not to say that you will go through this. Some women have just a short transition and others go through hell. Get the book "The Pause." It explains it all very well.
Hi- Thanks for the info on the book, went to the library yesterday and it was checked out so I put in a "hold" for it. I have another question that I hope someone can help me with. Yesterday it seemed like my period was starting (just had some light pink blood it was very little) I usually use tampons but it was just light spotting so I used a lightdays pad. (also I'm getting over a yeast infection was on a 3 day treatment). Now it seems to have stopped, except for when I use the bathroom and wipe I can see very faint traces of pink blood. Like I explained in my last post my periods have been getting shorter between cycles so its hard to tell when I should be getting it. Is it normal in peri menopause for this to happen too ? Always when I get my period the first day it starts out brown in color and then it gets pretty heavy by the end of the day. This is the first time this has happened.
Yes, this can happen. It happened to me just before I started to skip periods. This can also happen between periods. Everything gets messed up at times and then you could go back to being normal for awhile. It is a crazy time.
