Questions............ - Menopause Message Board

judykk · 06-23-2005, 03:04 PM

I'm fairly new to this board and also to the perimenapausal life, so need some guidance......I am 48 and my periods have always arrived like clockwork until October when they have been anything but.....my gyn says maybe its my "change".....so how long does it take to work thru this ? She said if I continue to have unpredictable periods, we might try a very low dose birth control pill just to get them on a predictable cycle....good idea/bad idea? Only have 2 female family members and they are no help at all...sis had surgery so she never went thru it and mom says "no big deal". Any clues for the clueless?????

rmc12 · 06-23-2005, 10:52 PM

Hi Judy,

I am 51 and first started to notice changes with my period in my late 40s. They just instead of coming as you said like clockwork (every 28 days) started coming earlier, like day 23 or day 24 and with some brownish stuff towards the end for a bit. In the past 2 years they have been pretty much like that except for a couple at day 40 and one at day 50 and 49. This year it has been all at day 20 something except for the last one at day 38.

Just by the fact that you are 48 you are in perimenopause, the time before menopause. There is a great book called The Pause that you should get that goes thru all the symptoms and offers suggestions. I highly recommend it. it is really helpful.

As far as how long this process takes...it is very individual my gyn said, but I have read that it can take 5-10 years but again that is from when one first started having some symptoms and it is not written in stone so don't worry it will take that long. Some women go thru it in a couple years. I think I first really had changes in my mid 40s , just subtle but looking back I think I did.

My gyn also suggested low dose birth control pills if the unpredictabilty was something that I could "not live with " as she put it. I have not done that as for me it is more the symptoms that bother me : anxiety big time at times, nightsweats which I got more so last year not this year, intestinal discomfort at times (more gas, and intestinal symtpoms in general which is common) and feeling low or tired. Last year earlier in the year my symptoms were worse then they leveled off for about 8 to 9 months and then acted up again this year for a couple. Now it seems to be more stable. My big symptom seems to be just that it is a longer PMS and that is what my gyn calls it. It is all about the hormones jumping around and seems to be no rhyme or reason to it. There are some people on this board who are taking low dose birth control pills though and they will probably post about it.

I know what you mean about not having family members to talk to about this. My cousin is 4 years older and she went thru it at 50 with no symptoms she said. I have a friend who is going thru it now and has not had her period in 5 months. She feels bloated (also a symptom for me on and off) and tired at times but other than that has not had much of a problem.

Reading this board and venting is really helpful I have found and hope you do too. You just realize that you are not alone and that is a big help.

Take care,

rmc

judykk · 06-24-2005, 06:10 AM

Thanks for your help...will check out the book!

Hopefully · 06-24-2005, 09:23 AM

Judy, I'm taking a low dose birth control pill, but not for the unpredictability of my periods. It for those bothersome perimenopausal symptoms (anxiety, depression, rapid mood swings, spacey feeling, night sweats, day sweats, occasional hot flashes, chills, foggy thinking, memory lapses, bladder infections, incontinence, just to list a few...). I had to try several different brands before finally finding one that works wonders for me. I had to start taking Ovcon35 continuously in order to reap the benefits. Not taking anything for one week out of the month was torture, all my symptoms that had lessened or subsided for 3 weeks came back with a vengence that last week of placebo pills. I pray that I'm towards the end of this nonsense since I've been having symptoms since my mid 30's with them becoming severe at the age of 41; I'm 44. So the last 3 years has been a rollercoaster ride to put it mildly.