Perimenapause - skipped periods - progesterone

weathergirls

The issue in perimenopause is that if you skip a number of periods, you may be low on progesterone, but still putting out plenty of estrogen. When this happens, and you don't get a monthly period, your lining can build up too thick (hyperplasia). That's why she would want you to do the cycle of progesterone. They may put you on it for 10 or 14 days. After that time, your lining would shed.

I had the EXACT same scenario at about your age. I'm 51 now. I was maybe 47 actually, at the time. Missed 3 periods and my GYN checked my lining with ultrasound, and it was slightly thickened. I did the progesterone course, had a bleed, and all was ok.,

In perimenopause when hormones go crazy - prior to actual menopause - progesterone is often the first hormone to drop markedly. This leaves estrogen 'dominant' and can cause heavy bleeds, estrogen-type symptoms like breast pain and swelling, etc. When you miss periods, the lining can build up since the estrogen is still pumping out but the progesterone is not there to offset it and keep the lining thin. I hope this makes some sense. A very skilled doctor once told me that estrogen is like a fertilizer to the lawn and the progesterone is the lawn mower!

sw403

This is very interesting -- i never heard this before and I had heavy, heavy periods for years before menopause (my last period was a year ago). How do you know if you still have any lining that needs to be shed? (my heavy periods were attributed to Adenomyosis.

weathergirls

I don't really know. I know that once I entered meno that I just didn't bleed and didn't have symptoms like a period would be coming. There's no way except for transvaginal ultrasound to see if you have a lining thick enough that it should be shed. My understanding is post-menopause the lining stays very thin constantly, unless you're on HRT. That's why they say if you go longer than a year with no period (hence in menopause), you should alert your doctor if you develop any bleeding - because the lining should be so thin without estrogen stimulating it, that you should get no bleeds.