I’m 57 soon and still having periods

Forgive my ignorance, but are you all still fertile and have to use contraception?

I can tell when I'm ovulating. We've got to be ovulating to have a period so, in theory, yes, still fertile and yes, take precautions against pregnancy.

Whether the pregnancy would be viable is a different matter but I don't want to put it to the test either way.

It's not impossible to get pregnant after 50 but unlikely and ill advised due to the increased risks.

God, that's depressing, OP!

I started at 11. I'm 51 now and still regular as clockwork 😩

Very depressing to think it could go on for another 6 or 7 years!

Medical knowledge of pregnancy is predominantly based on historical data and all modern research is on infertility. But since late menopause is linked to longevity (and extended 'youth') you'd think we'd be interesting to some parts of the pharmaceutical industry. Or maybe not since we don't take HRT.

Good grief.

Wow. Truly wow. 60.
I think that the posters here are really proof that most medical advice is about what usually happens to most people.

No criticism about that.
I can't imagine this dragging on till late 50's.
Wow.
Forgive my ignorance, but are you all still fertile and have to use contraception?

I don't understand this you see because I keep reading it's impossible to get pregnant after 50.

The fact that you ladies (don't mean to be patronising with this word but women sounds too harsh) are still having periods and thus may still be fertile doesn't seem to support the impossible beyond 50 bit.

It's a bit like the Japanese soldier on the island still thinking the war was still on.
(joke.)
By this I mean something which should have stopped ages ago still being around.

Im about to turn 55 and still going regularly. It's frustrating as all of my friends are done and dusted and im still getting heavy, painful periods. Im on Tranexamic acid which helps alot. Weirdly, my friends tell me im lucky as in theory I'll look younger for it. No idea if that's true but I take it as a positive!
It's just SO boring now, its been 42 years and im sick of it

Yikes. I’ve just turned 50 and didn’t realise they could linger for another decade!

56 and every two weeks here. Can’t wait for it to be over. The GP referred me to gynaecology for post menopausal bleeding. Didn’t seem to grasp I am not post menopausal!!!

I don't there's any suggestion that peri is longer if you have a late menopause. More that you just age slower and so enter peri later. Why that is linked to few symptoms I don't know.

Nooooooooooo……😩😩😩😩😩

I’m 58 and just entering month 11 with no periods after five years of them petering out. I’ve had zero menopause symptoms so far and wonder if the extreme length of time of peri was a factor?

I'm 55 and until about 18 months ago they were pretty regular (maybe missed one a year). I had a year of bigger gaps and very disrupted periods - bleeding for a month, flooding etc. Now been 6 months with no period, it's very weird. Mum had a late menopause as well. I breastfed for a million years so hopefully that will balance any risk of breast cancer. Not like I can do anything to hasten menopause. And late menopause is linked to fewer menopausal symptoms, improved cardiovascular health, higher bone density, ingreased longevity and a reduced risk of cognitive decline. I think just the cardiovascular benefits balance any downsides.

I was 56.

I’m 51 and so over periods but they are still regular as clockwork. I was hoping they’d go soon but it sounds like it could be years!

@hoardingwealth I had a coil fitted in 2011, haven’t had a period since. I’ve no plans to ever see a period again 😀

My sympathies OP. I'm a bit younger - about to turn 53 and still having them when i thought I would be done by now. About 4 years ago they got a bit irregular and then 6 months ago they got very irregular. Then I had a month long heavy increasingly painful period. Fast tracked to ultrasound and now I have a mirena which was put in 4 weeks ago and is adapting to its new surroundings, apparently with a bit of pain and bleeding here and there. My last period was 3 weeks ago (normal thank gaad) and I'm hoping the mirena is going to put the kibosh on any epic bleeds that might be fancying their chances in my uterus.

What will also put the kibosh on my periods for good is the salpingo-oopherectomy I am now on a waiting list for. Whilst the ultrasound revealed no abnormalities with the uterus lining, it did reveal an 8cm ovarian cyst. So that's going to be whipped out along with my fallopian tubes and ovaries. Menopause - I'm coming for ya!

@hoardingwealth did you start your periods late? Just wondering if thats why.
I started my periods at 9 and had my last one at 48.

My last one was just before my 57th birthday. I'm going to be 60 this summer. I honestly was beginning to despair that they were ever going to actually stop.

I had spent most of the previous ten years battling with very heavy and flooding periods and hoping that each one would be my last.

Mine stopped at about 54. For a year. Th9en l went on holidays by plane and l got a period. Stopped again for a year until l went on holidays again and immediately on arrival period started. Then stopped forever!!

I had my last one at 59 , 3 years ago. Although they were few and far between after 55
I think it just takes some of us longer for the whole thing to wind down. On the plus I hardly experienced any menopausal symptoms.

I think my last one was a year ago January- I'm 57 now. And the one before that was just over a year prior. I went to the doctor and everything, all annoyed and slightly fearing something was wrong. He even sent me for tests (legs akimbo at 8 am and not even in a fun way) and on the follow up visit blithely told me that one had to be TWO YEARS clear of periods before you could safely be sure they were done.

So another 8 months to go before I can definitively say yep, I'm done, apparently.

I’m 56 and haven’t had one since August when I would’ve been 55 and a half! So 🤞

@hoardingwealth
@Youdontseehowis right about increased breast cancer risk with a late menopause. I had my last period at 56 and then diagnosed with breast cancer from a routine mammogram aged 62. Last year I had surgery and radiotherapy, now taking estrogen blockers first 5 years.

I am 57 and periods became very very heavy about 4 years ago - had a new Marina coil fitted about 2.5 years and after about 3 months they stopped. Just had another one so assume the Marina is becoming less effective. Thought I was there though 😪

It's the same in my family

just drags on and on. Dreadful. I want my Fleabag Kristin Scott Thomas moment. No idea how old that character was meant to be.

and I do not want the longevity that plagues my family on mum's side.