Quick poll: does your cycle gets shorter as you grow older?

[Francagoestohollywood]

Mine does and I'm now really annoyed. What about you?

It did the same to my sister. So she had endometrial ablation.

This is all very depressing

Am assuming that because I had a 22 day cycle last month (Shortest ever) and I am almost 40 I am probably entering the peri-menopause. Just in time for IUI. I wonder will they still allow me to have fertility treatments if I am in the peri-menopause?

my cycles got shorter around 50-52, sometimes only 17 days, sometimes 21, sometimes usual 28-30. I hardly missed any periods at all until my last one at 53.5. I had a gap of about 3 months between my penultimate period and the final one.

Everyone is different.

Oh no, DF! I'm so sorry, I had no intention to upset anyone with this thread, I just wanted a good old moan about menstruation .
I don't think that shorter cycles necessarily mean menopause. Sometimes hormones change and you've just come off the pill.

DuelingFanjo...my Mum had her meno' at 40...her Mum (my maternal grandmother) had her last child at 48!!!

All this hormonal stuff seems to be a complete mystery to most..doc's included!

Even going on a diet can alter you monthly cycle so don't think for one minute a few short cycles means meno' is defo' on the way. Some women are peri-meno' for 10 years and still have babies naturally during this time....such as my grandmother who hadn't had a period for 6 months only to be told it wasn't the meno' she was pregnant!

good post zoomy

lol - I haven't just come off the pill. I have been off the pill since 2007. My grandmother had my mum at 43. I cling on to the hope that as my cycle has been short for a few years it's nothing to worry about

If you're concerned, DF, please speak to your consultant.

There are tests that can be done to measure hormone levels that indicate perimenopause or menopause.

Tests are probably more indicative of fertility than cycle length.

Zoomy, that happened to my gran, too.

She had a baby, her 6th, when she was 47! She'd had her first at 16 (sadly, the child died age 2) and then none until she was 31. Then she popped out 5!

Thanks expat. i've had several tests and the latest ones were not good. I am waiting to hear about IUI now, IVF Wales have me on the list for March Though they do seem keener for me to go for IVF which I can't afford.

ANyway - I don't mean to hijack, just been for lunch with my mum and been talking fertility stuff so I came back in a bit of a funk!

mine stayed the same til i was 50 ..26days

i came off the pill at 25 and hardly had a period.had to go on Clomid as discovered I wasn't ovulating.Got pregnant after about 2 years.CS section 1.Didn't have a period at all and discovered I was pregnant again 3 months after 1st child.Happened again when 2nd child was 3 months.So asked my Doctor what was that all about....he just said that my first pregnancy had probably kicked my ovaries into working again....plus had 3 c.sections in the space of 2 years and started to have very regular 35 day cycles.I'd never been regular before and I was 32 when I had my 3rd child!10 years on and periods have started to spread out for a couple of months and then I have a short one.....so...there really are no rules when it comes to us women lol!!!!