Menopause and the pill

[NotJanine]

ok, silly questions coming up -

I am on the mini pill and don't have regular periods. Generally don't have any, but do have the odd light one.

So I am wondering if the menopause will cause a change to this or does that not happen if on the pill? Also, as I am not having periods does that mean that the menopause will be later - will my body still think it has lots of eggs to be used?

I'm 46 and haven't noticed any symptoms yet.

No you are born with a certain number of eggs and no type of hormonal contraception will change that. Eggs that are not released through hormonal processes die anyway. If this was the case, all women would stay on BC and never have menopause- or women with large families would have an earlier one!

You'll have to wait and see what happens with the menopause. If you have symptoms then you may decide to change from the mini pill to HRT.

Thanks Polly I thought it was a silly question!

And another one -

Does HRT delay the menopause or just deal with the symptoms?

No question is silly...but thinking about it, some women have no ovulation for 20 years if they take the Pill but they don't have meno 20 years later :)

HRT and delaying meno- there was another post which asked this a few threads down. No, it doesn't delay meno. Nothing can delay meno. If you mean do you still have meno symptoms if you stop using it(and you don't have to stop-ever) then everyone is different. Some women will have symptoms again, some won't and some will have them for a short time and not so severe.

HRT tops up your levels of oestrogen to what they need to be to control flushes, sweats and other symptoms. Long term, it does a lot more.

I didn't think taking the pill would delay it quite that long {grin} just wondered if it was a factor.

At the moment the menopause is this big scary unknown for me - I guess once I start getting any symptoms then I will get a lot more clued up on it and get advice from GP etc.

I suggest having a good read of this websitewww.menopausematters.co.uk
sadly- reading the forum on that site- most GPs know bugger all about treatment so it's best to learn yourself and then ask for what you'd like.