Return of periods after menopause??

[comfortablyfrumpy]

I am post menopausal (well that's what I thought)... was clear for well over a year and then had some bleeding episodes last autumn. Put onto 2 week pathway, scans showed cyst which then subsided but womb lining thickened and increasing.

I'm now having what really feels like a period rather than just some bleeding - clots and all. (Sorry, TMI) So I'm now thinking maybe I hadn't completely gone through menopause? I just don't know what to think!

Has anyone experienced similar?

I've got a hysteroscopy next week due to the increased thickening in my womb.

The post meno label after a gap of 12 months is not always the case. Some women finds periods come back after 12 months. And obviously if you are not really post meno your womb lining will be thicker.

This tends to happen to women under 50 rather than older, but it's not an exact science.

Me Op. I was clear of bleeding from Nov 2019 to end of Dec 2021. Started bleeding in the first few days of Jan this year and now again at the start of this month. Waiting to see if it happens again in March before going back to Gp.

Not to alarm you too much, but I had post-meno bleeding, and it turned out to be endometrial cancer. It wasn't like a proper period, though, and not regular. But I'd always advise people to get it checked out.

OP, a hysteroscopy will provide answers, so it's good that you have one planned, and fingers crossed it's nothing sinister.

Post menopausal bleeding should always be checked out.

I would get it checked out again.

At 48, I had my first period for nearly 3-4 years & got put on the 2 week pathway - this was during Covid lockdowns etc yet the testing was done asap.
They couldn't find anything which is good, no explanation for it but I've been told that if it happens again to go straight to my GP.

I’m 50. Had a period last May, then nothing at all until end Jan this year. Had a gyno checkup end of 2021 though so fairly sure all is as it should be.

Thanks all.

I'm well over 50 and was convinced I'd definitely gone through menopause - this random bleeding started after probably 15/16 months? The episodes I had in the autumn were 2/3 months apart and was just light bleeding, but I was put on the 2 week pathway and have had 2 scans now. I'm having a hysteroscopy because the 2nd scan 2 months ago showed the lining had got quite a lot thicker in the space of 4 months.

This time it's really like a period, heavy and clotty and crampy. I'm really bemused if I've got periods back properly after all this time and at my age!

I'll report back what the gynae says.

Following as I’m almost 60, so definitely menopausal. Bleeding over last 3 months. Hysteroscopy today was clear. So some hormone imbalance apparently.

@whatsnext2

Following as I’m almost 60, so definitely menopausal. Bleeding over last 3 months. Hysteroscopy today was clear. So some hormone imbalance apparently.

Golly that must be annoying.

I'm now on day 5 of heavy bleeding, thinking WTF?!

Im so glad to have found this thread.
I am 54 and have had bleeding with what seems like yearly or there abouts. I have had an internal scan previously and it was completely normal. Also a cervical smear. The lining of the womb about a year ago was completely normal. They noticed I did have an ectropion [ cervical erosion] So wondering if it is that again. Its always a worry and I am so fed up with it.

To clarify, its yearly with no bleeding in between. Nothing that soaks a pad. Its ridiculous.

I really don't understand what's going on with mine.
Been bleeding over a week this time and it is getting worse each day. Passing big clots now and thinking surely this has got to subside some time soon. I am blooming glad to be WFH !

Booster vaccine?
I’ve had something similar and the GP has seen lots of older women with surprising bleeding. I’ve been referred for swift hysteroscopy.

If you have a cyst it is likely that was caused by ovulation so it does sound as if you are not through menopause, perhaps.

The 12 months with no period= post menopause is a guide, of course, but some women find they have another period after more than a year.

Good to get it checked but it doesn't sound serious.

@comfortablyfrumpy Did you know that taking Ibuprofen over the day ( as prescribed) can reduce the flow? Might help

Some articles online suggest it might be related to covid vaccines increasing inflammatory response. Worth considering?

OP my Mum went through menopause at 52 then at 58 she started bleeding. She thought it might be cancer and went to GP. She was sent for scan and blood test and investigation and told she was on her period. She could not believe it had came back. She said now I know why some people call it the curse. It carried on for a further 12 months then went again.

Blinking heck I don't want another 12 months of this!! I thought that was the one bonus of menopause, no more periods.

Covid jab theory sounds inreresting. Had first jab May and first bleed in August.

Just to update this...My hysteroscopy had to be postponed as my daughter got Covid, so I've got a rescheduled on in a couple of weeks.

The last episode of bleeding lasted over 2 weeks and was extremely heavy. I've now got it again, a month on. Full on cramps, passing clots, feel absolutely awful. I honestly want to cry, I thought I'd gone through menopause but I'm back to feeling like I did 15 years ago.

Once I've had the hysteroscopy if it throws up nothing untoward I'm going to ask GP about HRT and also about having another mirena. I can't face going back to the hell that I had when peri really kicked in before.

I'm well into my 50s for goodness sake, surely it should all be done and dusted by now!

A granulosa cell tumour can cause post-menopausal bleeding.

@dollymuchymuchness

A granulosa cell tumour can cause post-menopausal bleeding.

I'm hoping it's not that... hopefully hysteroscopy will rule things in or out but this bleeding is doing my head in. Argh, who'd be a woman!

What is 'well over 50'?
Periods can carry on right up to 55-56 in some women.

The average age to stop is 51.
I was 53.

It varies a lot.

It would be very unlikely to have anything seriously wrong with that amount of bleeding.

Usually, anything serious starts with spotting or a watery pink discharge.

Why did they cancel your appt? I thought that now if someone in the family had C but the other adults were fully vaccinated and negative LF or PCR tests, everything could go ahead?

I had had well over a year of no periods , assumed was through menopause but got bleeding out of the blue, hence was sent for a scan originally, which showed thickened lining. As that point the bleeding was quite light, it is the last 2 bleeds that have gone over the top.

Hystero appointment was just before Covid regs changed, at that time hospital was saying if someone living you has Covid please rearrange appointment, so I did. (There was a good chance I had caught it so sensible anyway).

I am a bit reassured that the now heavy bleeding means less likely to be a sinister cause, but also a bit "WTF, thought I was done with this". I am just flooding when I stand up (TMI sorry) and really fed up with it.

Dr has rung (really quick response) and is arranging prescription for progesterone to try stop the bleeding. Once I have had the hysteroscopy can work out what to do next.

Have you had your ovaries scanned?