1 year since last period - what's happens now ?...

[housecommon]

I'm 51 so as it's been a full year I think that means I'm fully menopausal now (?)
Just wondering if things get better / worse now ....

It doesn’t mean much.
In essence, if you were to go on HRT ( if you are not already?) then you could try a continuous regime, rather than cyclical.

Other then that, nothing changes I’m afraid. Your Oestrogen levels aren’t going to suddenly rise.

@Runaround50 thank you. I'm not on hrt (yet?) but thats really useful to know.

Yes I think it’s a kind of bench mark for the the NHS. One year after the last period, equals post menopause, as opposed to peri menopause * which can go on for years whilst you are still having periods.

Hope you get though it okay 🤞😀

You celebrate & then forget about all of it!

@Hbh17 fingers crossed !

Don't celebrate yet, DM said she had a big gap, thought it was all over then had her final period while on holiday at the age of 55.

If you're feeling OK now, hopefully you'll stay that way. That was the case for me anyway, the perimenopausal years were a bit grotty at times, but since I've come out the other side I've felt great, really well. And of course utterly delighted to have no more periods.

If you're not feeling so good, then you can look at trying HRT which is brilliant for many women.

It’s the turning point at which you no longer need to use contraception. And after which, if you do get any further bleeding it needs to be investigated. I’m on about 18 months or so now I think but because I’m in my 40s I have to do two years before I can ditch contraception.
I’ve been on continuous HRT now for 6 months or so and it’s brilliant. Has completely stopped the hot flushes and insomnia which were my only two menopausal symptoms really.

All really useful thanks.
I had a rough time in my mid to late 40's with flooding / endless bleeding. Sympathies to anyone still going through that. Will monitor everything and see how I get on.

It's important to be aware that if you now experience bleeding it's something that you should have checked out by a GP.

You might get menopausal symptoms, or you might not.

Make sure you are aware of all the meno symptoms, as many women put up with all kinds of health stuff and never relate it to menopause.

Pay attention to your bone health as a lot of bone density is lost in the 5 years after menopause- so get enough calcium and Vit D as well as strength exercises.

I started taking daily vitamin d tablet about a year ago. Also have flaxseed on my cereal. Thanks for the reminder about getting any bleeding now checked out as I haven't had any for a year.

@DramaAlpaca do you do anything in particular to help you feel well or is that just how it's worked out ?

I’m 3 years on from my last period. Love not having periods. Finding I am more intolerant of alcohol and inactivity (knees / hips / shoulder/ back - all fine if I keep moving) but otherwise feeling great.

That's good to hear.
A couple of things that seem to be affecting me outside of intermittent hot flushes :
Headaches (which I never used to get very often)
Blood sugar levels seem up and down - making me feel dizzy etc

Oh and very irritated ! Who knew that the world was so full of annoying people !

I’m curious as well OP, exactly 13 months since my last period and I’m not sure what to expect, there is loads of information on peri menopause but not so much about afterwards, I still get a bit hot sometimes at night and feel a bit flat but that’s been it for my symptoms, I exercise regularly and eat well so I am hoping that will keep my bones and heart healthy.

OP, can I ask you about the endless bleeding you had any your 40s? What treatment did you have for that ? I'm on week 10 of bleeding. Waiting for a private gynae referal. Just so fed up of it and no one seems to have had similar.

@Seema1234 I bled for 9-10 weeks at a time. Had various scans and my lining was thick. This led to a hysteroscopy and biopsy but nothing untoward was found in the end.

The flooding over 4 or 5 years and was very difficult. I ended up very anaemic.

One option was the Mirena coil - I didn't go for this in the end but they may offer to you.
I did have something similar to tranexamic acid (sorry can't remember the name) from GP which helped to shorten the bleeding - but to be honest it was mainly time passing which sorted it out in my case.

I hope it resolves for you soon. I know how debilitating it can be.

@AmberLynn1536 I take vitamin d as well - not sure if it actually helps with bone strength

@housecommon I take a shedload of supplements. I think they've made a difference I take Menopace with Calcium, Boots Red Clover with Isoflavones, vitamin d, turmeric and cod liver oil for my joints.

@DramaAlpaca thank you

Thank you@housecommon. It helps to know I'm not the only one who has had this bleeding.

I follow this woman on Instagram. I found this attached useful as I must admit I’d always thought of menopause as a phase that happened and we “came out the other side” of.

The info left by @Snowdropbulbs is correct. (Who's the dr?)

My consultant divides menopause into timescales

1 end of periods
2 possible end to flushes, sweats, insomnia, etc (some women have them for life)
3 long term outcomes related to loss of estrogen sometimes not obvious for 10+ years - loss of bone density/ osteoporosis, pelvic floor issues (bladder, prolapse, vulval atrophy), joint problems (due to loss of collagen) and more.

Obviously not all women get all of these (lifestyle can prevent some of them) but equally, many women don't associate health issues post-meno with menopause.

Statistically, 75% of women have symptoms leading up to being post meno and around 15% have them for many years, and some for life (unless they use HRT.)