The effects of no monthly cycle

[TheOGCCL]

I’ve not reached menopause yet but am curious about life with no periods.

In the book Period Power, Maisie Hill describes the menstrual cycle in seasons. Your Winter is when you are menstruating where you often want to hide away, your Spring is when you start to be more interested in things, might make lots of plans, your Summer (ovulation) is your peak where you feel great and like everything, including your appearance (due to increased oestrogen) is just better, before Autumn appears which is the pre menstrual phase where suddenly everything feels a lot harder going.

I track my cycles and can relate to quite a lot of this, in particular feeling fantastic during Summer. But that’s countered by feeling quite dark in Autumn. These mood changes are quite pronounced, as is the way I feel about myself at different points of the month. For example in Summer my skin looks great and I brush off stress at work much more easily than in Autumn.

Does anyone else relate to this and can anyone say how it is when you have no monthly cycle, is your mood and motivation just completely stable or at least not cyclical?

I'm menopausal and basically I am in PMT constantly. I really miss the ovulation boost I used to get. I remember feeling powerful, sexy and so confident. I remember once walking down the road and people looking , I was just oozing it.

Now, I am an invisible middle-aged woman that seems to attract pity or derision.

I’ve not had periods for over 10 years and have never experienced anything that you mention. What I have noticed is any weight put on after periods stop is so very difficult to budge off. Energy levels, concentration levels and motivation is a problem I have, but now in my early 60’s, I put it down to my age rather than menopause. My skin is the same, people say I don’t look my age.

Because of PCOS I never had regular cycles anyway, and was never aware of any differences related to when I did have a period anyway. So from that POV menopause made no difference.

I love love loved the end of menses! I was able to stabilize my weight no salt/sweet period binges, no water weight gain and frustration with the scale.
sexy time any time (with lube).
I walk proudly with no leaks or stains. Sleep better with no leaks or stains.
good genes and good skin and hair. Love being older and invisible because I just get on with life.

So basically, she's used a metaphor (the seasons) for a monthly cycle.

I think most women would agree that for the last 10 days of a cycle they usually feel a bit crap with some symptoms of PMS.

Post meno this disappears, but if someone is on cyclical HRT, they may still have some PMS.

Otherwise, the ups and downs of fluctuating hormones disappear.

I don't recognise anything you write. My periods stopped quite a few years ago. Now on HRT. The transition has been fine, not a problem, re the loss of periods, specifically. But tbf I don't recognise what you write pre either. I mean other women may have felt those seasons in their cycle, but I didn't, it never affected me that much before.

I've not had a period in a year and I say I'm stuck in Autumn most of the time 😕

Ignore Maisie, she’s overdone the seasons metaphor there…

I just feel on an even keel all the time now, although I never experienced dramatic hormonal fluctuations when I was having periods. I really miss how I used to feel around ovulation, though. I like the predictability and freedom of no longer having periods. I started HRT a few months ago and I feel amazing, I wish I'd started it earlier.

I don't recognise anything you write. My periods stopped quite a few years ago. Now on HRT. The transition has been fine, not a problem, re the loss of periods, specifically. But tbf I don't recognise what you write pre either. I mean other women may have felt those seasons in their cycle, but I didn't, it never affected me that much before.

All of this (except I'm not on HRT)
No longer having periods is great

I’m post menopausal and it’s bloody marvellous. My mood is very steady and after what seems a lifetime of wretched periods ( endometriosis) I’m finally free of hormones. I did have a Mirena coil for 15 yrs but still had the countenance of a female dragon on speed.
Apparently I’m a much easier person to be around now.

I’m peri and I seem to be stuck in autumn.

is your mood and motivation just completely stable

now, yes, totally stable, since my .... mid 20s?
I used to get hysterical, anxiety-full, doom-mongering about 1-2 days before my period when I was younger, though. Boy that sucked. Huge relief when I worked out the pattern & could accommodate it. Glad it went away. I don't relate to the seasons thing otherwise. Was just those 1-2 days when I went deranged. In my 20s, I had a weekly cycle related to my work & Uni schedule where Thursdays after 10am I would just "collapse", maybe nap, do nothing or very little until my dad took me out to dinner at 5pm. Thursdays literally were my dead day. I miss that. I'm sure that huge rest day was hugely beneficial. It's rare I get a flake-out day nowadays !!

A lot of people on MN are much more emotional people than me, though.

There are a few emotional / needy blokes at work who I want to throttle... Minded to think some people just are emotional & rollercoasters. Is mostly sex-independent.

No periods here for ten years. How I miss summer, I can relate to all those seasons.
I’ve never used HRT but if I had my time again I definitely would. I’m stuck inAutumn with hardly any libido.

I'm glad that I don't recognise OP's seasonal description of her monthly cycle. I had nasty cramps & tearfulness when my periods first started in my teens but that had stopped by about age 17. After that maybe one emotional or achy period about once a year and no other obvious mood changes for the whole month. I'm now almost 50 & haven't had a period for a decade since to the Mirena coil. Don't miss the cycle at all.

I've always said that women are "drug addicts" affected by their hormones in a way that men can't even begin to imagine but OP's post makes me realise that some of us are on a bigger roller coaster than I even imagined!

I think I’m pretty prone to hormone fluctuations. I was diagnosed with PCOS at 28 which I thought meant you had more androgens, but by 43 I was very low in testosterone 🤷‍♀️. Just wondering what a life without a natural monthly cycle would be like!