Feeling very naive... at almost 63, is this the menopause? Hot flushes most days

[loveyouradvice]

Hi ... I always assumed I'd come through the menopause, and in not too rough a way - a year of intense emotions, another of unexpected tiredness and full-on periods stopping when I was 58, with monthly blood until a couple of years ago when I was 61 (just a tablespoon or so).

But I am not getting horrendous hot flushes or night sweats - my body drenched for ten minutes or more. I'm not sure if this is a bug - I've had various symptoms including this for the last year or so post Covid, and an active infection before Christmas.

What do you think?

And is there an easy test I can do??

I'm a bit confused by your post. Do you mean you are now getting the night sweats & hot flushes?

Think sweats can start at any age tbh, my dm didn't have any during peri/meno but now gets them fairly often.

I'd presume hormone related but maybe have a check up and examination to rule out other causes.

You can ask your GP to take blood for hormone assays.

But I am not getting horrendous hot flushes or night sweats - my body drenched for ten minutes or more.

Is this a typo and you mean now ?

I don't want to worry you unnecessarily but having periods till 61 is very unusual.

If you were bleeding right up to 61, it might be a good idea to see your GP and discuss this, and have an ultrasound scan of your womb, just to check all is okay (and that the bleeding wasn't caused by anything else.)

See your GP. They won't test you for menopause at 61, but they will check you over and as I said, ought to check your womb lining.

It is possible to have menopausal symptoms at 63 and there are quite a lot of women on hrt at that age because they are still having hot flushes and other symptoms.

You say your periods stopped at 58 but then you had regular bleeds again? You need to see your GP. Don't want to alarm you but any bleeding after menopause should be investigated.

Your periods stopped at 58? Then you continued bleeding monthly until 61? Sorry, not clear what you are saying. And do you mean you are NOW getting hot flushes, or NOT getting them?

Hiya ... sorry to confuse so many of you....

Yes, NOW having hot flushes... oops, typo

Yes, regular periods until 58, then monthly blood but very very little of it until 61... nowt for last 12-18 months...

You're encouraging me to raise it with my GP since clearly not time-wasting... thank you. Suspect it will be a while before they'll see me but worth it...

And any other advice meanwhile hugely appreciated!

You need to do some homework, you don't go through menopause, once your body stops producing hormones it doesn't ever start again so its not something you come out the other side of, it's lifelong. Blood tests are not used once you're a year without periods or over a certain age (I don't remember the age), it sounds as if you are menopausal and should consider HRT, not just to aid the hot flushes but for all the additional benefits. A Facebook group that I found extremely informative is one based in Ireland but with members all over the world, not sure if I can put the name here but its easily found, the ladies who set it up are extremely knowledgeable and the members all help each other with information and sharing experiences, I would have struggled for far longer than I did without their help.

@loveyouradvice You do need to get the previous bleeding checked out. It's pretty much unheard of to have periods at 61 (most women finish by 58 at the latest.) It's possible that the small amount of blood loss since then was not a period but something else, that may need treatment. Please don't assume it was periods into your 60s. Your dr should refer you under the 2-week pathway if you explain what's gone on and then at least you will have peace of mind if all's okay. And then you can start HRT if you want to for the flushes etc.

Thanks - Im going to move this forward with GP ... much much appreciated.