Irregular periods - what to expect next?

[Peach201]

I’m 39, and having irregular periods, over the past year they’ve ranged from 25 to 32 days. Is this the start of the menopause?

What other symptoms should I expect next?

Im a little anxious/afraid after all the stories recently in the media.

The only things I’m noticing at the moment is the irregular periods, extra greasy hair, skin not great, and feeling a bit more anxious/annoyed the week before my period. A bit of weight gain/haven’t lost baby weight from 3 years ago.

However, we’ve had a couple of stressful life events recently so could also be linked to that.

What kinds of things can I expect to worsen/improve? And what can I do to help myself?

The irregular periods is also pretty annoying as it’s impossible to plan for. Is it worth going back on the pill or will this cause problems?

Also after the menopause - do things go ‘back to normal’ minus the periods? I’ve no idea

Argh, realisation Im getting old quickly :(

There's no way of predicting how it will affect you particularly, you just have to wait and see. Yes you could go back on the contraceptive pill to resolve the irregularity. What kind of problems did you think that might cause?

There is no after the menopause because the levels of hormones in your body will never return to what they were pre-menopause. The lack of hormones affects every part of your body, whether you have symptoms of it or not. It massively increases your risk of osteoporosis, for example, and of course vaginal atrophy and UTIs. You can prevent that by replacing the hormones you've lost, if you choose to do that.