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Menopause

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Original poster

No periods for three months. I'm 49. Is that it?

40 replies

HowNice23 · 02/05/2024 15:07

Had some irregularity, long periods of bleeding and the occasional missed period for a couple of years but nothing now for nearly three months. Is that it? Can you just hit menopause like that? When people talk about period irregularity it seems to usually be the odd shift not a massive gaping void all of a sudden 😂

Anyone else's stop forever at 49? I did the fsh home test and it came back positive.

Apart from being constantly shattered I'm otherwise ok I think. Could be healthier.

OP posts:
Vive42 · 03/05/2024 08:28

As these gaps appear in periods, do the periods get lighter and lighter?

I’m hoping mine will fade out rather than a sudden stop.

Currently they’ve gone from 5 days long and needing super size tampax for first 2 days due to heavy flow, to now just 2 days in length and needing normal tampons for the whole duration. So odd to be back to wearing same tampons as when I was 16!!

Blood is much less, lighter bleeding, almost watery blood… Sometimes slightly dark blood at the start too!

Can it happen like that? It just tails off? I’m 49 and it’s been like this for a year. I’m like clockwork though, every 26 or 27 days.

Mrsjayy · 03/05/2024 08:35

I had my last period the month before I was 50 I've had nothing since I was horrendously menopausal with other symptoms but my period just stopped, hoped this is it for you.

GreatTheCat · 03/05/2024 08:52

I was 41, they just stopped. Thought I was pregnant, I wasn't..

Nothing since.

greengreyblue · 04/05/2024 07:04

Yes I had gaps of two months for a year then just stopped. I was 51 at last one. Then went 13 months , had a v v light spotting then nothing for last 2 years. Yes mine got a bit lighter and shorter towards the end.

greengreyblue · 04/05/2024 07:12

Also, I found that I had no real symptoms when periods stopped, that came later when the effects of oestrogen leaving kicks in. The flushes came after periods stopped. Don’t be tempted to think that’s your menopause done. Start vaginal oestrogen if nothing else.

Vive42 · 04/05/2024 08:28

greengreyblue · 04/05/2024 07:12

Also, I found that I had no real symptoms when periods stopped, that came later when the effects of oestrogen leaving kicks in. The flushes came after periods stopped. Don’t be tempted to think that’s your menopause done. Start vaginal oestrogen if nothing else.

I’m quite scared what’s on the other side once they stop. I can’t take HRT, so things are looking 😬

Jennalong · 04/05/2024 08:32

Mine stopped at under age 40 , went to the Drs and had the test. Yes it was the menopause.

LennyBalls · 04/05/2024 08:36

I wouldn't bank on it. I used to skip for three months and then bam I'd get one. I didn't have a period for six months and went on a girls weekend away and it came that weekend and it was awful. The heaviest and most painful I'd ever had. I was about 48/49.

VerlynWebbe · 04/05/2024 15:58

Vive42 · 03/05/2024 08:28

As these gaps appear in periods, do the periods get lighter and lighter?

I’m hoping mine will fade out rather than a sudden stop.

Currently they’ve gone from 5 days long and needing super size tampax for first 2 days due to heavy flow, to now just 2 days in length and needing normal tampons for the whole duration. So odd to be back to wearing same tampons as when I was 16!!

Blood is much less, lighter bleeding, almost watery blood… Sometimes slightly dark blood at the start too!

Can it happen like that? It just tails off? I’m 49 and it’s been like this for a year. I’m like clockwork though, every 26 or 27 days.

I think we are probably all different, but mine have a couple of times been so light I can't even use a tampon because it hurts. There was one that was so heavy I sat up in bed in the morning and god knows what volume of clots came out, I bled right through my clothes and onto the sheets in front of dh (he was so lovely about it). Last one was a 'normal' period like I've had most of the time. I feel they are a lot more watery at times, especially at the end. (But I've had the very opposite of vaginal dryness, sorry for the TMI element of that, but I think constant dampness is a feature of my perimenopause and hardly anyone mentions that!)

ItWorriesMeThisKindofThing · 07/05/2024 13:30

Nightblindness · 02/05/2024 19:53

As someone who has been through this, this was my experience fwiw.

A few years of irregular cycles - sometimes circa 21 days, sometimes circa 56. Then my last 2 periods were both afte a gap of 6 months. My last period was when I was 50. The guidance is, to be sure you have gone through the menopause, you need to be 1 year past your last period if you are over 50, and 2 years after your last period if you are under 50.

So, no, you can't know for certain yet that 'this is it', but it certainly could be.

Hi, sorry if I’m derailing but I have only seen this guidance about “2 years if you are under 50” on mumsnet - do you happen to have a link to any guidance or evidence on this? Just so I am informed before speaking with my GP - thank you!

LBFseBrom · 07/05/2024 13:57

It has always been a guideline to use contraception for two years if you are under 50, one if over. I wondered if that had changed so googled and found this:
s://www.womens-health-concern.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/04-WHC-FACTSHEET-ContraceptionForTheOlderWoman-NOV22-B.pdf

From what you've said (& I know it wasn't specifically about contraception), you are still bleeding occasionally, albeit watery, so you are perimenopausal, which will show on a blood test for hormone levels.

http://www.womens-health-concern.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/04-WHC-FACTSHEET-ContraceptionForTheOlderWoman-NOV22-B.pdf

HÆLTHEPAIN · 07/05/2024 23:39

The Balance app by Dr. Louise Newson is free and has a symptom/period tracker.

Mossstitch · 08/05/2024 01:15

I stopped at 49, then went 6 months and had a random last one 🥳

MooseBeTimeForSnow · 08/05/2024 01:23

Still regular as clockwork at 50. But much heavier. Day two usually accompanied by clots and flooding.

I can’t wait for them to stop. I’m done.

Arraminta · 12/05/2024 19:45

I'm nearly 54 and periods still annoyingly regular until a few months back. Now I just don't know what to expect or when to expect it. I've had a period so heavy I was reluctant to leave the house. Then had nothing for 9 weeks. Then had 2 very light periods only a week apart. Now I've got daily but very light bleeding for the last 2 weeks. So fed up with them.

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