Did your cycle length get shorter before menopause?

[mumhadenough]

Might seem me daft asking, because I'm only 32, but my mum, her sisters and my nana all started going through mp at around age 34.

I have ALWAYS been a 28 day cycle girl, occasionally the odd 30 day one which we cause me to panic as I'm like clockwork.

My last six cycles have dropped to 23/24/25 days. I am on the mini pill but have been for years and years so don't know why this is going on.

Just wondered, thanks in advance for any responses.

xxx

mine got shorter when I was about 33 as well (after having my second baby) - went from 28 to 23 days ish.... I was just starting to wonder about it when accidentally got preggers

not sure how that helps you, don't really know except that I thought a same but am obv still fertile! maybe cycles just shorten when you get older?

Mine went down to 21 days for a couple of years in my early forties now three monthly (bliss) at 46. Worth getting checked out - they scanned me and I had an ovarian cyst which probably wasn't relevant but they removed it anyway.

Mine have gone like that too. Always 29 or 30 I've been 25 this month, but it's not even really a proper period yet and I was 27 last month. I had my hormones checked a few months ago and was told I had a highish FSH and low eostrogen which does suggest pre-menopause. My aunt had the menopause at 38, apparantly it is a genetic condition.

God, can you be menopausal and still get preggers then?

Yes, your body will still produces eggs just not evey month and they may not be that good quality. You obviously hit a good month

Gosh, scary

Though I was a bit rampant that month

Thanks for advice everyone, I think I'll ask doc when I'm there on Thurs anyway. I'll post what she says in case its of interest to someone else.

x

You can still get preggers in your 50s dears! I am 53 and as my last (??) period was a few months back, my gynae says I could have another period for anything up to a year- so ovulation, though unlikely , is still possible.

p.s- my cycles went down to as short as 17 days for a while in my late 40s, after 35 days in my teens, 30 days in my 30s and 28 days in my early 40s.

Do you think its your body's way of trying to get rid of the eggs you have left quicker? Or just me making up mad assumptions again lol.

I'm 40 and mine have been quite erratic. 2 in one month for example which I put down to stress, a few others quite close together and now I don't seem to have had one at all for a couple of months. I do seem to have had some other peri-menopausal symptons. I have actually been thinking i should do a pregnancy test just to rule that out. Though I'm 99% sure I'm not pregnant...Worth getting it checked out though? Especially as there are other health issues linked with early menopause, so better to get some advice?

ooh I was going to ask this! Been caught out two months running with period starting unexpectedly early (and very painful to boot). 25 days last month and 24 this. Will watch for the answer from the OPs doc.

mumhadenough- no it is due to lower hormones in the second half of your cycle- it's all a bit complicated but to do with the corpus luteum and things. You need progesterone to maintain the womb lining- when it falls , the bleeding starts- too little and you bleed.

Ah ok I get that, thanks.

Cat I'll be sure to post let you know what she says.

honestfriend You seem very knowledgeable. Can you explain why,when I went on the progesterone only pill I did nothing but bleed! I normally have reg cycles and only bleed about 4 days. I went on this pill and was told my periods might stop altogether but it had the opposite effect!Doc tried giving me double dose but this didnt work and she couldnt give me an explanation.

I really wish I could share similar experience. Can only share my own. Started menstruating at 13. Never regular cycles but 28, 30, 32, 34, and then reverse. Usually 7-10 days with first two days very heavy.
I am now 48 and after new year will be 49. Cycles are still the same.
Your pituary gland can affect your hormone levels just like it does your adolescence beginning. If you have anything wrong with it, injury, tumor etc. it can mess up your hormone levels.
Females start life with a certain number of eggs. Once you mature and start menses (and by mature I mean you hit around 100lbs, the weight that is about okay to carry a child so not adult mature but uterus mature) you drop those eggs.
Until all those eggs are gone you can get pregnant. Doesn't mean it will be a healthy baby...just that you have an egg and it can be fertilized.
Lots of factors can affect when you start menopause. It isn't just age. Hope that helps.

coochybottom, you might be one of those people that reacts differently. Sometimes hormones do what they are supposed to and other times our body will just fight it and try to adjust to what it knows.
I react that way to anesthetia. When I have to have major surgery I tell the attendent to watch my heart because I won't go to sleep until I'm to the point it can stop my heart. I also always vomit after they wake me up. Always...buckets. Even when I haven't had water or food in the prescribed time. Just one of those things.

I think 32 is very young to start menapause. Maybe it is a genetic thing?

Hi, wehaveallbeenthere, yes there definitely seems to be a genetic line of early mp in my family.

On another note, my skin has been really really crap for the past few months so perhaps I do have a hormone prob at the mo!

Can I ask a question as you do seem very knowledgable and experienced - i am just 40 ( last month) and got two DSs aged 3 and 14 months. Am very very anaemic just found out and every month suffering more and more from horrible symptoms eg mittelschmerz ( sp) for 2-3 days, bloating, sickness etc. And weird cycles 28, 35, 25 in the last 3 months. any thoughts? mother had mp earlyish i think - around 47. thanks all

Can I ask a question as you do seem very knowledgable and experienced - i am just 40 ( last month) and got two DSs aged 3 and 14 months. Am very very anaemic just found out and every month suffering more and more from horrible symptoms eg mittelschmerz ( sp) for 2-3 days, bloating, sickness etc. And weird cycles 28, 35, 25 in the last 3 months. any thoughts? mother had mp earlyish i think - around 47. thanks all

Firstly, make sure you take folic acid and a womans vitamin. If you are anaemic you need to make sure you get lots of leafy greens and iron. Take some fish oil capsules. All that makes a big difference. You have to do this every day. I've noticed a big difference if I forget one day. I have trouble focusing. I measure it on puzzles. I used to do a card puzzle and found a really hard one. I could figure it out if I had taken my vitamins and supplements every day for about 3 weeks but miss a day and I couldn't focus enough to do it even though I had done it every day prior to that day.
Since I changed computers I don't do that but try to do a rubids cube. I'm sure Suduku or any other brain teaser would do the same. It's just a measure of how my brain engages.
I have a ritual of a glass of water (about 8 ounces) and the vitamins, the oil and a V8 (low sodium, still a lot of salt but I don't use salt in cooking if I can help it) and a cup of coffee later. I try to avoid sugar also. After that I feel the difference about 20 minutes later.
Doing some pelvic stretches seems to help too. When menstruating try drinking hot water (not tea) but hot like you would steep tea in. It helps the tissues.
Life takes its toll when you age so do what you can. Try that and see if it makes a difference.

I don't have to count the days anymore between menses. I can always tell because depending how I've taken care of myself in between (vitamins, exercise or lack of) I will feel like I am getting a cold. Achy, sniffles etc. Right after I'm done the cold symptoms are gone. It's like clockwork. If I take the vitamins and exercise and drink lots of water I might get sneezes but feel okay that 7-10 days.

Quaranta- the only reason I am knowledgable is that I have been there- at 53!- and I have a great gynae, who answers all my questions- his book "Your change your choice" is all about meno and the alternatives to HRT ,as well as the whole meno process. If you want a read, get it!

Meno can begin 10 years before your final period, so if you are having odd symptoms, that could be it.

The POP- don't know is the answer- I am assuming that your overall hormone levels were iffy when on it- break through bleeding is known to happen with the POP so maybe you just had more than anyone else?

I had dodgy cycles from about 48, but only one or two shorter cycles each year, then normal for ages. I never missed a period until about 3 months before my "last one"- if it has been my last one. I only had flushes for a few weeks earlier this year- just before my 53rd birthday, then they went away as my cycles came back. My blood tests showed I was meno, but lo and behold, my body went through another 2 cycles and the flushes went- in my gynae's words- my body is not giving up that easily.

The flushes began again in August and I have been taking HRT for a month as i couldn't sleep. I use an oestrogen gel which is great- rub it on my skin each day and I can decide how much I need in order to control the symptoms.

I can't emphasise enough the importance of lifestyle- I walk for an hour 4-5 times a week over hills etc, and because of other medical issues I don't drink alcohol or tea and coffee and have a very healthy diet with little or no sugar and refined carbs.
If you are mid-late 40s I would recommend you start some lifestyle changes to help!

wehave and honest, thanks SO much. very helpful and will look for your gynae's book. don't have a gynae myself -which i think is standard for women in the uk - and i do feel like apart from being pregant twice noone knows anything at all about my reproductive life!. still it's been ok until recently. will report back when i've tried the woman's vit and fish capsules. thanks ladies!!