Tell me about the perimenopause.

[Gingerkittykat]

I'm 45 and have just had a full month of horrific bleeding despite having tranexamic acid after 14 days and then Provera after 21. My GP has now told me to double the Provera so hopefully, I will stop bleeding now.

I had an ultrasound which showed no reason for the bleeding and have now got a gynae referral.

My GP said I might be going into perimenopause, I'm already drained and fed up. What other symptoms can I expect and how long can this go on for?

I got some treatment for my own as my anxiety was going through the roof. I have the patches!
Hopefully i will finally get a good nights sleep

My anxiety has also been ridiculously high lately. I already struggle with depression and anxiety, my mood is good right now but the anxiety is off the scale.

What kind of patches did you get?

If the diagnosis of peri menopause is correct it means that you've hit the period before menopause (when periods stop) where your hormones can go on a roller coaster ride this can last for 5-12 years. These symptoms may pass and hopefully the gynaecologist can work out what treatment you need to ease your bleeding problem but from what I've read it can take some time to resolve. It looks like you have good news no fibroids or polyps so no surgery required so you may just need to try a course of medication to balance your hormones. The best thing to do is to try and have a healthy lifestyle because what you eat and drink can play havoc with your hormones at this age. I've suffered from heavy periods lots of spotting in between and am trying the mirena it's early days yet so I don't know if it will work and I'm trying to be more healthy. Good luck with your gynaecologist and hang in there as everything takes ages

I can't cope with this for 5-12 years!

I hope the mirena helps you.

Although my blood test came back as "normal" from the GP and was told as much, my blood work showed an imbalance between estrogen and progesterone (both were rising and falling like a rollercoaster ride hence the constant bleeding).

I also went onto have internal ultrasound scans that showed thickened lining. I was offered endometrial ablation surgery (the tranexamic acid tablets that were originally prescribed were not at all effective) and have had no issues re bleeding since. If you are offered the Mirena ask how that would benefit you; I was not given a clear answer re the constant bleeding (I think my body would have expelled it) and its certainly not suitable for all women to use.

The root cause of the bleeding needs to be established as well as treating the symptoms.

Agree with @AttilaTheMeerkat. I had horrific bleeding caused by fibroids and endo. I was offered a mirena but didn’t want to go through that until the other issues had been fixed surgically. After surgery, I had the mirena and my life is back to normal. Do not underestimate the impact of heavy bleeding on your quality of life. It sort of became normal for me for so long but it made me ill with anemia and normal activities had to stop for a week every month. I was replacing bed sheets and changing pjs in the middle of the night as I’d leak everywhere. I have none of that to deal with. Don’t put up with it!