Last Periods Before Menopause

It's a gradual process.
I thought I was heading to menopause and then I had a period (a light one) for the first time in 9 months.
One year later with no more periods and I was finally officially in menopause.
My peri-menopause lasted close to 15 years.
It's over!
No more hot flashes and I just recently have been able to feel cold again - yea!
I really missed being able to sleep under a heavy blanket.
If you're feeling hot flashes then you're not through with it yet.

Yeah, that sounds about right. Peri-menopause can last for years. I was on birth control (unlike you) and my doctor told me that it had helped me through what she thought was probably 4 years of peri-menopause, giving me hormones. Though I was having periods (thanks to the pills), I was having lots of hot flashes and night sweats. It started out being comical, but at the point that I was six months out from moving back stateside from overseas, I started having some health problems and dealing with some major issues, and the hot flashes became just plain painful. My doc didn't want me to stop taking the birth control pills because she felt that I needed the hormones so I wouldn't "crash". I waited until I had relocated to stop taking the pills. I had to wait 6 months to get an accurate blood test to see where I stood with my hormones after stopping the pill. At least you don't have to wait to get your bloodwork done.

So... if you haven't had bloodwork done, you should go ahead and do it. See where your hormones stand. Your numbers might give an indication of how long before you hit menopause. I'd keep those numbers somewhere that you can look at them later.

Make sure that you do discuss the way your periods are - something about my periods bothered my doctor about two years into not taking my pills anymore. (I wish I could remember what it was so that I could tell you...) She ended up doing a biopsy of my endrometrial lining to make sure that there weren't precancerous cells. They weren't (thank God) but they were "disordered". She was okay with that. She did tell me that if I EVER bled after my periods stopped for good, that I would need to get in for testing, because that's a bad indication. So far, that hasn't happened.

Incidentally, during peri-menopause, you need to make sure you're using birth control. A lot of women who get pregnant later in life and don't mean to are in the middle of peri-menopause and they think that they don't need to use birth control anymore. Unless you really want a baby, make sure you use some sort of protection until you haven't had a period for a year.

I've been in full menopause for about 4 years now. I finally went on HRT because 30 plus hot flashes a day, little sleep and night sweats were so hard to bear. The HRT has been a godsend in so many ways. I dread the point when the doc tells me I need to go off.

You are right - peri-menopause IS a brave new territory. That internal furnace is a real beotch. There are things you can do to help yourself - layer so that you aren't wearing clothes that you can't take off when you need to. Don't drink hot drinks in the summer or eat hot soup. Honestly, it will turn you into a raging hotspot. When you need to, open the refrigerator and drape yourself into it - it will feel great! (And give your family lots of entertainment.) Drink a lot of water. You need it.

There are websites that give a lot of diet info for this. If you're good at cooking and can stand going through all the info, it will help you. I keep promising myself that I'll do that, but I'm a terrible cook and can't seem to get on board with it. I should, though...

I don't remember details. I think that the time betwee my periods lengthened until they were no more. I remember having blood tests to measure hormones because I had a history of surgeries for abdominal problems caused by endometriosis. I think you can ask for a blood test to determine if you're in menopause.

The symptoms you describe sounds like menopause. When I was your age perimenopause had not been identified. So I don't know the difference between my experience and the separation of the two conditions. Menopause lasted for me for at least a year or more After I was told that was what was happening. Fortunately menopause was easy for me. Maybe because the endometriosis was so painful.

Later: Why does everyone expect menopause to be so uncomfortable.? I suggest that if we think it's going to be horrid we focus on every little pain/difference making us ultra aware. We tend to experience what we expect. Yes, many do have a multitude of uncomfortable symptoms. For some their experience is painful but not for everyone. So far you haven't experienced serious ones. Why expect worse? You may not have the difficulty that has become sterotypical.

For 2 years my periods got steadily weirder. Skipping months at a time then for 3 months I'd have a period for a couple days then stop for a few then start up yet again. There were times when it was so heavy I didn't want to leave the house and other times where it was so light it was just utterly annoying. It was maddening to go through! I'd go longer between each batch of periods though until I finally hit a year of no periods at all. I am now a year and 6 months from my last period. My doctor won't officially say I am done until it's been a full year of no periods after the last time I nursed my youngest. It's been 6 months since that point.
The hot flashes and stuff are a pain. I would take my temperature to see if I was running a fever and perhaps getting sick. It lasted only a short time though.

I seriously hate periods! I have been taking Seasonale on a doctor approved modified schedule so I figure I will just keep taking these until I turn 60!

Perhaps not the best person to answer

It is certainly possible that you're entering the next, and perhaps final phase, before your periods actually stop. It is a gradual thing, and you've already noted changes.

I just passed 10 months of no periods.

After being regular, for the most part, most of my adult life, things started to change about two years ago. I had several heavy, frequent periods, like 9 in a 5 or 6 month time frame (nothing like that had ever happened before). Then I skipped about three months altogether. Then over the following four months, I had either a heavy flow lasting a day or so followed by a little spotting or just spotting. Then, I had no periods for the next 3 months. Then one last period last May.

I've always been one who gets cold very easily. I like to be warm and even sleep in warm pjs pretty much year round. Well, that was until last year. Right before that last period, I started getting these internal hot flashes. Not the outright, visibly sweating or soaking wet kind that you sometimes hear about, but rather, I felt like I was being lit up from inside. Like someone flipped a switch and I automatically started boiling inside. The first couple of times, it was really unsettling, but once it dawned on me what was happening, I learned to let them pass by just breathing and going about my business. I found it made it worse when I announced to my husband or friends what was happening. Now, instead, I remain quiet and just remind myself that it will pass as quickly as it came, and so far, that has worked.

I'm hoping this is it for me. If I make it to May with no period, that will be one thing I can check off the list of things to worry about, although I realize the hot flashes can still continue.

Good luck and hope you'll be done with all of this soon.

---------ETA: Doris is right about the layers of clothes. That really helps with the hot flashes.

B! That's not what I wanted to read! You went nine months and then started again? Ugh. I'm so hoping I make it these next two months with nothing.

J. F.

I guess I was lucky. I was 100% regular and then my periods stopped. Never got it that month, have never had it again!

The hot flashes are so annoying.
The OTC menopause supplements do help with my hot flashes.
More naturally, eating raw almonds, pineapple, sunflower seeds and apricots help with hot flashes.
Sadly, caffeine can trigger them.

I'm averaging 2-3/year...for about 5 years now.
Each time I think....ooops, this is it & then Hell breaks loose.
As in starting without a single freakin' warning sign. Hate, hate, hate it!

& for those flashes, check your blood sugar...it could also be an insulin dump.