Menopause

My mother is having the wacky periods as well.

She went 6 months between the last 2.
Now she is back to almost every 30 days.

She says they are more painful then being punched in the stomach. And they have kept her from work at times,
This , from a woman who never calls in.

I went almost a year like that. After a thirty year history of easy-breezy three day periods, there were several months of nothing and then suddenly I had full-fledge five or six day periods with bleeding heavier than I'd ever experienced. Things flip-flopped completely, became like never before. A world gone mad.

I skipped my period last month, and probably my ovulation too. I should have had a period last week, and then start my pills tonight. So, I started my pills anyway. Am I gonna die?

I hope the pills help sort out your cycles, littlek.

I take my last progesterone pill tonight and then wait for nothing to happen or all hell to break loose (literally, from what I've read about Provera induced periods). I'm gaining weight and eating like a mad woman, even though I'm not hungry. Ugh!

Haven't had a period since Nov. 1! Woo hoo! Am becoming hopeful.

Ain't it grand?!
Keeping my fingers crossed for ya!

Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!

I started a period two days ago. It had been 9 months. I had to go out and buy tampons again...and it had been so long they'd changed all the packaging!

Dammit! This means at least another year of birth control, migraine headaches and antidepressants.

I was SO ready to be finished with this.

Dammit!

I went on the B/C and it did help with hot flashes (very nicely). But, I have noticed that my body is flirting with migraines again. Not good.

Eva, can't you switch B/C types to help with the migraines?

Is it possible Eva, that this is just a 'one time' period?

How wierd that our bodies just wont LET GO of it ..

It IS possible. I had a period earlier this year after over a year of no periods at all. It was only one month. Haven't had another since.

No such luck, lil'k. I don't take b/c pills...I'm not a good candidate. We use other methods. The migraines started when I was 43 and first started into perimenopause. I am 51 now. This has been going on long enough, dammit!

A one-time period? Thank you, shewolf & eoe! I hadn't considered that possibility!

I think I will ask my doctor if there is a way to tell if I'm still ovulating.

Sure there is, but you probably aren't ovulating regularly so it will be hard to pin down.

There are a number of things you can do to assess where you are in terms of menopause, but the first thing you need to know is if you are still producing estrogen.

The estrogen challenge is where you take progestin for 6 to 10 days after not having a period for at least 3 months. If you are still producing estrogen then the progestin will trigger a period, otherwise it won't. If you aren't producing estrogen then you aren't going to ovulate. My gynie told me that waiting longer than three months to do the challenge isn't a good idea because if you are, in fact, producing estrogen but not enough progesterone to cause a period then the uterine lining will continue to build up and needs to be 'flushed'.

Edit: Eva, I quickly posted the above, but the blood test offered to assess ovulation is called an FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) assay. If you have stopped producing enough estrogen to ovulate, the pituitary glands ups the production of FSH to try to boost ovulation. High levels of FSH mean that your estrogen levels are too low to ovulate. It doesn't mean that you aren't producing estrogen, just not enough to ovulate, which is why the progestin (or progesterone) challenge becomes important.

Odd question here..


If your body ( noones in particular, Im just asking a question;) ) is not producing enough estrogen to ovulate, and lets say you are farther along into menopause.. In a safe zone of no periods at all..

Can taking estrogen BEGIN your periods all over again? Or at least "stimulate" one out of ya?

I remember when my mother was on estrogen pills (HRT) after menopause, she continued to have very light periods. Of course, that was 20 years ago. I don't know if the regimen currently being prescribed still works that way. Does anyone else know?

Dear Tide:

I am writing to say what an excellent product you have! I've used it
all of my married life, as my Mom always told me it was the best.
Now that I am in my fifties I find it even better! In fact, about a
month ago, I spilled some red wine on my new white blouse. My
inconsiderate and uncaring husband started to belittle me about how
clumsy I was, and generally started becoming a pain in the neck. One
thing led to another and somehow I ended up with his blood on my new
white blouse! I grabbed my bottle of Tide with bleach alternative,
and to my surprise and satisfaction, all of the stains came out! In
fact, the stains came out so well the detectives who came by
yesterday told me that the DNA tests on my blouse were negative and
then my attorney called and said that I was no longer considered a
suspect in the disappearance of my husband.
What a relief! Going through menopause is bad enough without being a
murder suspect! I thank you, once again, for having a great product.
Well, gotta go, have to write to the Hefty
bag people now ....

My sleep has been disrupted. I wake up at 3am and toss and turn until daybreak. Maybe I doze but for the most part, I'm awake and just lying there.

I thank God that I don't work a 9-5.

Someone once told me that you could tell a woman is menopausal by listening to her discuss the middle-of-the-night QVC sales.

sorry, eoe, hope you get some rest soon.

I hear you, eoe.

They say milk before bedtime makes you fall asleep more easily. Have you tried hot chocolate? Or if you want something cold, perhaps Bailey's on the rocks? Works for me.

Chamomile tea helps to calm the body and mind.

About 2-3 tablespoons of loose herb, steeped in 3 cups of water for 1/2 hour will make a semi-strong tea that should have you asleep in no time.

It takes a while to completely digest ( not in a bad way..) so the effects last about 4-6 hours.