can periods just stop...?: I was hoping to know... - Thyroid UK

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can periods just stop...?

22 Replies

I was hoping to know if anyone else has experienced this? I have not had my period in nine weeks, and my periods have always been like clockwork since my early 20s. I am now 46.

My OB-gyn put me on a drug called Primolut Nor 10 mg and told me to take it for 20 days, and then I would have my period. I have now taken it for eleven days, and still nothing. Maybe I will have to wait another week or so to see if it works, but I would like to hear from others if this happened to you too...that periods just stopped?

I have been on Estrogel (day 5-25 of cycle) and Utrogestan 200 mg (progesterone, day 15-25 of cycle) for the past four years. Now I am not sure when or even if to take it...!

I am seeing my hormone doctor (who put me on E & P in 2011) in three weeks.

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22 Replies
Jazzw profile image
Jazzw

The short answer is yes, they can just stop. 9 weeks isn't an especially long time. In all likelihood, you will see another, though it may be that you'll continue to get increasingly irregular over the coming months and years until they disappear altogether.

By the way - your period most likely won't make an appearance (if it's going to) until you stop taking the Primolut.

in reply to Jazzw

OK, thank you so much, Jazzw!

I had no periods for 3 or 4 years when I was in my 30s. No idea why. GP decided at first that it was an ectopic pregnancy (didn't seem to understand that sex was necessary for conception). After that he lost interest. I had a copper 7 coil at the time. Periods came back about a year after having the coil removed. During peri menopause they occasionally stopped but only missed the odd month here and there until they stopped completely. 9 weeks doesn't really count as missing unless you think you might be pregnant.

in reply to Angel_of_the_North

Interesting, it seems it can happen at any age....!

You mean Utrogestan and Estrogel? They were prescribed to me by a so called Hertoghe doctor...

I don't know if the age for your first period is important, but before your first visit to a Hertoghe doctor, you have to fill in an extensive questionnaire where one of the questions is: "Did you have your first period before the age of 12?"

I had my first period at 11 years and 9 months...

All Hertoghe doctors as far as I know (a friend of mine is seeing another H doc, and has been put on the same meds) prescribe Estrogel and Utrogestan. They all claim that E should be taken as gel (or possibly patches), never in pill form, and that you should always use natural P, never synthetic.

Both my E and P levels were low (suboptimal) before treatment.

The only real difference I noticed (as my periods have always been regular) was that my periods got somewhat lighter, and would last 4-5 days as opposed to 7-8 days before treatment.

Are E and P bad altogether, or are OTC products like Biovea preferable to prescription drugs?

JbugB00 profile image
JbugB00

After being diagnosed with Hypthyroidism and taking Levothyroxine daily, I only had my periods every couple of months. Sometimes I'd go several months without one. It never bothered me. My OB Dr assured me that all was well with my health and I had nothing to worry about.

in reply to JbugB00

Thanks for your comment, and I actually think you are right...after all, bleeding or spotting between periods must be more serious than not having any periods at all, especially if you are "that age"...?

missymystique profile image
missymystique

I am 29 and hypothyroid.

Before being hypo, my periods were perfect, then suddenly they started getting shorter and shorter(sometimes a few hours instead of 5-6days!) . I was even told it could be menopause! After I went on the right dosage of Levo, they became regular again

So thyroid also affects estrogen.

Interesting! But someone here said you should avoid estrogen and progesterone when hypothyroid...? However, all the Hertoghe doctors (to my knowledge) prescribe both hormones for hypothyroid patients, and also testosterone....

foxglove profile image
foxglove

Hi, I am older lady (75) no periods for a long time of course!!! But mine stopped literally over night when I was 51 I have never taken an hormone replacement

in reply to foxglove

Interesting, Foxglove, thanks for your input! It it good to know that for some, it just stops like that! I guess I just always thought it had to be preceded by years of spotting, irregular periods, night sweats, etc...

Anna

foxglove profile image
foxglove in reply to

Yes good to know that "the change" isn't always the baddie it's made out to be!

Joyia profile image
Joyia

Am same age as foxglove; aged 48 I worked in London, one day the trains were on strike and when I eventually arrived at my destination after a lot of stress and hassle to catch a train I found the buses were also on strike in my home town, I was so fed up I left my job, after this I never saw another period again after being very regular since the age of 13. I can only put it down to stress, my body saying that is enough, so yes they can just suddenly stop. Although 50ish is the average end time, people do vary and some finish earlier or later, I don't think 46 is particularly too early, taking into account the role of our OAT axis (ovaries/adrenals/thyroid).

in reply to Joyia

Interesting! Last year, I was on long-term sick leave for burn-out syndrom, and I came back to work part-time in January of this year. I ended up having blackouts requiring a CAT scan, but no doctor has ever been able to find anything physically wrong with me (except Hashimotos), and sky high blood pressure (220/140). I am now on blood pressure medication, and my BP stays around 120/80. In May, my periods suddenly stopped, after being regular since my early 20s...thanks for your input!

penny profile image
penny

I don't think that I started my periods until aged 15/16. I don't recall that it was unusual at the time, although a girl did start in Junior school - which was a nine-days-wonder. My periods stopped at 49; I'd had an ovary removed due to a huge benign cyst. No connection was made to thyroid issues.

I have also been prescribed testosteron, in addition to progesterone and estrogen. I just re-read Hertoghe's book The hormone solution, and he recommends all these hormones plus others.

I have also been prescribed human growth hormone, but the idea of giving myself an injection every night before going to bed was kind of repulsive to me...no doubt you can get used to it, and I have "talked" to patients in other forums who do great on it. Hertoghe himself says in the book that he has been taking HGH for years, and that is the supplement he would be least willing to give up, for any reason...I just don't know. Taking pills or applying a cream or gel to the skin is one thing, but injecting HGH...I will have to think about it. Also, HGH is very expensive (minimun 1000 €/year according to patients I have communicated with), and not reimbursed.

Unfortunately, the Primolut Nor helped, and my periods started again after 20 days on the drug. I hope they are not back to stay, but rather that two skipped periods were the first sign something is happening...it would be nice to get rid of periods once and for all...!

Spareribs profile image
Spareribs in reply to

Yes, why would you want to restart them?

Good riddence I say (40 years is enough) lol!

My Dad had to have GH for acromegaly - not something I'd mess with personally...

in reply to Spareribs

I agree:-) If they stop again, I won't take anything to make them start again...you are right, enough is enough....!

I agree about GH; it just doesn't feel right. I am more or less healthy; I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's twenty years ago, at age 26 but, otherwise, I am more or less healthy. Of course, hormone levels decline with age, that's inevitable, but I cannot say that my life is terrible now compared to how I felt at age 25 (the year before I got mononucleosis, which turned into Hashimoto's). So, why mess with hormone levels if you don't need to...?

Sometimes, I feel that doctors like Hertoghe (with all due respect) try to turn the clock back, and want patients to feel like 20, regardless of their biological age...personally, I don't think I'd be willing to go that far. Both my parents are in their mid-70's, they have aged gracefully without any hormones, and I'd really hesitate to take more hormones than necessary...it's one thing to take thyroid hormone if you suffer from hypothyroidism, or hydrocortisone if you suffer from adrenal insufficiency, but why try to restore GH levels to what they were in your early 20s...if you don't have any specific problems or symptoms...?

kk12 profile image
kk12

I have heard of periods suddenly stopping and that's it but I think it is quite rare. If you are in peri menopause/menopause then periods can get lighter or heavier, come more often or less often and you can have spotting in between. I have had just about everything and it's all happened quite suddenly. I was a very regular 28 to 30 day person and then last year, it all went to pot, suddenly went 3 months without a period, then had a period, then another few months and then that's when I started feeling ill and gaining loads of weight and developing hypo symptoms and been trying to get diagnosed since March this year!

Thanks to you all, I think it's great that we can share experiences like this, and it really helps to know that others have gone through the same or similar things!

OK, I had something like a period which started four days ago. But...all the blood looked coagulated, and was rusty in colour like dried blood. No fresh, light red blood at all. Plus, it has been about half of what it usually is.

Has anyone experienced this? I had a period in July, brought on by drugs (Primolut Nor), then nothing until the other day. My last "normal" period was in May.

I will be 47 in December.

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