Perimenopause?

[Lm92]

Hi all. I'm a member of a couple of anxiety boards on Health Unlocked, but I decided to follow this one this morning because of some issues I've been having.

I just turned 38 and for the past 2 years, my menstrual cycles have been getting longer and more erratic. Prior to this, they were like clockwork, every 28 days I'd menstruate for 5 days and that was that. The only time that that didn't happen was when I became pregnant with my son. As a matter of fact, I knew I was pregnant 2 weeks after conception because of how regular my cycle always was!

The problem now is that my menstruation only starts between every 35 and 45 days. It's very unpredictable. This month, though, it was 41 days until I began menstruating on June 15th and I'm still bleeding 28 days later. Some days have been heavy enough that I've had to wear an incontinence brief and others have been extremely light, some days have been bright red blood and others have been darker brown. I've gone to 3 doctors, one in urgent care, one gynecologist and my primary family doctor. All 3 have said it's hormone fluctuations, but that the physical exam is inconclusive because they can't see anything during the exam because there's too much blood. Their answer is to give me iron supplements and tell me it's because I'm fat and that I need to lose weight. While that's true, I feel like more testing needs to be done.

Could it be Perimenopause? I thought that didn't begin until mid 40s. Please help calm my anxious nerves. I just lost one of my very best friends to breast cancer and another just found out she has breast cancer and to say I'm scared is an understatement. I do have yet another doctor's appointment with a different doctor tomorrow. Sorry for the long post, but I guess I just needed to get things off my chest.

[wobblybee Administrator Pioneer]

🙂 It does no harm to vent once in a while. It’s true most women expect menopause to start some time in their mid 40s but starting earlier isn’t unheard of. It’s been some time since I coped with erratic heavy periods but I can still recall how exhausting and stressful it can be. A GP/primary family doctor usually refers to a Gynaecologist for a second opinion, and possibly expert investigation, so... 🤔 Since you’re seeing a different doctor tomorrow, why not be open relating to your concerns about cancer, someone needs to put your mind at rest 🙂 And, hopefully a fresh opinion about your menstruation will be more reassuring 🙂 xB

[Lm92 in reply to wobblybee]

Thank you for your reply. It helps more than you know.

[Hidden]

I’m 39 and started bleeding in between periods a month ago. Of course this scared me because I was always regular. I had a uterine biopsy done to see if the cause was from uterine cancer, it came back negative. So it was from hormonal fluctuations and I was anemic. Anemia will throw off your cycle. Have you had any tests to rule out cancer, polyps, fibroids?

[Lm92 in reply to Hidden]

Not yet. I do see a new, highly recommended doctor tomorrow though. Thus far, no tests have been done. I've only been told that my problems are "normal for my age" because I'm morbidly obese. That very well may be true, but I feel like some definitive testing should be in order to be sure.

[Just1-one1-more]

I was 36 when I was diagnosed Perimenopausal . I've had awful trouble with periods so try not to worry too much .I'm 46 now and on the mini pill because I'm still having heavy periods and only just at the beginning of menopause according to blood tests. Oh the joys ! 😊

[Lm92 in reply to Just1-one1-more]

That makes me feel better. In my gut, I feel like that's the issue because I'm constantly moody, have hot flashes, etc.

Do you mind if I ask what tests they did to confirm it was perimenopause?

[Just1-one1-more]

Just a simple blood test . Good luck keep us posted on how it goes 😊

[Lm92 in reply to Just1-one1-more]

I definitely will!