Menopause?

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I usually stay well away from discussing personal stuff on a forum but in this case I just have to know.

I am 47 and since a couple of months my menstruation has completely stopped. I wonder if it has something to do with the menopause but working in health care for many years turned me into a hypochondriac so now I am worrying about the fact that it may be ovarian cancer or some other nasty and life threatening ailment. I am too scared to go to my GP because I don't think I can cope with a horrible diagnosis allthough that might not be the case at all ofcourse. I am stuck because and when it really comes down to it I don't even want to know what's going on which gives a whole new meaning to the term coward.

Has anyone here experienced menopausal symptoms?

It can be pregnancy or it could be menopause, but it's hard to tell without going to a doctor to check. Is there ovarian cancer in your family? Of course, even if there isn't that doesn't mean you're safe. If there's a benign or cancerous tumor, don't you usually bleed more? My aunt had a benign tumor and she bled continuously for months before she went to the doctor. Lucky for her it was benign!

Usually you go into perimenopause before your period stops. There are a list of symptoms. Some women have a few, some have most, some have none.

For example, irregular periods are one symptom. But a lot of women have always had irregular periods so it's hard to tell. I was always very regular and I continued to be regular except at the end. I stopped in July and didn't have another period until the following Feb. Then I had them the next two months, regular as usual, but then stopped for good. Also, the last ten years I had them, their duration went down, from 5 days to 4 to 3.

Hot flashes are supposed to be another symptom, either during perimenopause or right after your period stops for good. But I never got them until a year after my last period and they continue now two years later. Night sweats too. Fun

You won't know for sure unless you go to a doctor.

You just happened to hit on a topic I know quite a bit about...I'm 54, and have been through the whole experience.

Menopause symptoms generally start in the mid to late 40s. These include irregular periods -- heavier or lighter flow, longer or shorter cycles, or missing periods entirely; hot flashes/night sweats, fatigue (usually from not being able to sleep because of the night sweats). mood swings, vaginal dryness, heart palpitations, anxiety, and a whole host of other nasties. Some women have no problems, most have a few problems, and some -- like me -- have hellacious problems. This was my favorite site during this time -- http://www.power-surge.com. I ended up having a hysterectomy -- I was injured in a car accident -- so didn't get the satisfaction of completion.

Of course, the main thing is the cessation of periods. That's what "menopause" means -- the pause (end) of meno (menstruation). The vast majority of women aren't lucky enough for the periods to just STOP. More likely they'll dwindle a little at a time, finally ending completely around the age of 52 or so. You might be regular for a few months, then miss one or two, then go regular again, then miss a few more and then have another one. You won't really know you're "menopausal" (everything up to that moment is called "perimenopause", everything after is "post-menopausal) until a year later. The general rule is that if you haven't had a period in a year, you're officially done. But that year may be a long time in coming. This is where you come in.

You may very well be on the road to the end. 47 seems a reasonable age to be going through this. But I'd get checked out by your doctor to make sure. As you well know, many things can cause periods to be wacky -- stress, rapid weight loss, over-exercising, illness, fibroids, and of course pregnancy. The doctor will do a pregnancy test, and will probably do a blood test to check your FSH levels. These are the hormones that make you ovulate every month. As you approach menopause, your body is still trying to get your ovaries to produce mature eggs. So if the normal amount of FSH isn't doing the job, your body will produce more of it in order to get things back to normal. The higher the number, the closer you are to menopause. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Chances are you aren't ill, but just moving into the next phase of your life.

CAUTION: Until you have been a full 12-months without a period, DO NOT have sex without birth control. You can still get pregnant. My mother knew a woman who got pregnant shortly after her youngest child graduated from college! Just imagine -- having children 23 years apart.

Words to live by: Menopause: the time when your period becomes a question mark.

I?m 47 and have just started this process. I skipped 2 months then had my last period. So things are becoming irregular. It all started with some sporadic hot flashes and periods that were up to 10 days late. I did take a pregnancy test. Just to be safe. I am still using contraception. It would be shocking to experience my first pregnancy at 47 :-0. My libido has also increased. I understand this happens to some women. I am not fearful of this process and will go see my Dr if the symptoms get worse or I miss several months of periods.

I had extra problems that I thought were menopausal in nature that turned out not to be. After several years of menopause symptoms (periods started getting irregular in 2004, my periods had become VERY heavy and lengthy. I bled for essentially the entire summer of 2010. And from then on, periods were VERY unpredictable. When I had my car accident in September of 2012, I started bleeding again. I thought again it was hormone-related. But when it didn't stop after three weeks and I was getting dangerously anemic, I went to the doctor and found out that I had fibroids that were bleeding from the accident (the lap belt had left severe bruising around my hips/pubic area and the pressure had torn the fibroids.) The doctor suggested I have a hysterectomy (I was 52 by that time, so the fact that I hadn't had any children didn't come into the decision). When he got in there, not only did I have bleeding fibroids, one of them was the size of a cantaloupe! Plus I had tons of endometriosis and scar tissue. So even though I went through MOST of menopause, I never got that satisfaction of waving bye-bye to my periods.

In a related note, because my ovaries were removed, I was thrown instantly into post-menopause. Rather than my body getting slowly used to the idea of having less hormones in my system, what I had left was basically jerked away from me. So my hot flashes and night sweats are MUCH worse than they were. But the knowledge of never having to worry about pregnancy or periods again is SO worth it!

If you haven't been having sex, rule out pregnancy. You can still get pregnant of course while going through a menopause and you never know when your period will come so it's safe to still use birth control. My mom started her menopause in her late thirties and hasn't had a period since 2004 or 2006. But yet she just told me she quit getting her periods when she was 40 but I remember her still getting them when I was a preteen and I swore she still got them when I was in middle school and I remember her dripping blood on my bed when she was lying down. I had to be about 15 then and a freshman. But how long do menopauses last?

Drink red clover tea 2-3 times a day, it helps regulate hormones.

Many thanks for your posts here everybody. They are all really helpful, can't stress that enough!

I am definitely not pregnant unless the immaculate conception really exists, which I doubt. However, since my menstruation stopped and my abdomen and stomach are extremely swollen at the moment my GP thought it would be a good idea for me to get a medical check up in the hospital. I'm going there tomorrow and I am already starting to get anxious. It's probably the hypochondriac in me that causes all this stress but you never know.

Does anyone know if a swollen stomach and abdomen are menopausal symptoms as well? Eventhough I can't be pregnant I am beginning to look as if I am.

IThanks webalina.
I have heard quite a lot of medical terminology over the years but the term meno apron doesn't ring a bell. Even Google is not familiar with it.

No, I don't think I will ask one of the physicians if I have a meno apron. That's a risk I am not willing to take.

If it's not too late for well wishes, good luck today with the hospital visit. I hope they can clear up some of your worries.