Could it be menopause?

Could it be menopause? (Full Version)

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defiantbadgirl -> Could it be menopause? (7/9/2008 5:56:46 AM)
Despite my hormone imbalance, I've had fairly heavy periods since I started at age 12. I just turned 35 last month and although my periods are still regular, they have gotten considerably lighter (still last about a week but much lighter flow). Is it normal for a woman's periods to get lighter as she gets older or is it a sign of menopause? I know the average age for menopause is somewhere around 45 or 50 but I have a hormone imbalance and a friend that went through menopause at 38. How common is it for a woman with a hormone imbalance to go through menopause before age 40? I'm getting married soon and my Sir and I want to have a couple of kids, but he doesn't want to start trying to conceive until after the marriage. I don't have health insurance and it would probably cost hundreds of dollars to see a physician and have a bunch of lab work done. Am I being overly paranoid?

LadyRainfire -> RE: Could it be menopause? (7/9/2008 7:02:42 AM)
There is a period of time as we get older where our hormones change before menopause. As you're getting older, your hormone levels change with you. Menopause can be a very subjective experience for women since some start the change in their late 20's, some in their 30's, some in their 40's and some not until their 50's. Our bodies produce less hormones causing our periods to change. You're young enough that I would tend to think that your hormones are just changing but a better way to find out is talk with the women in your family and see when they went through menopause. Most women in my family had such problems that they ended up with hysterectomies before they could actually go through a non-surgical menopause. Something to keep in mind is that a hysterectomy is also known as a surgical menopause. My mother would go off on rants about women and their hormones, saying we made up all the horror stories about problems for attention and sympathy, that menopause was a myth because SHE had never had a single problem. I just roll my eyes and go "whatever". [8\|] She would conveniently forget that she had a hysterectomy when she was in her early 30's. And if you're still worried about your fertility, there are ways to learn your natural ovulation signs, if you're not using something like hormonal BC. You can track your fertility, in addition to the ovulation tests you can get at the pharmacy. Feel free to ask if you have other questions and I hope this helps, if only a little.

sub4hire -> RE: Could it be menopause? (7/9/2008 8:09:44 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: defiantbadgirl Am I being overly paranoid? If you want kids I'd take steps to have them now. It sounds as though you are in perimenopause. Meaning...yes you more less are in menopause. A females body prepares for full blown menopause for years prior. The age varies with every individual. I'd ask your mother and grandmother if they are still alive when they went in. You get the same sort of things going on as menopause its just they are lesser than full blown. So you lose hair at a lesser rate. You still have periods its just they are lighter....on and on. I had a cancer scare last year....did "way" too much research on this topic. Anyway here is an article as well from the Mayo Clinic

windchymes -> RE: Could it be menopause? (7/9/2008 8:16:05 AM)
You're probably being a little paranoid :) and you're probably heading toward peri-menopause which is just the time where your body starts thinking about changing, not roaring toward full-blown menopause. That's probably the most likely scenario. However, with your history of hormone imbalance, you might be roaring towards it.....or just creeping towards it.....only a doctor can tell you for sure. Periods do lighten up as you get older....but sometimes they get heavier. As long as you are having regular ones, though, and are ovulating, which you probably are if you're having regular ones, you should be able to conceive. They'll most likely treat you as "high risk" simply because of your age, because your eggs are older and genetic disorders such as Down Syndrome are more common in moms over 35. But you're probably fine. I did say "probably" many times, because, as I said before, only a doctor can tell you for sure.

Mercnbeth -> RE: Could it be menopause? (7/9/2008 9:48:29 AM)
quote: How common is it for a woman with a hormone imbalance to go through menopause before age 40? if it is happening to you, and you want to conceive any time soon, it doesn't really matter how common it is for others. being diagnosed with a hormone imbalance, there is a good possibility it might be necessary for you to seek out specialized services in order to conceive even if you weren't going through menopause...specialists can be extremely pricey plus the treatments can wreak havoc with your natural system. this slave's sister, at age 36 and recently married, had FANTASTIC insurance. she went through the lab tests and found out that she had very few, if any, viable eggs left and decreased hormone levels, which they declared was evidence of her foray into menopause. at the Dr.'s recommendation, they were all set to buy a very pricey half dozen package of donor eggs. she went through a few treatments for a couple of months-- hormone injections, so she wouldn't reject the implanted eggs --- and after an increase in blood pressure and the development of several cysts on her ovaries, they discontinued that plan and decided to adopt. best of luck to you!!!

NeedingMore220 -> RE: Could it be menopause? (7/9/2008 9:52:33 AM)
It could be perimenopause - a period of time that can last years for some women before they go through actual menopause. The tough thing is so many of these symptoms vary woman to woman. You can't really glean much information from others because it's such an individual thing - especially since you have the hormonal imbalance to begin with. It may be worth a trip to the doctor, if you're both worth sure about trying for kids. That's really the only way to determine where you 'stand' so to speak.

christine1 -> RE: Could it be menopause? (7/9/2008 10:13:57 AM)
OP, from my family and friends that are women, i've decided that it is a case by case situation. when my mom went into perimenopause, it got lighter, but then she bled heavily for a whole year straight before having her hysterectomy. other family memembers are different but still problematic and not "normal" so to speak. i'm going through perimenopause right now, i get hot flashes, i bleed badly one month and hardly at all the next. the only thing that doesnt' seem to change with me is my moody/weepy moods i have during these times.

sub4hire -> RE: Could it be menopause? (7/9/2008 11:43:09 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Mercnbeth at the Dr.'s recommendation, they were all set to buy a very pricey half dozen package of donor eggs. she went through a few treatments for a couple of months-- hormone injections, so she wouldn't reject the implanted eggs --- and after an increase in blood pressure and the development of several cysts on her ovaries, they discontinued that plan and decided to adopt. best of luck to you!!! So, how much do half a dozen eggs run nowadays and does insurance cover any of it? Just curious is all. Doug and I are adopting. I always thought one single egg was in the hundred thousand dollar range...but most definitely could be wrong.

KatyLied -> RE: Could it be menopause? (7/9/2008 12:18:01 PM)
I agree with some other comments, you are probably entering the weird world of peri-menopause. Your periods will become weird and possibly even more uncomfortable, and I won't even tell you about the clot thing, just yeck. I am 50 and thought a few months ago that I may be entering menopause, but I think I'm still peri, and peri can last for years.

Mercnbeth -> RE: Could it be menopause? (7/9/2008 12:26:05 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: sub4hire quote: ORIGINAL: Mercnbeth at the Dr.'s recommendation, they were all set to buy a very pricey half dozen package of donor eggs. she went through a few treatments for a couple of months-- hormone injections, so she wouldn't reject the implanted eggs --- and after an increase in blood pressure and the development of several cysts on her ovaries, they discontinued that plan and decided to adopt. best of luck to you!!! So, how much do half a dozen eggs run nowadays and does insurance cover any of it? Just curious is all. Doug and I are adopting. I always thought one single egg was in the hundred thousand dollar range...but most definitely could be wrong. it was 11 years ago. at the time, the MD's did not recommend buying, fertilizing and implanting just one egg. the success rate of all the time and $$ spent going through the entire procedure is dramatically increased if there are several implanted at a time...then you decide how many you want to keep of the remaining viable fetus' while the MD is still willing to remove the one(s) you don't want. their plan was to buy the half dozen, attempt the procedure with 3, then see how things went before implanting the other 3. they wanted as many as would make it. due to her age and health issues, she couldn't make it through the preliminary hormone injections, much less a pregnancy, so the purchase was never made. this slave has no idea what, if anything, would have been covered by their insurance...the eggs alone, sans any of the costs of the procedures, went for $30,000. they have adopted 5 since then.

KatyLied -> RE: Could it be menopause? (7/9/2008 12:35:32 PM)
It is costly for most fertilization procedures. I have friends considering this and it will be very costly, insurance covers only a fraction of the cost and they were told that they shouldn't consider it unless they are willing to commit to at least two attempts, because the first attempt rarely succeeds. This would be invitro with the wife's egg and husband's sperm. Also, regarding fertility, my understanding is that a woman is considered "fertile" until she has had one year (12 months) of no menstrual periods.

batshalom -> RE: Could it be menopause? (7/9/2008 12:50:59 PM)
~fast reply~ dbg, having a hormone imabalance, you may be unfamiliar with "odd" things causing your period to be different than usual. If you've been exercising a lot or stressing a lot or even taking different supplements, your period could change. It is absolutely impossible to say what's going on with you. You might be peri-menopausal (but my experience with it is to not have as many periods, or have twice as many periods, and much heavier and painful and clotting (gag) periods) or it might just be your body doing its naturally unnatural thing. Good luck with the marriage though.

defiantbadgirl -> RE: Could it be menopause? (7/9/2008 2:55:42 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Mercnbeth being diagnosed with a hormone imbalance, there is a good possibility it might be necessary for you to seek out specialized services in order to conceive even if you weren't going through menopause That's what I thought. In fact, I assumed I was sterile because of my hormone imbalance until I accidentally got pregnant. I've given birth twice....once when I was too young to be a mother (baby was given up for adoption) and again a few years ago. My son will be 7 in September. Sir and I want to have 2 of our own. A dermatologist diagnosed me with the hormone imbalance as a teenager (I had bad acne) and I haven't had my hormone levels checked since. All of my sex organs are female and always have been. The only affect the imbalance had on my pregnancies was my cervix refusing to soften. I can carry a baby, just can't go into labor without being induced. If anything, that reduces the chance of miscarriage. I only brought up the hormone imbalance because I'm afraid it might bring on early menopause. I'm not ready to be sterile yet.

eyesopened -> RE: Could it be menopause? (7/10/2008 3:50:40 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: christine1 OP, from my family and friends that are women, i've decided that it is a case by case situation. when my mom went into perimenopause, it got lighter, but then she bled heavily for a whole year straight before having her hysterectomy. other family memembers are different but still problematic and not "normal" so to speak. i'm going through perimenopause right now, i get hot flashes, i bleed badly one month and hardly at all the next. the only thing that doesnt' seem to change with me is my moody/weepy moods i have during these times. During my stage of perimenopause my periods were so erratic that there was simply no predicting when or how heavy or light or how long they would last. There is a simple blood test now where menopause and perimenopause can be diagnosed, regardless of whether menopause is a result of hysterectomy, age, or any other factor. i was definately surprised that there is relatively little information on menopause and i suspect that it's because it varies so much from person to person. i went through menopause at a much earlier age than my mother or grandmother so family history isn't even a good predictor. See your doctor!

sub4hire -> RE: Could it be menopause? (7/15/2008 1:19:34 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: KatyLied I have friends considering this and it will be very costly, insurance covers only a fraction of the cost and they were told that they shouldn't consider it unless they are willing to commit to at least two attempts, because the first attempt rarely succeeds. This would be invitro with the wife's egg and husband's sperm. Also, regarding fertility, my understanding is that a woman is considered "fertile" until she has had one year (12 months) of no menstrual periods. Well, if anybody wants to go the hillbilly way. I have a friend who has developed a cloning machine...its idiot proof..and its real. He sells them. Knowing Andy...he would probably even serve up the sperm if you had no partner. I've seen it in action..and it does work

MissSCD -> RE: Could it be menopause? (7/17/2008 7:05:31 AM)
I started having hot flashes at 36. A male doctor told me there was no way I was going to be in menopause until I was 50. I went to a woman doctor. She told me I was in paramenopause which is pre-menopause. Get a woman doctor. I did just the opposite. I experienced heavy bleeding so bad that I could not work. Menopause is when you have went a solid year without a cycle. You need to have your hormonal level checked to determine how close you are. Best wishes. Regards, MissSCD

LaTigresse -> RE: Could it be menopause? (7/17/2008 7:15:01 AM)
I can only echo what everyone else has said. You will have to see a doctor to know for sure. After 10 years of perimenopause and then full blown menopause........I THINK I've come out the other side...... It is faaaaaaaaaaabulous!!! I also remember there being a test you can get at the local drug stores that would tell you where you are at as far as perimenopause. I can see the box in my mind's eye but do not remember the brand. Edited to add...........there really is no magic age. My fun started when I was in my mid 30's.

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