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[Machair]

Are there any ladies on here not on hrt who can help? My last period if you could call it that was June last year, previous one February. The June one was very slight after 3 weeks of PMT. Nothing since then, not even PMT, until this week where it has started and it is major! 7 months since the last period and I really thought that was it, but it seems not! As I am 58 this is getting to be rather irritating. However at least I have so far escaped all the other symptoms that I am sure are waiting in the wings! Whether it will become a period or not remains to be seen as I have had PMT before in peri with no bleed but not in the last 7 months.

Does this PMT feeling carry on after menopause and for how long?

[Machair]

Thank you so much Sparkle that makes me feel more normal! Do you have any PMT type feelings at all now? I feel like I am still having some sort of cycle without the periods though!

[Fionalowri]

Hello Machair,

My periods stopped on a regular basis a couple of weeks before I was 53, and I had four more periods spread out over two years after that and have now been period free for about a year.  I continued to have PMT symptoms regularly throughout this time, though I started to see them more as symptoms of menopause that just got worse at times on a cyclical basis as my hormones continued to fluctuate, though occasionally I did have a period. I started to get flushes and palpitations sometime after my periods became irregular but it was low mood and anxiety that hit me hardest, and unlike PMT these moods didn't lift significantly as they would have done after a period and became an underlying constant.  After 18 months I asked to try HRT and was put on Everol Conti patches, but even then I was still aware of my own cycle continuing underneath and would still feel definite PMT like symptoms.  The HRT helped take the edge off my low mood and anxiety, but only slightly, they make it just about bearable, but only just, though they do work very well in helping me sleep for much longer, I used to only get 4-5 hours and now its around 7.   I also used to get bouts of sciatica and that too appears to have cleared up.

It has been 3 years since my periods first started to become irregular and as I said I have been period free for a year now. I have noticed that over the past few months I don't seem to have had a strong sense of what my own cycle is doing any more; I used to know when I was mid-cycle for instance, because of a thicker vaginal discharge.  So I am hoping my hormones are starting to level out and even my low moods seem less intrusive than before.

So going on my experience, and of course everyone's will be different, my PMT like symptoms have stayed with me for 3 years so far, but are starting to lessen. So going on what you have said I think your hormones are doing something similar and may continue to do so for some time, but nothing out of the ordinary for menopause.  Hopefully you will not develop any other symptoms, but HRT is something to think about if you do, though it was not a miracle cure for me, just helped a bit.

Hope that's a little reassuring. It does sound like a typical part of going through menopause.

[Machair]

Thank you so much Fionalowri for this amazing reply which is so kind and helpful. I hope you continue to do well going forward. We sound very similar as I also was very regular until I was 53/54 as well. Sometimes I have to remind myself of this as all my friends had finished when I was still having a normal cycle at 53! Of course they started to see period changes from 46/47 so in effect I am 5 years behind them.

Are you planning to stay on HRT for the foreseeable future?

[CLKD]

How's your diet? I was advised to eat every 3 hours, 24/7.  To stop that awful dip as hormones bounce around.  Even in the night, having a biscuit by the bed is handy as well as eating bananas on a regular basis as they are slow release energy.

[Fionalowri]

Glad you found the reply helpful Machair. I felt that your question did correspond quite closely to my own experience, hence I thought my response might be of some use.

I am planning to stay on HRT for a little longer; don't have a definite time in mind, really just a case of see how it goes. Probably not beyond 5 years, which as I started at 54 would take me to 59, but I might change my mind!

I don't know if you have seen Hurdity's post entitled 'Stages of reproductive ageing and FSH'. There is an interesting link which on page 5 has a table showing those stages that would place you in the late menopausal transition, whereas I would probably be in early postmenopause. If gives a rough indication of how long each stage could last and what is happening to various hormones and when vasomotor symptoms are more likely to occur. I found it quite reassuring, as when you are going through menopause it can seem neverending, though of course such tables may not hold true for everyone's experience.

[Machair]

Diet is very good CLKD, it has to be as I have ME and so have a very healthy diet overall. Thank you for mentioning it though as I think it is really important for hormone balance and PMT.

[CLKD]

My symptoms of PMT were:

A sudden feeling of nausea so I always knew where the waste bins were in shops.  Once I had to ask for a loo in a Pharmacy.  I never was sick but it was so sudden   
The above was probably due to the body being suddenly hungry with the dip in hormones.  NAPS gave good advice at the time.
Temper tantrums like you never could believe  - once the bleed began all these settled.  Until 10-14 days B4 the next period. 

[Machair]

That must have been dreadful.

Mine are feeling bloated, like 9 months pregnant with a 10lb baby ( I had that in 1992 so I know!)

Constipated, but starving hungry at the same time!

Irritated and I mean very irritated, but I don't shout or get angry, just feel like I could deck something!

Wouldn't trust my judgement at this time either as could make a decision that I would subsequently wish I hadn't.

Weight gain- a few pounds that comes off afterwards.

Fuzzy thinking like a head of cotton wool.

Best cure for all of this is spending time in nature, lots of sleep, good food, and best of the lot lavender baths.
Trouble is in peri there is no guarantee of a period to end this- I have sometimes had this build to an unbearable level only to have it all subside overnight

[CLKD]

Oh I hated that bloatedness  - by 2.30 p.m. I would need to undo the zip on my skirt ........

I suffered slow transit for years.  My GP gave me medication and eventually I could stop that and used Actimel x 3 daily which really eased my bowels.  Have you tried something from the Pharmacist to get things moving?

[Machair]

No because it usually rights itself as the symptoms fade. Just a question of waiting!

[CLKD]

I remember when having regular periods that my bottom felt like it would fall out  - that disappeared once the bleed started and I would forget until the next month  .  I would get grumpy then beyond grumpy - things I would cope with suddenly became HOW DARE YOU! DH learned to Stand Well Back