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[LizzieAnn]

Hello all....my first post.....

I wonder if someone can help me with this? I am 50 years old (just turned 50 in March) and have been having hot flushes, night sweats, and breast pain....so I thought I was going through the menopause.  One doctor said do not come off contraception, keep on it, and the other one (a lady doctor) said to come off it and get my body back into its normal rhythm...she told me it was obvious that I was going through the menopause!

So I came off Cerazette mini-pill after around 5 years on it.  I had been on Feminax for around 15 years prior to that with no problems and normal monthlies.

Thing is, nothing happened for ages, then about a month into being off it, I had more than just spotting, quite heavy bleeding in fact, which has now tailed off, after nearly 10 days and there is nothing at all now, on day 11.  I have funny feelings in the area of my ovaries and by this I mean I have sort of odd crampiness, but none of my spotting/bleeding was accompanied by any "normal" period symptoms such as feeling weepy, bad crampiness I used to get when I was on Feminax.....so I thought this is my body just settling down......

I never thought I would ever have a monthly period again and here we are back to having to buy sanitary protection - what a price it is!!

What can I expect and how do I know what to expect? Has anyone else ever been in a similar situation?

And by the way, I hate the lack of spontaneity which has now reared its ugly head with regards to my husband and I's lovemaking.... 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Taz2]

Hi LizzieAnn - welcome to the forum.

It's always difficult to tell how far you are through the menopause if you are taking the mini pill as the progesterone can stop your periods altogether and once you stop taking it then periods return. Although you are experiencing hot flushes etc. that doesn't mean that your periods have finished. Many women have flushes for along time before periods stop altogether. The normal age for meno is around 50/51 but lots of us have continued to bleed much later than this.

It's important that you continue to use some form of contraception - you can still get pregnant until you have gone a year without bleeding. Have you considered HRT? You may wish to give your body a few more months to settle down without giving it any hormones and then decide whether to give HRT a try or not. It is really normal at the age you are now to experience irregular periods - sometimes you can go months between them and at others you can have two in a month - but a sequential HRT will give you a predictable bleed each month (for most women anyway) so at least you would know where you are as regards lovemaking.

Have a good look around the site - lots of info in our posts and also in the menu on the left of the screen.

Taz x 

[Limpy]

And by the way, I hate the lack of spontaneity which has now reared its ugly head with regards to my husband and I's lovemaking.... 

Hi LizzieAnn -

That phrase seemed so familiar, I had to stop taking the COCP when I was 54 so had the nightmare of having to deal with contraception when OH and I had never needed to really think about it. Many sympathies. 

You must keep on using some form of contraception if you do not wish to become pregnant. It may be worth speaking to your GP or family planning clinic to see what they advise.

 
Welcome to the forum

[dahliagirl]

Do you really need to stop cerazette at 50 if you are ok with it?

I was put on it at 49 (or nearly 50, according to the prescribing gp  )

I think you can take hrt at the same time, if you need oestrogen.

[positivethoughts]

Hi LizzieAnn

I have had a similar experience to you. I am recently 50 and was on Cerazette for several years after my second child was born. I started having similar menopausal symptoms to you, night sweats etc and made a decision after a lot of thought to stop taking Cerazette early this year to see where I was with my cycle as the Cerazette stopped my periods altogether apart from occasional spotting. I was expecting a withdrawal bleed quite quickly but nothing happened for absolutely ages except for the most awful pains, really painful breasts, lower abdomen, lower back 24 hours a day for a while until I went to the doctor to check it out as still no bleed. Long story, but rightly or wrongly she sent me for an internal ultrsound when in fact I was really just leading up to a massive bleed. They thought they could possibly see polyps and could see the womb lining was thickened (which of course it would be after several weeks of build up). They fast tracked me to a gynae oncology centre, all very scary, and after a hysteroscopy and biopsy it is all fine and I bled around the same time after very many weeks of waiting. Nightmare!

I then had about 3 months of sort of regular periods again which as you say is very weird after not having them for so long. Plus we were using condoms again which both myself and husband hate using. The consultant I saw strongly recommended going back onto Cerazette until I was sure I was through the menopause, and said it is highly suitable for that and that many many women do exactly this. So with that advice and that of an experienced older woman doctor at my practice I have now gone back onto Cerazette. Both of them said it wasn't necessary to have oestrogen at the same time. I have bled a couple of times but it's not regular, and I have been getting period-type pains and mood swings, all of which I always had. Cannot wait to be out the other side of all of this!

So for contraception Cerazette is recommended right through the menopause if you are happy with it. It certainly makes life easier as far as i'm concerned re spontainaeity, and i'm hoping the pms symptoms settle down soon like they did when I took this pill before. Sorry that was quite long-winded but it does seem as though we are in similar places :-)

[LizzieAnn]

Oh thanks all of you for such lovely welcomes and so much useful information - I now feel not so alone anymore! You are all lovely, thank you! 

I am going to hang fire and see how I get along...we are having fun experimenting with different things in lovemaking so all is not lost!!!!

After nearly 10 days of intermittent bleeding now I seem to have stopped.  Most of my other symptoms seem to be trying to settle down and I do not seem to have any crampy feelings but only the occasional flushes and painful breasts.

Fingers crossed things will get easier.  I do not fancy HRT and going back on cerazette seems a little daft to me considering I am trying to get my body back to normal...although I do wonder if it will ever be normal again?!

[dahliagirl]

Progesterone only pills are licensed for use up to age 55.  It is the combined pill that is only licensed up to 50.   So you should be able to continue it for as long as it is needed (unless you are likely to be aiming for the Guinness book of records for a late baby - I think that is currently 56, in the uk).

[Taz2]

Hi LizzieAnn - glad that we have helped. Please keep posting to let us know how you are getting on.

As regards HRT many women don't start it until their meno symptoms become more troublesome which can sometimes happen once periods get further apart. The "guidelines" (although everyone has different experiences) are that symptoms worsen for the first two years after periods stop completely and then gradually disappear.  I think you are wise to wait and see how you get on without it but keep it in mind should you need it later.

As for being normal again - loads of us have wasted a long time waiting for that but, in the long run, it's easier to accept that we change throughout our lives and this is one of the changes and you will have a new "normal" 

Taz x