Perimenopause and Irregular Periods

Irregular periods are often the first sign of perimenopause, there can be a number of other reasons why your periods might be all over the shop so do go and get checked out if your periods are irregular.

This is probably a good time to remind you that I am not a doctor, healthcare professional or menopause expert, I am a Mum of two boys who started perimenopause symptoms at aged 38 and was finally diagnosed at 44, so I am here to share what I know and provide an excellent start to your own research.

What is Perimenopause?

To fully understand perimenopausal symptoms we should know what perimenopause actually is.

Perimenopause is the stage of your life leading to menopause when your hormone levels start to change and fluctuate and continue to do so until you have been 12 months’ periods free.

12 months after your last menstrual period you are in the menopause phase of your menopausal transition and have officially reached menopause. Your hormone levels are not back to normal but they are settling into this new natural transition.

You will see above the average age of the stages of menopause but I am a walking shining example of not fitting the general rule.

If you feel like you have any symptoms of perimenopause such as irregular bleeding, night sweats, hot flushes, anxiety, vaginal dryness, sleep problems, mood changes and anything else that seems a bit off, please go and see a GP, get it all checked out.

What Will My Periods Be Like In Perimenopause?

In perimenopause, our oestrogen and progesterone levels fluctuate and this can lead to not only irregular cycles but also heavy periods, heavy bleeding and lighter bleeding.

When I say unpredictable cycles, this can be anything from a longer cycle to a shorter cycle but just to let you know, most places I have researched consider a gap of 60 days or more between periods is classed as late perimenopause.

Heavy periods are normally classed as this when you need to change your pad or tampon every hour or more. There is no real definitive answer here but many women do suffer from this, in fact, one in three women describe their periods as heavy.

Before had perimenopause diagnosed my periods were so heavy that they affected my life way more than they should have.

I couldn’t do the school run, work was affected and a long car journey was very much out of the question. I had to plan my entire life around my menstrual cycle, having no clue that I could get help.

Hormone replacement therapy worked wonders for me and my combination of oestrogen and progesterone has allowed me to get my everyday life back, my periods are heavy still, but not to the point where I have no clue if I can leave the house.

How Irregular Are Periods During Perimenopause?

The normal pattern of your periods will now become irregular which means that you might see a 7 days shift at either end of your period.

For me, I started to menstruate 4-5 days early or 4-5 days late and I never really knew what date my period would arrive. For some women, it can swing even more widely than this.

I mentioned above that up to 60 days between periods is getting towards the end of perimenopause. When you have gone without a menstrual period for 12 months that should be it, no more irregular periods.

What Are The Other Symptoms of Perimenopause?

Most women don’t realise hormone changes are what is causing irregular periods and the many other perimenopause symptoms they are experiencing. I know I put most of my symptoms down to being a busy Mum, working a full-time job, running a house and feeling generally burnt out and a bit anxious.

So we need to understand perimenopausal symptoms and I bang on about this as much as I can to all my girlfriends. I have written a full blog post on this here, but below is a summary:

Perimenopause and menopause throw up all sorts of symptoms and I guarantee that you did not learn about them at school. I know I didn’t.

Menopause is only taught as hot flushes and periods stopping, that’s it! We don’t hear about anxiety, hair loss, mood swings, weight gain or crippling brain fog to name a few.

I wish at school we had known more, been taught more and then I think I would have known that my Mum who started menopause at 41 wasn’t a crazy nutjob trying to prevent my social life, she was suffering from symptoms every day and she, like me, had no idea it was due to hormonal changes.

If I had known this important piece of my family history and that we tend to follow our Mum’s patterns when it comes to menopause, I may have been able to avoid many, many years of suffering from my horrible perimenopausal symptoms.

Managing symptoms of perimenopause can be really hard for some of us. I have tried a lot of stuff as you will know from this blog but HRT was the only solution that worked in the end for me.

If you are struggling with any perimenopause symptoms PLEASE go and find a GP who knows what they are talking about, there are a bunch of specialist menopause websites you can look at to check where to find some. Here is a great place to start.

Closing Thoughts

Irregular periods are an early sign of perimenopause but they can mean other things, always speak to your healthcare provider if you have any of the symptoms above, including irregular bleeding of any kind.

Our reproductive years may be coming to an end but we don’t have to suffer from bothersome symptoms, a rubbish sex life, or become a social recluse when there are things we can do to relieve symptoms.

Early perimenopause should be picked up a lot quicker than it is but I do feel like things are changing for the better, there is still a lot to do in educating women on the emotional symptoms of perimenopause and menopause because let me tell you they can creep up on you.

The most important takeaway is that if you are about to start this natural transition you remember that there is a bunch of help out there, so many resources but mainly a lot of women who are just like you.

Kathryn x