How many years have you had a period?

ACG-

Physical or mental PMS? I suffer from PMDD - PreMenstrual Dysphoric (sp?) Disorder - or in laymen's terms "B*tch from Hell for Two Weeks"

I worked with Andrew Weil for a couple of years (professionally - I was his business manager at the University of AZ (or Univ of OZ, as I say)) and during that time I tried all herbs: Black cohosh, vitex, dong quai, etc. I got a little relief, but not enough. Interestingly, those worked better on the physical aspects than mental.

I finally got a psychiatrist who isn't afraid to try new things. I'd been on everything from Prozac to Lexapro and all of the in-betweens, Welbutrin, Effexor, etc. I'm taking a tiny little speck of Lexapro plus a half of a pill called Provigil. It is for narcolepsy (sp?) but it's also hits norepinephrine whereas Lexapro hits serotonin. I take 1/4 of the regular dose of that.

I, too, didn't want pills. Fought it for years. But I figure it is temporary - just enough to get me through perimenopause and my insane job (my accountant is Sybill, I never know what personality I'm going to get each day, the faculty are 5 years old emotionally and my boss is a Korean woman who doesn't understand the American term "burned out.").

So, it really depends on how bad it is. For me, I was giving up half of my life. If I have to take a couple of pills each day, so be it.

My mom started going into menopause about 10 years ago. I guess now she's through it all finally. But she started around 47 which I guess is fairly young? She had all these symptoms, and went to her doctor to tell her she thought she was starting menopause, and her doctor told her that she should see a psychiatrist because obviously she was too young to go into menopause. I think that's pretty rude, and only a year or so later she was into menopause so obviously she wasn't too young. She was pretty pissed at that!

K.

Kimmy, that's a strange story.


I certainly agree, taking pills isn't exactly natural, but neither is having 400 periods in a life time! (low estimate)

In a "natural" state, women got pregnant and nursed their babies as long as they could, easily for 6 years per child. This naturally spaced out pregnancies and kept them amenorrheic. (read bushman ethnologies if you want to know more about this)
The average woman had 3 kids, spaced 6 years apart. Of course if they lost a child, they would start cycling again, and get pregnant again. But the end result was not very many periods at all.

I had a friend whose doc told her she was too young to be in menopause--she was 49, and this was only about 5 years ago. I told her most of the women in my family, according to my aunt, were in menopause by age 50 or shortly thereafter, so don't believe everything your doc tells you. And sure enough, the woman was in menopause, and the blasted doc didn't have a clue.

It helps to remember that doctors are human too and don't know everything. It's when they pretend that they do know everything that we get into trouble.

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Originally Posted by Bad JuJu

I had a friend whose doc told her she was too young to be in menopause--she was 49, and this was only about 5 years ago. I told her most of the women in my family, according to my aunt, were in menopause by age 50 or shortly thereafter, so don't believe everything your doc tells you. And sure enough, the woman was in menopause, and the blasted doc didn't have a clue.

It helps to remember that doctors are human too and don't know everything. It's when they pretend that they do know everything that we get into trouble.

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on the other hand, when i was at the Doc's for my 51 year old pelvic exam
the young nurse/aide asked me about my cycles which were still normal and she was stunned with my response. You're 51 and still having normal cycles?
And the doctor (also a woman) said to her "yes, this is what healthy looks like...often women keep cycling into their 50's without medication and surgery"

You can actually start perimenopause at a fairly young age. I started having symptoms in my late 30's. Even I thought I was too young and was imagining things so I didn't mention it to my doctor until about a year ago (I'm 42 now). She agreed that I am indeed in perimenopause. I later talked to my mother about it. I had assumed that since she had a hysterectomy due to cervical cancer at age 38 that I couldn't use her as a reference point. It turns out she hit menopause at age 36!

I was talking to my younger sister a few weeks ago and she mentioned all the symptoms she is having. She is having a hard time convincing her doctor that she is entering perimenopause. He thinks she's crazy and that she's too young (she's about to turn 38). I told her to go back and tell him about me and about mom so maybe he will believe her.

So, while it's not common, it can happen. Like Bad JuJu said, doctors are human and they may not recognize it because it is outside of what is considered normal.

I was 36 ,and full blown by 40 when I went into menopause . I was in denial. Couldn't believe this was happening to me so young. I'm 52 now ,and have ben on HRT since I was 40. I know there are risks ,but I felt was soooooo awful,Ill take my chances. I was very depressed when I found out. My daughter started her period when she was 11 ,the same day I found out I was post menopausal. If I went off the HRT I would still have hot flashes ,and mood swings. I tried before. I was sad not having a period. It was like loosing my youth. I used to gage my life ,and moods by my period. Now I'm consistent (usually happy) ,and I don't really think about it much. I also couldn't use my Mom or my grand ma as a reference point, as my mom had a hysterectomy at the age of 40 ,and my grandma died when she was 38 from breast cancer.

Anyone NOT remember when they started? I remember being self-conscious in middle school because those jumbo pads must have shown thru the little nylon gym uniforms :eek: but I have zero recollection of when I actually started.

It's been pretty miserable ~ pre-cramping that focuses either in my lower back or down the front of my thighs. (Took an acupuncturist asking before I realized that it was related to my cycles.) Heated Seats in cars should be available by perscription to any woman who asks!
The 'real' part of my cycle is less bleeding than passing massive clots that made for many embarassing and near-disaster situations in school -- and are my excuse to work from home certain days of the month. PMS comes & goes - sometimes I'm a raging :mad: and other times just sad or overwhelmed. On top of all this - I've got mid cycle spotting that won't go away, and I have yet to find a doctor that can figure out what or why or how to stop it. PMS also overwhelms me with a desire to binge eat - especially sweets - but even the smallest bite makes me nauseous.

I'm almost 32, and I have some form of bleeding over 50% of the days per cycle - pill or no pill - for as long as I can remember. We've very nearly given up on having kids ~ and I'm working with a doc that I've tasked with finding out what is wrong and how to resolve it, will be in her office this afternoon. :confused:

How long have I had mine? WAYYY TOOO LONG..Started at age 11, just about to turn 40. I am ready any day now for it to stop. No chance of that. Mom stopped mid to late 50's, dear god don't let me follow in her footsteps, PLEASE. I am some what regular, am blessed with a short flow, usually. And yes, I am glad to get mine monthly, DH had a vasectomy years ago, never went back to get checked..swears if I get pregnant, it's not his..DUH....somehow it's all my fault? My $0.02 and a little off topic about the hormone therapies that don't allow a cycle for 3-4 months at a time, I tend to not believe in that. We were given this "curse" for a reason, and yes, it would be convenient, but I think those hormones can't be doing us any good either. I had to take estrogen for 10 days after a procedure..stopped at about day 5, was an insomniac and couldn't take it any more..and took a few days to get out of my system. I couldn't imagine life on HRT..

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Originally Posted by Tuckervill

Overweight causes too much estrogen to be stored in your body, so if you're overweight and having problems with your periods, (polycystic ovaries, for instance), getting rid of lots of weight will help.


Karen

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Ah but the catch 22 to PCOS is that it makes it difficult to lose and maintain weight loss so you have to fight harder to lose the weight to try to make the PCOS better to make it easier to lose the weight, etc, etc... not an excuse but PCOS isn't as simple as losing weight. I have had massive blood clots like others have described off an on all of my life as well. Turns out at one point I had polyps that needed to be removed and there's a chance the could return. I have had female problems ever since I BLOSSOMED so I think I'd be glad to be done completely. I told the doctor if I end up needing a hysterectomy to take it all since the ovaries aren't working right either. One of the last ultrasounds showed my left ovary nearly as big as my uterus if what I saw was correct. They could barely find my right ovary.

I used to think I didn't want to mess with my hormones, so I never took birth control pills. I just suffered with awful cramps, yucky IBS (in addition to my regular digestive issues) and crabby crabby moods. Somehow I never seemed to plan ahead properly when I had my period and always found myself out somewhere with friends or family having to say "uh, could we stop somewhere so I can get a tampon?" And it always overflowed because I bled so much.

Then my gastroenterologist suggested that I definitely not get pregnant because of the medication I was on. No problem, I don't want to have kids anyway. This, combined with my chronic anemia convinced me to finally go on the pill.

So at the age of 31, I went in to get a prescription and my (female) doctor says to me "you've never been on the pill before? How have you managed to not get pregnant?"

HUH?

Anyway, Seasonale is a girl's best friend. I don't miss the flow. I no longer care that it's "not natural" because the benefits make my life so much better.

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Originally Posted by pyxichick

Anyway, Seasonale is a girl's best friend. I don't miss the flow. I no longer care that it's "not natural" because the benefits make my life so much better.

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you said it sister! that's why i love it!!!!

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Ah but the catch 22 to PCOS is that it makes it difficult to lose and maintain weight loss so you have to fight harder to lose the weight to try to make the PCOS better to make it easier to lose the weight, etc, etc... not an excuse but PCOS isn't as simple as losing weight.

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Yeah, I didn't mean to imply that it was easy. Just that weight is a factor. I want to get my weight off before menopause because of the same vicious cycle.

Karen

While We're on the subject. (thread hijack) Has anyone had endometriosis??

I started VERY late compared to the rest of you. I was almost 15!!! Been coming like clockwork eversince. 1 entire week of bleed through every month until I was 19. That's when I found out I've got full blown endometriosis.

There were days before I saw my gyno that I'd crumple to the floor in pain, couldn't go to work, vomitting and other nasty stuff. I've been on the pill since then and have been purposely SKIPPING periods to avoid these "attacks" (which were pretty mild to begin with, but Doctor saw a pattern emerging) Usually only softens the blow a bit...

I know I'm young, But I'm looking forward to either getting pregnant and having nine months of relief or getting a freaking hysterectomy!!!

Pregnancy *does* give the raging hormones something to organise themselves around.
Infuriating to realise as a feminist of course but can't argue with my own personal experience.

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Originally Posted by Tuckervill

Overweight causes too much estrogen to be stored in your body, so if you're overweight and having problems with your periods, (polycystic ovaries, for instance), getting rid of lots of weight will help.

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Originally Posted by mary9761

Ah but the catch 22 to PCOS is that it makes it difficult to lose and maintain weight loss so you have to fight harder to lose the weight to try to make the PCOS better to make it easier to lose the weight, etc, etc... not an excuse but PCOS isn't as simple as losing weight.

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Originally Posted by Tuckervill

Yeah, I didn't mean to imply that it was easy. Just that weight is a factor.

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Weight isn't a factor in PCOS. You can be slender and still have it. Unexplained weight gain and difficulty losing weight is a symptom but not a cause of the disease. Saying so is ignorant, but don't take it personally - a lot of health care providers are deeply misinformed about PCO.

Mary is right when she says that PCOS makes it harder to lose weight - it can be downright impossible. On the reccomendation that i do exactly that, I had to find a combination of excercise and diet that would actually cause weight loss. In doing so, I wound up exercising at a level that created a calorie burn in excess of what I was eating daily - not even considering calories used for day to day functioning. I lost my alreay irregular menstual cycle to overtraining and was technically anorexic - and STILL was only losing half a pound a week.

Once doctors stopped trying to diagnose me as being too fat and started considering the actual hormonal issue at hand, the treatment changed (I was prescribed a pretty sturdy dose of Metformin and spironolactone, an antiandrogen that was supposed to help with the hirstutism and hair loss) and lo and behold, my periods became regular. This was made possible not by my OBGYN; in fact, the people at planned parenthood literally refused to talk to me about it. My regular doctor referred me to see an endocrinologist and she was utterly shocked that my previous doctor had had nothing more to say about it than "Lose some weight, you're too fat."

As for the thread topic.... I started my period when I was 12. I still have it at 31 but it's irregular again after I had to drop the treatment for PCOS when my health insurance ended.

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Weight isn't a factor in PCOS. You can be slender and still have it. Unexplained weight gain and difficulty losing weight is a symptom but not a cause of the disease. Saying so is ignorant, but don't take it personally - a lot of health care providers are deeply misinformed about PCO.

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I don't take it personally. When my friend was diagnosed with it I read up on the topic, and I recall reading that obesity was a factor in PCOS. Therefore, I don't think I was speaking out of ignorance. If you say otherwise, so be it. I don't even talk to that friend much anymore!

I'm glad you found something that worked.

Karen

How many years? hmm started at age 13. Went on the pill when i was 17 on and off due to nausea problems and breakthrough bleeding issues.

Had a bout of irregular periods due to losing too much weight a short time back, but that has now been resolved. Been prescribed a new formulation and now back on the pill.

And yes i'm now much healthier, eating well and having my bike rides and walks and even started playing basketball again.

Now to quit smoking for the umpteenth time... that last remaining vice.

LIsa PM'ed me asking me how old i was. Yep i'm 24.

I was young and foolish. I have now gone over to the healthy side... almost.

kinda related,when i was 12 my mum said to me,just before a holiday,"WATCH OUT!your sister started her periods in an aeroplane,it was the air pressure"so i had a total nightmare few hoildays following having to fly,.....i started on dry land............mums a bit old!!!!!!

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Originally Posted by Tuckervill

I don't take it personally. When my friend was diagnosed with it I read up on the topic, and I recall reading that obesity was a factor in PCOS. Therefore, I don't think I was speaking out of ignorance. If you say otherwise, so be it. I don't even talk to that friend much anymore!

I'm glad you found something that worked.

Karen

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I was diagnosed a while back...gaining weight while training for a marathon! I'm lucky in that I'm not overweight but I have read that excess weight makes the insulin resistance worse, and that losing it can even improve hirsutism and lessen the need for drug therapy. Don't worry, overweight people aren't the only ones who are treated badly because of weight. I kept insisting that I was gaining when the numbers said I should be losing weight, and nobody really seemed to care. I seemed to get the vibe that they were pissed at me for complaining about 5-10 lbs when their average patient is way more overweight.

It is funny how we remember our first period like it was yesterday. I was 12 1/2, it was early evening (about 6.30pm) and I went over to my friend's house. She lived in a block of flats and while I was waiting for the elevator I felt something very warm and wet... No-one was around so I had a quick look and ran home faster than greased lightning. I was soooo excited about it. Kept thinking to myself "I am a WOMAN" LOL. AT 12 1/2...yeah right:D Never did get too much cramping except in the early days and was as regular as clockwork - including the PMS:rolleyes: Things started going haywire about 7 years ago and got quite irregular. Now if I do get anything, if I blinked I'd miss it. I'm 50 now. I've had a few night sweats and that's really about it. Never been near my doc as I feel I don't need to (menopause is perfectly normal and natural) and wouldn't entertain the idea of HRT anyway - too much controversy about it.

Just one more thing to say on the subject:

Ladies. We do not get hot flushes/flashes...we get

POWER SURGES

:D :D :D

You know... I am amazed at how many of you remember your first period so well.

I remember my daughter's first - she was at school! Fortunately an understanding teacher was available, and I had already pre-warned daughter and made sure she had pads ready "just in case" in her school bag. She was nearly 14, now 19, she gets hers every 21 days - you could almost set a clock by her.

I remember when my best friend got hers at 11, and I was so jealous.

But mine? I don't recall... I got mine around 12 I think, def before I was 13 anyways. No recollection of where I was, or my response to it.

Was on 'the pill' from age 14 til 20, when I got married.
Used pregnancy and breast feeding to space babies. After number 5, I had my tubes "clipped" (like miniature pegs apparently).

Now nearly 42 and I have two days of heavy bleeding and significant cramps (as in, emptying of mooncup needed every 3/4 hour or so and going to bed/sleep with a towel between my legs!) and 3 days around those of lighter bleeding. On a 29-30 day cycle.

I'm leery of menopause - I'd love to be free of my period, but worry about it upsetting my, erm, "natural responses" and that interferring with sex!

OK. I know I was all about the natural blah-blah in october last year, but I'm getting kinda sick of the whole cramping, bleeding thing taking me off my bike. The 2nd or 3rd days always get me. I'm not so bad if I can take some ibuprophen and take it easy, but if I try riding hard or fast, it just kills me. The whole cramping-so-badly-you-sweat, nauseous, panting thing. oh, agony. :(
Stupid diva cup. It's great for those 'just in case' days, when you're a little irregular and not sure when you'll start, and those 'ok it's the light-bleedin' last 3-4 days of my period' because you don't get all dried out, etc... but the 2-3 days when you're having Carrie flashbacks every time you head to the privy, you're emptying it every hour or so. Geez! RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!! ARRRRGGGHHHH
...oh and I'm sick of PMS. My stress doll at work got his head torn off this morning. With teeth. *sigh*

But yeah, the whole hysterectomy/menopause thing sounds great except for the whole decreased sex drive thing.

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Originally Posted by Kitsune06

OK. I know I was all about the natural blah-blah in october last year, but I'm getting kinda sick of the whole cramping, bleeding thing taking me off my bike. The 2nd or 3rd days always get me. I'm not so bad if I can take some ibuprophen and take it easy, but if I try riding hard or fast, it just kills me.

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LOL Kit - I hear ya! I have found if I dose up on panadeine (thats the panadol with added coedine) before a ride, and then go out and "make" myself (a mission in itself) do a really hard but short ride - like hills, or an ATT, then the mess may be bigger, but I seem to fast-track the 'heavy' part of the cycle.

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Originally Posted by Kitsune06

But yeah, the whole hysterectomy/menopause thing sounds great except for the whole decreased sex drive thing.

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OMG - I wasn't thinking/aware of DECREASED sex drive!!! Tell me its not true! I was just bothered by decreasing, erm... lubrication... (thank goodness this is a women's forum).

That's what lube is for. (I don't want to go 'too far' but I want to still try to be informative...) Sea Buckthorn and damiana are good for 'natural' lubricity, but there are very good artificial ones out there, too. (if anyone needs suggestions, they can pm me privately... )

but as far as I know, nothing will jumpstart the drive but hormones...

When I was on Depo, nothing touched me. Nothing. I was asexual as far as I was concerned. sex was like an extended push-up session. I never want to repeat that. :(

But Kit! I don't want to use/buy lube!
I dont wanna go there... for a start I am waaaaay too lazy!
I like the convenience of what I have!

OK... enough of this... gonna sign off and jump on the spin bike - its just coming up 6am and I gotta get an hour in before I go wake the boys for school!

Have a great ... evening???

Rave

12 maybe? Ugh, cramps, and doctors saying "just go take a hot bath" when I was living in a boarding house with no bath, and need to work and such.

A couple years ago I went on the pill for continuous use, and I wish I'd done it years ago (or more!). No cramps, no pms, no wasting 10% of my life or more feeling semi-crappy! I travel wherever, do whatever, and just don't have to plan to feel semi-crappy. It's the best!

Some folks have asked questions about the continous use issue, so I'll share a web-site if that's okay. It's a blog by an ob/gyn, and the right hand side has lots of links to birth control and continous use information. http://thewelltimedperiod.blogspot.com/

From what I've read, the bleeding while you're "on" the pill but in the off week is actually a reaction to estrogen withdrawal, and not at all like a regular period. On the pill, there's no build up of uterine lining to support a potential pregnancy, so there's no need to shed any lining.

Back in the 50s, the pill was invented for women with painful periods, and then everyone figured out, hey, no ovulation=no pregnancy, and suddenly everyone was using it. But the folks who'd invented it thought that women would be a lot more comfortable with the whole thing if they had a fake period, so they did the formulations with a built in week off from estrogen.

But there's no NEED to have a fake bleed.

If you find a pill formulation that works well for you, you can probably work with your doctor to do continuous use if you want; low dose formulations work great, but it's a matter of finding the right one for an individual woman.

I started when I was 12, on the night of my first dance!

The cool thing was that for many years I did not have periods during the summer. Isn't that weird?

Had a hysterectomy at 43. Weaned off of hormones a couple or 3 years later. I've only had one hot flash ever. The night after my surgery.

Dryness is a definite issue though.

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Originally Posted by Kitsune06

OK. I know I was all about the natural blah-blah in october last year, but I'm getting kinda sick of the whole cramping, bleeding thing taking me off my bike. The 2nd or 3rd days always get me. I'm not so bad if I can take some ibuprophen and take it easy, but if I try riding hard or fast, it just kills me. The whole cramping-so-badly-you-sweat, nauseous, panting thing. oh, agony. :(

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Yeah, cramps are the pits! I am usually rather miserable the first day of my period b/c of the cramps--I take naproxen sodium which helps some but definitely doesn't get rid of them. Sounds like yours are worse though, and I have a rather light flow, so I really shouldn't complain. Funny thing is, I started having periods when I was almost 13 and never cramped until I was 14 and taking the pill to regulate my cycle (had an incident where I started bleeding 2 weeks after the last period, and bled so heavily I ended up in the hospital and almost had to get a transfusion, so they put me on the pill for six months to get things back on track). When I started on that, I started having cramps, and continued to get them after stopping. BTW, I am "all about the whole natural thing"--I just think our bodies are designed to work a certain way for a reason, and messing with it to skip periods may turn out to have some unwanted effects. Just doesn't seem healthy to me. I know that when I was on the pill for those few months it sent my cholesterol levels through the roof (when I had it checked at my physical that year it was 240, and that was due to high LDL) and raised my blood pressure as well. I'm just leery of messing with the function of the normal body like that, even though the cramps etc. are a drag!

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Originally Posted by Bad JuJu

I read somewhere that, on average, women who start earlier also stop later, while those who start later will stop earlier, which makes no sense to me...

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:confused: :eek: :eek:

EEK! If this is true, mine will be around a while. <sigh> It's bad enough that I started early. At the ripe old age of nine, BTW. And it doesn't help knowing that my maternal grandmother went into menopause late. She wasn't perimenopausal until her very late fifties and it took a couple of years for her menses to stop altogether. When she was pregnant with my mom's youngest sister in her early fifties she thought she was menopausal then. She even went to go see her doc and he didn't bother giving her a pregnancy test because of her age. She didn't realize she was with child until she was six months gone!:eek: I just can't believe it took her that long to figure it out when she had experienced it six times before.:rolleyes: :o:confused:

I started at 12 1/2 yrs and stopped around 45 yrs old. Never took any hormones. I still have some 'power surges' but they're not that bad. When I first started with the hot flashes, they were bad - bearable, but the worse thing for me is not sleeping well. The last year I'm bad to sleeping like a baby.

Original topic.... I started when I was 12 1/2 or 13 - at a Girl Scout camp-out as I recall. Did two 5-yr stints of being on the pill with approximatly 5 yrs off between. Two pregnancies, but no kids. Premenopausal in my early 40's, last period when I was 44.5, am now 47. Have been on HRT for 4 years, and according to my Dr. will be on it for one more year. I requested the HRT due to the hot flashes, night sweats cycles during the night, I just could NOT sleep. Get hot, kick covers off, wake up freezing, pull covers back, rearrange kitties, repeat 4 or 5 times during the night. GIVE ME MEDICATION!!!! I see my Gynocologist next month (3 weeks to get a routine well woman checkup!!!).

Both my grandmothers had early menopause, hard to say about my Mom. She had a hysterectomy when she was in her mid-30, am not sure why (but not Cancer), and nearly died on the table. She did survive the surgery.

(this reads really concise, to the point. and dry. the facts, just the facts...):D

Started at age 11.5 (June 1964) and I had my last one on June 5, 2002, at age 48. I had horrible PMS, mostly physical, my whole life, along with cramps and heavier bleeding the first 2 days. I was on the Pill from age 17 to 25, stopped because of all kinds of weird symptoms. I had 3 pregnancies, two kids in a short time frame, after which the periods got a bit better, until I began having perimenopause symptoms around age 37, getting progressively worse in my early forties. In fact I had a couple of years where i didn't have my period for 3-4 months and felt like i was going to explode. I have exercised my whole adult life, since about 25 and always eaten a healthy diet, and i am not overweight. When I was around 46 I went for almost a year without a period, but then I had them irregularly until the last one at 49. During that time, I did start gaining weight and started cycling because what I was doing was obviously not working.
Didn't ever consider HRT. I had hot flashes on and off for a long time 5-6 years, but nothing I couldn't live with. I just took a drink of cool water from my water bottle at work! A bit of insomnia, but I have always been a poor sleeper. My hot flashes stopped last summer, but i started taking Evista for osteopeinia in January and that has brought them back (but not even as bad as they were before). I am 53 now and I definitely think all of the cycling helped me through some of the perimenopausal stuff. The worst noticeable side effect was the lack of uh, lubrication that was mentioned. It was not lack of desire, so to you younger people, don't think that automatically happens! I now have an E-string, which is like a birth control device that stays in for 3 months at a time and supplies a super low dose of local estrogen to cure the problem. My gyn said that even cancer patients are allowed to use it. Not only did it cure the problem, but it also made cycling a bit easier (I had suspected that part of my seat issues were really physical ones related to menopause). So, I think i have had it fairly easy compared to some and i was frankly, very happy to get rid of my periods. I had to plan my whole life around them for 37 years. I had it for every school dance, vacation, and special occaison I can think of.