Last week I called my OB's office.
"Hi. I'm a patient of Dr. I. I'll be 35 next week, haven't had a period in 57 days and I'm not pregnant," I told the triage nurse. "And the last few cycles have gotten progressively farther apart."
"Well," she said, "women can have signs of perimenupause as many as 10 years before they actually go into perimenopause or menopause."
Fantastic, I thought. Just what I needed to hear: You are officially getting old.
I'm not a fan of my period. Never have been. I mean, except for the part about it being necessary for me to have kids. My period gave me horrible moodiness that made me snap at The Mr. and the kids, caused terrible aching, fatigue, and a constipation-like feeling that was usually only cured by a pain killer, incredibly hot bath and/or a long nap. I even postponed an interview for a college internship once because my period had just completely wiped me out.
My period has always been fairly unpredictable. It always started within a range of days, but often the range shifted. I had such a long cycle that when I got pregnant with No. 3 and the perinatologist who did my first ultrasound said "we saw a sack, but no heartbeat" I tried to convince them it was just too early to see anything since I had a 47-day cycle.
After No. 3 was born I was actually pretty happy to see that I settled into a very nice predictable 32-day pattern. I could even see a difference in my blood sugars prior to my period starting (loved the lower numbers). But these last four or five cycles have gotten progressively farther apart: 32 days turned into 37, then 42 and this last one at 60 days.
I saw my OB this morning and we discussed my history and why I was there. I had planned to wait until my well woman exam in May to bring it up, but right now I'm tired of having my period. In addition to talking about the possibility of me entering perimenopause I asked her about having an endometrial ablation. And since we're done having kids, she agreed that it's a good idea.
An endometrial biopsy (btw... ow!) and blood work today, followed by an ultrasound in two weeks and we should know which kind of ablation is right for me and if there's anything wrong with me other than "old" age.
Has your doctor done a blood test for female hormone levels? It's a bit of a mess to interpret if you're not sure which day of the cycle you're on, but it should tell if the hormone levels are within a normal range for a non-pregnant woman who is not post-menopausal.
Also, significant changes in weight, diet, or stress can upset your cycle or cause it to stop for a period of time.
Yes, they drew blood when I was in the office on Wednesday. We'll have the blood test results along with the biopsy results when I go in for my ultrasound in a couple weeks.