My periods over the last couple of years have been somewhat erratic, veering between regular 28 days for a couple of months and then disappearing for three or four months, before returning again.
There were also months where the bleeding was so heavy that it would soak through a super tampon in the space of an hour. That was one of the reasons I wanted to try an IUD. I was told that the only way to guarantee bleeding control was to go with the Merina but I didn’t want to go down the hormone route, so I selected the copper Flexi-T. I was warned that this could make my periods even heavier but, in the event, they disappeared altogether for a couple of months before returning in a much more controlled fashion.
Of course, two expelled IUDs later, I had to give up on this particular form of contraception and my periods gradually reverted to their previous rather erratic appearances.
When the shit hit the fan over my divorce, I went to see the doctor because I was so distressed. It wasn’t just the relationship issues, it was the impossibility of dealing with the behaviour of my errant teenagers, my inability to cope with the pressures of my life generally and the fact that I seemed to be crying for no apparent reason all the time.
He sent me off for a raft of blood tests, one of which was for my FSH levels. The reading was very high and, after handing me the results of all the tests, the doctor informed me that it was almost completely impossible for me to ovulate ever again (although I should continue to use contraception just in case).
Of course, it would have been far more helpful to have posted the results to me and then got me to make an appointment because, after leaving the surgery and having a chance to peruse the papers properly, I had lots of questions. The most important of which was that the test stipulated that the result was based on a reading taken between days 1-5 of the menstrual cycle and that higher readings could be obtained later in the cycle.
With no actual menstrual period to go on, I have no idea where in my cycle I was when the blood was taken and no average figures for the later readings with which to compare my own results. In fact, just a month later, my periods restarted for another two months and I had all the symptoms which signify ovulation, including the increased mucus level 15 days before the second period began. And then everything stopped again.
I was very confused.
It was then that I remember the test I had been sent by the lovely people at Stressnomore. If you are still having periods, you can take the test in the first week of your cycle (days 2-7 with day one being the first day of menstruation). Repeat the second test one week later. If you are no longer having regular periods, you can take the test at any time with the repeat test one week later.
It works in a very similar way to a pregnancy test. You pee on the tip for 10 seconds and then leave it flat to work for five minutes. A line in both windows with the line in the test window the same as or darker than the other means that your FSH level is higher than normal and you may be experiencing peri-menopause.
Of course, it is all a very inexact science because the levels of FSH can rise and fall from month to month at this very hormonally confused time. A lot of experts do not value this type of test because of this. However, the accompanying leaflet answered a lot of the questions that I would have liked to have asked my doctor.
Basically, peri-menopause means that your periods will be irregular and you will start to get the hot flushes and other symptoms associated with this time. For me, it was invaluable to just have it confirmed that my FSH levels signified that I had entered this phase. And it wasn’t just the stresses of my personal life that had caused my periods to go out of whack.
Full Menopause is when you have not experienced any bleeding for a year. Each time your periods restart after a few months of absence, you have to start the count all over again. Ruf gets quite disconsolate every time they return after a gap. He is really looking forward to the day when he can ejaculate into me again without worrying about contraception.
This time round we’re up to four months – again – but the other symptoms seem to be quite easy to cope with. My hot flushes are very few and far between and not so uncomfortable as to worry me unduly. This is probably due to the large amount of soya in my diet and I recommend that course of action to any Reader who is ‘of a certain age’.
I also attend a yoga class every day, which is a major factor in the equilibrium which is a very new feeling in what was always a very frenetic mental state.
The future no longer scares me. I know that I am beautiful and loved. What more could a woman ask for to deal with the onset of this change in her life.
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