Hi I just found this site as I needed someone to talk/listen to. I had my last period about February 2008 I am 52 and this morning had all the symptoms of a period aching etc. and now have slight bleeding. I am really worried and have made appointment to see a GP tomorrow.

I'm 52 years old. I havn't had a period in 2 years, Then last week I had severe cramping and a very heavy period. I have painful intercourse, and now I have a swollen and pain in my cervix, and pain in my lower abdomen. My stomac swells if I eat anything. What can this be?

I use to have this problem before my Hysterectomy...I think for many women that this can continue for a few years...If it gets bad, see your OB-GYN....Could be something else...

Caroline

Thanks CarolineEF,
I sometimes get paranoid, so much cancer these days.

Hi Barbara2123: I agree...It is better to be safe than sorry...

Take care,
Caroline

I am 45. My period stopped in October 2003. When my grandmother passed away in January 2004, I spotted for a few days. Then, this week (5-1/2 years later), my breasts have been tender, cramps, backache, can't sleep, then a little brown discharge appeared. Today it looks just like old times! A period! After reading all of the posts on here, I see I am not alone. I am going to make a doc appt Monday to have everything checked out. This is crazy!

Hi, I am 53. I had a period this summer (August 9) after not having a period for 1 year and three months.
I had been experiencing breast tenderness and the estrogen egg white mucous in the mid and end of July.
The period was normal, if not a little heavier than I had before. Previous to this I had three very light periods in Jan, Feb, March of 2008. I had an endometrial biopsy then which came out everything normal.
I had been using some bio-identical progesterone for hot flashes and other symptoms...I didn't know then that when you use it for 21-24 days and then go off you can have spotting. That's what it was for me. Anyway, I learned that after one year (seems arbitrary to me too) if you have any bleeding, you need to get it checked out.
So I went right in to my doc and he thought an ultrasound would be in order since the endometrial biopsy last year was normal. So in this one, the endometrial stripe was small except for one area that looked like a polyp. I also have a simple cyst on my right ovary (evidence of an attempt at ovulation??). My doc wants to do a d&c to remove the polyp and test the endometrium...I think I had a period. Any advice?
Anyone else have this type of experience? I wish I would have read the posts and realized how common it is to have a period after more than a year. I don't think I would have rushed to the doctor again and unleashed a bunch of worry. Intuitively I think I'm fine, but I have a tendency to worry anyway. Thanks to anyone who can share a similar story.

yes, same here. period free for over two years, i tuned 53 last week. then today it was just like they had never been away! will this be a "one off" occurance? how frequent will they become before they disappear for good? tahnkyou

Thank goodness for some clear-thinking people on this particular forum. I am 53 years old. About 14 months ago I stopped having my periods. That lasted exactly one year. But last month I had what felt like a typical period, and this month (about 5 weeks later) I am having one again. The same old thing--a bit of cramps, normal flow, and the (ugly) 1-2 pounds of weight gain.

I have had no major health issues my entire life and no real gyno issues; only one benign ovarian cyst incident at age 27. It was about the size of a tennis ball--according to ob-gyn exam--and went away after a month or two, by itself. I am not sexually active and haven't been in years, and there is no family history of reproductive cancer in my family.

What bothers me is exactly what the person above said - the 1-year-With-No-Period definition of menopause sounds arbitrary to me, too.

I want to be prudent in understanding why I am having periods again. It would probably be a good idea for me to have a pelvic exam to see if there's something growing in there. But I don't think I want doctors running D&C's and biopsies on me, when I have no symptoms other than a period.

One woman on another forum wrote that her doctor told her that about 30% of post-menopausal women will experience bleeding at some time.

At any rate, thank you for this forum.

I am 57 and have not had a period in 3 years that is until this pass june I saw blood for a few days went away and now I have it back with the cramps and all I don't have health ins lost my job so I can't go to the Dr but I am scared none the less I felt better to see I was not alone

I'm in the same boat as many of you. I am 52. I haven't had a period in well over a year. And then last month, on the day of the full moon, I began bleeding. Symptoms up to that time were the normal breast tenderness, etc. But everything, including the period seemed to be amplified.

notagainat45 mentioned not having a period for 5 years. This put a thought into my head. Obviously, with her mom passing, this must have been stressful. Over the last couple of years I have been going through mega-stress. I wonder if that caused my periods to stop. I'm sure that many people have been going through much more stress than normal because of the economy.

Anyway, yesterday was a full moon and I am spotting today. I didn't have the breast tenderness. And I don't know yet if this is going to be a full-blown period or not. But I don't think that it is a coincidence that I am having periods during this time of the month, two months in a row.

I know that athletes can interrupt their periods because of the stress that they put on their bodies. Why wouldn't other types of stress make women stop bleeding too?

I found this link and thought it was interesting: http://books.google.com/books?id=q_kfD92B7 UsC&pg=PA131&lpg=PA131&dq=why does "12 m onths" define menopause?&source=bl&ots =zDc1mQ6zrR&sig=rK_Rvtul4lwoTAZeGUobtVEbfy Y&hl=en&ei=uTDJSsC7F4jiNY7plPMH&sa=X&oi=bo ok_result&ct=result&resnum=2#v=onepage&q=& f=false

It addresses the 12 month issue. I put these search terms into Google: why does "12 months" define menopause?

And then I tried to find out if stress can bring you into menopause, "yes" seems to be the answer. If one is no longer stressed, could their hormones begin to be normal again? Still looking for that answer.

If a woman has completed Menopause there should be no bleeding afterwards. It is NOT normal...

IF bleeding occurs I STRONGLY advise a trip to your gynocologist to rule out any abnormalities ASAP.

My mother was one of those who went through menopause and then one day she would have all the symptoms of her period wanting to start up and would in fact bleed.

In her words it was as if her cycle decided to start where it left off years earlier.

She did not seek medical help until one day she was bleeding heavily and was rushed to the ER...she almost bled to death.

DX: Stage III b endometrial (uterine) cancer. That was in Sept 07.

Remember this: Menopause means ending of period...once you get past it...there will be no more unless there is an abnormality of some sort.

Zig

Hi Zig. I am so sorry to here about your mother. You are absolutely right. It's better to be safe than sorry especially since there is such a high success rate for early detection. There is still a good chance for your mother even with type III. She will be in my prayers.

Hi Zig. One more thing. Your mom might want to look into the following sites: www.lowdosenaltrexone.org http://www.inspire.com/groups/national-cer vical-cancer-coalition/discussion/low-dose -natlrexone/

I know that the second one is for cervical and not uterine cancer, but the person blogging tells an interesting story.

Best of luck!

Goldenlight,

Thanks but it is too late for my mom. I took her to her doctor yesterday and it has spread to her lungs. Hospice will be in picture soon.

She did not want to go through Chemo / Radiation as she wanted to live what life she had left as normal as possible. She did exactly that.

From what I understand while a person is going through menopause there may be some bleeding but the red flag is when menopause is through and bleeding begins...it is not something to take lightly. She thought her 'breakthrough' bleeding after menopause was due to her thryoid medication needing to be adjusted as once it was adjusted it stopped until the following month...and of course she didn't tell anyone but her doctor. Wish she would have confided in me.

Zig

DAZZZ
Well it's good to see I am not alone and website diagnosis is a scary and VERY misleading thing. I just got a period after 2.5 years following menopause. Just like the old days period, full on. Now all I want to know is would it still be possible to get pregnant? Will my periods now continue or it is a one period symptom...years later? Can anyone answer this?
Thank you, DAZZZ

Hi, Ladies, I'm another with a period after menopause. . . age 49 and no menses for the past 22 months until a few days ago when a "regular" period commenced. My menopause began gradually according to the norm for my maternal line at age 47. Just before this period, I was looking at a product that my cousin sells in her store--a cup to catch menstrual blood . . . thinking, "well, I'll never need one of those but it's interesing." Then a few hours later went to the bathroom and was SHOCKED to see I had started my period. I had to dig for some old pads in the cupboard--thought I'd never need them again. In retrospect there were some vague symptoms that I thought were just spasms related to "remembering" menstruation . . . Weird, huh? I agree with the arbitrary 12 months. I'm gathering my thoughts on how to proceed . . . hate to waste a doctor's visit, you know?

If you have truly gone through menopause then you should not have a period as menopause means that your periods will cease...not disappear to reappear later.

I recommend that you visit your gynecologist for an exam right away. Bleeding AFTER menopause is NOT normal and should NOT be ignored. By doing so could put your life in danger.

Best Wishes,

Zig

The problem with this is "How long does Menopause Last"?...Sometimes the physician will give you a 2 to 10 year span...When does a woman expect to stop bleeding?...Again she does not know this...I have had a woman in her late 60's tell me that she is still getting hot flashes...So what do you tell each woman that starts bleeding late in her 50's?...Go to the doctor and have it checked out?...This is the biggest problem in the discussion of what is normal and what isn't normal....Take care...

Caroline

I am SOOO glad to have found this forum!! I am 49, and haven't had a period in almost 2 years. I thought I was done, as many of you did, BUT, about 1 1/2 weeks ago I noticed I was having the same symptoms I used to have when starting a period. I even remarked to my daughter-in-law that if I didn't know better, I would think it was "That time of the month." I blew it off until 4 days ago when I noticed that I was spotting, faintly until today, and now I am having a migraine, aching, and the same shaky, nervous, sweaty feeling I used to have when I was having periods, and the bleeding has become much heavier. I know this may sound odd, but I have always heard that women who hang out together start to have periods at the same time. Well, I have noticed this before with my cycles. I am used to living alone, or with a man for years, and working pretty much in a male atmosphere. I stopped having periods, but when I started an all woman job, I started having full-blown periods again. I quit that job, stopped having periods after a few months, and havent had one for almost 2 years. Now, for the past 3 months, I have been living with my son and daughter-in-law, and also spending time with my friend and her daughter-in-law, all of whom still have periods, and here I go again! Have any of you ever heard of that happening? Thanks so much for all the helpful communication! Take care!