I agree with everything postie shared with you. I had extremely erratic periods for quite a few years and then just recently passed 1 full yr. without a period. Hallelujah!
Until you reach that time, make like a boy scout...always be prepared. You never know when you'll start. That part of this whole process stinks the most. Getting a surprise visit from Aunt Flo when you least expect it, especially if she's been absent 10 months and then decides to pop in for a visit. I hate that *itch. I hope she's gone from my life forever.
Also, your friends who have shared the info about painful, long, messy periods are right on. I had several episodes of 6+ week heavy periods before I finally reached a yr. period free. Several required a prescription of Provera to stop them. Be careful of letting a period like that go too long before contacting your doctor for intervention.I was dumb and kept waiting for it to stop on its own and ended up horribly anemic. It took me over a yr. to replenish my bodies iron stores. Being that anemic is no fun. It zapped all my energy just to go and get the mail. So don't ever let a period go longer than 2 wks. without contacting your doc.
Hang in there. It'll all be over eventually.
~Grace
You're probably starting peri-menopause. I'm 48 and last year my periods starting messing up. I always had a period every month but sometimes I went longer or sometimes shorter and then I'd be late or very early. Now, this year is the first that I started getting spotting. I haven't had spotting in months. Then my last period was in July so I haven't had one since then. My doctor told me last year I was probably starting peri-menopause because of how my periods were.
I get the hot flashes everynight so I started taking Estroven.
You don't go through Menopause until you haven't had a period or any spotting at all for 1 full year. It's considered peri-menopause first what youre starting out as.