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Menopause

Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2019 7:46 pm
by Gadgetgirl
Wondering why my period can stop for 4 months (Yippee) so I am thinking finally approaching menopause. However it just started again slthough admit milder than used to be. ! Why does the body do tnis? Does it have to be a compleye clear 12 months to finally be post menopausal? I am 50 this year.

Re: Menopause

Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2019 8:24 am
by Dr Heather Currie
Periods are dependent on the function of our ovaries; if working normally, developing and then releasing an egg each month, we produce estrogen and progesterone which cause the womb lining to be thickened and then shed, shedding being the period (in the absence of pregnancy). As our egg cells become less both in number and quality, the levels of estrogen and progesterone produced fluctuate and this can lead to changes in period pattern due to less regular stimulation and shedding of the womb lining.
Fluctuations in ovarian function and hence period pattern can continue for a few years before finally the hormone production is so low that the womb lining is not stimulated and so periods stop. This fluctuating time is known as the Perimenopause. You can see more about perimenopause in an article from a past issue of Menopause Matters magazine at https://www.menopausematters.co.uk/maga ... mainly.php
We only know that periods have stopped by having a year without periods. Thereafter the stage is known as postmenopause.