3 Late Period During Perimenopause Tips All Women Should Know
If you are a woman who is accustomed to having regular periods, the irregularity of periods during perimenopause can be quite alarming. You may wonder “Am I pregnant?” or “Am I finally in menopause?”.
It’s crazy that both the possibility of being pregnant or never being pregnant again can coexist at the same time, but that is the playing field of perimenopause. The hormonal fluctuations are likely to be the most extreme since puberty. And while fertility tends to decrease with age, it is absolutely still possible to get pregnant during perimenopause, simultaneously while your body prepares to permanently stop having menstrual cycles.
So what can you do to help avoid these agonizing times of not knowing for certain what the hell is going on? I recommend three things.
The first is to continue to track your cycle. Some women start to give up when their cycle is coming irregularly and stop tracking, but don’t do that. Tracking your cycle allows you to at least keep up with what day you are on, counting day one as the start of your last period. This of course is the key in helping you know when you have actually gotten in to Club Menopause. You need to have gone through all four seasons without a period to get in, that’s 365 days. Anything short of that does not count as being in menopause.
Second, as you track your cycles, take a look to see if you notice any patterns. Sometimes, but not all the time, one ovary may act a little different than the other. This can then result in every other period coming much later (or in some cases earlier, which we’ll talk about in a future blog). If this is true for you, then you may be able to relax a little more knowing that it's that ovary’s turn.
And third, still use protection when having sex. I have known numerous women to get pregnant both intentionally and unintentionally past 40, the age when some assume that it won't happen. Using protection helps to take away the potential concern of pregnancy (unless that's what you want!). You can also take an ovulation test at anytime, or keep watch for when you experience any potential signs of ovulation, like increased desire for sex, or change in vaginal secretions (becoming more stretchy like egg whites in quality). If you have a positive ovulation test or have signs of ovulation, then a period is on it's way, we can't say when, but it's most likely "somewhere out there".
For decades now I’ve supported women with tracking their cycle. Back in the day before all this fancy app stuff, I would keep printed copies of cycle trackers in the office to give out to patients. Obviously that has totally changed now with so many cycle tracking apps out. My favorite is one that I have recommended to patients for many years and have used personally myself, Natural Cycles. Natural Cycles is the first and only FDA approved app. I love the ease of use and accuracy of the app and while none of them will always be able to predict when your cycle is coming (God bless the algorithm's heart for trying, lol), it can make helpful predictions. If you would like to learn more about or sign up for Natural Cycles click here and use my referral link to receive 20% off!
As always, it is super important to be under the care of your competent and trusted women’s health provider whether it be a gynecologist or nurse/midwife who does well women’s care visits to make sure everything is “A OK”. For a more complete holistic view, consider seeing an eastern or integrative medicine practitioner. I offer some complimentary discover calls, though spots are limited.
So, while your may not know when exactly your period is coming, you can arm yourself with tools that can help you work with what you do know.
Take good care
Love being a woman, Dr. Danett
