Six Things Every Woman Should Know About Her Periods Before Menopause

It seems like only yesterday you were snickering in health class as you learned about feminine hygiene and your impending first period. Now here you are in the prime of life — and it’s already time to think about your last.

By your 40s — and sometimes earlier, for the 1 to 5 percent of women headed for premature menopause — important menstrual-cycle changes are already on the way. Here’s what to know.

1. A skipped or heavy period might be your first sign of menopause.
Your menstrual cycle until menopause isn’t a now-you-see-it, suddenly-you-won’t kind of thing. “The ovary doesn’t stop, boom!” says Sandra Carson, a professor of ob-gyn at Brown University and medical director of the Center for Reproduction and Infertility at Women’s and Infants Hospital of Rhode Island.

Most women experience gradual menstrual irregularity during the phase known as perimenopause, the three to five years before menopause. Estrogen levels start falling even earlier, as eggs disappear from the ovaries, though we don’t notice. Ongoing hormonal shifts finally become obvious in the form of changing periods.

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Usually this means lighter and less frequent, but “normal” reactions are surprisingly variable. A woman’s periods may turn longer than usual, shorter than usual, space farther apart, or in some months be skipped entirely. Some women begin to have bouts of heavy bleeding. Others spot between periods.

Tracking their timing, length, and nature now can help you notice the changes.

2. Bleeding changes are normal, but you shouldn’t assume they’re normal.
Even though the majority of women develop some kind of menstrual irregularity in their 40s as the body closes shop on reproduction, heavy bleeding is one symptom you should always report to your doctor.

At minimum, heavy periods can lead to anemia or disrupt your ability to conduct daily life. (Example: a teacher or a surgeon who must spend hours on her feet without a break.) But heavy bleeding can also flag other treatable conditions that can affect women of any age, including fibroids, polyps, ovarian cysts, an overgrowth of the endometrium (uterine lining), or, rarely, uterine cancer.

Six Things Every Woman Should Know About Her Periods Before Menopause originally appeared on Caring.com.