Yes, this is common. Expect your period to start skipping, then returning, being heavy, lasting longer, lasting shorter, it all comes down to perimenopause. My first alert this was starting to occur was when I was 46. I had a period two weeks after the prior one and it freaked me out. Then I had a period like no other, with heavy bleeding and clots. It lasted almost 3 weeks, which is what sent me to the doctor. I went for a sonogram and found out the clots and very heavy/lengthy flow were due to fibroids. The periods skipping, changing in flow, etc went on for four years. The most difficult years for me though were ages 50 - 53, during which I had almost every symptom named in this forum. Thank God for all the caring women who have taken the time to share their stories here. From sore joints/muscles to heart palpitations to strange periods to anxiety to "weird head feeling," I have had all these and more. I was tested for all kinds of things and often told "it has nothing to do with perimenopause," as though it wasn't even real. I wish the medical community would do a better job communicating the issues related to this time of life. I say all this to give you a heads up now as to what might be ahead. Consult your doctor about anything that seems "off" to you, even if it's just to have peace of mind. But also know that much of the time, changing hormones are behind a great many of these symptoms. I never realized the enormous role hormones play in our lives. I am now 54 and still have the odd hot flash or muscle stiffness but things are getting better. I hope you will be one of the lucky ones for whom perimenopause is a breeze.

robbie_florida Yes, I had your symptoms and I had done my homework to be able to ask to have Prometrium prescribed and also thyroid replacement for finally diagnosed but long suspected hypothyroidism. The bleeding of three months, but severe needing an overnight pad every hour during the last four weeks, stopped after two weeks on the natural progesterone (Prometrium) and the thyroid medication. I thought I was going to bleed to death before it finally stopped. My doctor admonished me to not take any aspirin for the excessive endometrial pain causing buildup. Diagnosed and prescribed September 5, 2001. Age 46. Now more normal periods than I have ever had. I did my homework to avoid the synthetic hormone merry-go-round which puts too many women on the surgery table for hysterectomy. You were deficient in progesterone, so therefore you were building up too much endometrium. Without progesterone to rise and fall naturally, a normal menstrual blood flow is impossible. I am guessing you are bleed free by now? You can e-mail me if you wish. Check other posts that I have recently started for information resources to help you understand your symptoms and the reasoning for the Prometrium prescription.

Hello, I'm so glad I found this forum, I've been reading some old posts and finding so much of myself in them! I'm 44 and all of my problems started when I went off of birth control pills after being on them consistently for most of my adult life. I launched into hot flashes, night sweats, heart palpitations, terrible anxiety, prickly skin, muscle pains, and my concentration and memory became so foggy I thought I was getting alzheimers. My periods became erratic, and I'd skip one only to have two later on. Sometimes light, then othertimes so heavy that I thought I was losing too much blood. I went to doctor after doctor but none of them felt that it had anything to do with hormones. And none of them thought that at 42 that I was going through menopause. They said I was having anxiety problems and recommended a psychiatrist!!!!! I finally found a naturopath and ended up on five different herbs, and began using a natural progesterone cream every day. Now, the night sweats are gone, hot flashes come once in a while, my periods are still whacky, but the anxiety is almost non existent. And I usually sleep thru the night. I would be interested to know more about amino acid treatment. I still feel foggy in the head alot, and forget names and things that I am doing sometimes. I hope that people are still writing to this group, I sure need the help. Hope to talk more with you more mprw1. Cat

Hi nannie! I don't usually look at this site but I just had a hysterectomy in July so I was wondering around looking for information. Before I had my hysterectomy I'd had a very heavy period for about 6 weeks. I was willing to put up with anything to not have surgery. That was a mistake. I lost so much blood that my hemoglobin dropped to 6, I beleve the low end of normal is 11. I was in a great deal of pain and couldn't really do anything. Too worn out, out of breath and in so much pain I couldn't move. I ended up in the hospital and got 2 units of blood and then surgery the next day. My uterus was big too but I've had kids so that helped and they where able to do it vaginally. You know you can't go on the way you are now, beleve me I tried hard to keep going thinking it would some how take care of itself. It didn't and it would of been a whole lot better if I had planned this thing out and schedaled things instead of ending up with an emergency situation. I'm 52 so I'm a bit older then you. They gave me a hormone patch which has helped me. I hadn't had any hot flashes or problems with memopause before my surgery but I had them take everything and I sure have had some problems after. I plan to cut the amount of hormone down in the future and eventually get off of the hormones completely. But not now I need to recover first before I can deal with anything more. Well thats my 2 cents!!