How Long Do Peri-Menopausal Periods Last????

[MrMarried]

My wife is in her late 40's and is having a really long period. It's maybe 48 days. She's had a period about 21 days after a previous period maybe a month ago.

Yesterday, she said she was feeling weak and low on motivation. I told her maybe she needed to sleep and maybe a vitamin with iron would help because of the period.

I haven't discussed her period with her, but I think this is day 10 or 11. We don't 'do periods' which has led to me making a little note on the calendar to give me a potential sex day to look forward to, and the long period is getting a little frustrating in regard to connecting sexually in addition to the stress on my wife's body.

As I was preparing to write this, I found a website that said over 90% of women aged 42 to 52 had 10 or more day periods, which gives me a bit of relief on the medical front... oh yeah, three times a year which is a bit of a relief for me, and I would imagine my wife would be pleased if it isn't every year.

How much longer can a period last than 10 days? When does this become something to take to a doctor? Typically is a mega-period followed bv a short period or by her skipping a period? That might be nice to get some a silver lining for her in the form of a month with no period.

Planning days away in a cabin for a sex holiday should be off the table for another 5 or 10 years or so? What could I expect or is it predictable at all?

[Paradox]

If she is bleeding for this long of a period, it could be due to a much more serious condition than menopause and she should see a doctor very soon. "Menopause" should be just that: a 'pause' of the menstruation. In some women, the bleeding you describe could be a part of her menopausal state, but that is not the usual presentation, and more serious things, such as uterine and ovarian cancer must be ruled-out. This is not intended to be patient-specific advice, but guidelines of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Here is a link to an NIH.gov article:https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/00 ... 20randomly.

[newwifenewlife]

My wife never had those kind of periods during her perimenopause. Before we wed, they just were just about 45 days without, then 2-4 days of bleeding. When we married, she went 5 months without a period, then several 2-3 wks apart with 1-4 days of bleeding or even just spotting before going 45-120 days without one, then a few weeks apart, then a dry spell again, repeat cycle. It was 4 years before she stopped completely but she was also irregular for 5+ years before we dated also.

[Paradox]

My wife never had those kind of periods during her perimenopause. Before we wed, they just were just about 45 days without, then 2-4 days of bleeding. When we married, she went 5 months without a period, then several 2-3 wks apart with 1-4 days of bleeding or even just spotting before going 45-120 days without one, then a few weeks apart, then a dry spell again, repeat cycle. It was 4 years before she stopped completely but she was also irregular for 5+ years before we dated also.

That is a typical pattern in menopausal change.

[MrMarried]

If she is bleeding for this long of a period, it could be due to a much more serious condition than menopause and she should see a doctor very soon. "Menopause" should be just that: a 'pause' of the menstruation. In some women, the bleeding you describe could be a part of her menopausal state, but that is not the usual presentation, and more serious things, such as uterine and ovarian cancer must be ruled-out. This is not intended to be patient-specific advice, but guidelines of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Here is a link to an NIH.gov article:https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/00 ... 20randomly.

Thank you for the link.

I didn't cite the source because it was some kind of ad, but 90+% of women in her age group said they had periods of 10 days or more. She seemed to think it was tapering off for the past couple of days. I can ask her later today when I see her. If things are cleared up or clearing up, that could just be the way her body reacts to menopause.

[Tantalum]

I don’t know what counts as normal and abnormal - I have zero medical knowledge, although I have to say what you are describing doesn’t sound normal. I can only describe my wife’s experiences.

When my wife was perimenopausal her periods didn’t last any longer (about 5 days) but became very heavy. She became slightly anemic as a result.

Her GP put her on Tranexamic acid and suggested she took a low-dose progestin-only mini-pill. Very reluctantly my wife tried the pill (the only few months in her life when she took anything hormonal) but then she found that although the heaviness of her periods eased now she had continuous spotting all the time.

She had an ultrasound scan and - again, after a lot of hesitation - an endometrial biopsy to check for any possibility of cancer, fortunately her results were normal (although the biopsy really upset her bladder for some reason).

Eventually my wife settled on her standard way of dealing with medical problems: ignore them until they go away. And indeed after about 6 months her periods became erratic and lighter and then they stopped completely. She’s been OK since.
Apart from the occasional hot flush she’s had no problems with the menopause and in fact she’s quite happy her periods are over (“I had enough of them…”)