My periods keep getting shorter...

Options
2»

Replies

  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
    Options
    GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »
    Ladies, there is a shining land of happy menopause at the end of all this hell. It's lovely. I promise you. It will be yours some day. My cycles were hell too, and I was peri for 20 years. We were trying to conceive so I knew about it from bloodwork.

    20 years! That makes me want to cry. I'm only a few years in and am over the hot flushes, frequent toilet visits at night and irregular cycles (anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 months).
  • deputy_randolph
    deputy_randolph Posts: 940 Member
    Options
    Mine was all over the place when I was heavier...anywhere from 20-40 days. When I lost weight, the start date became more predictable...closer to 22-32. I also found that I was Vitamin D deficient. Since supplementing with D (I have to take 5000 ius daily). Like clockwork, I'm on 28 day cycle.

    I see this predictability as a good thing. I didn't like the longer, haphazard cycles.
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    Options
    Lillymoo01 wrote: »
    GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »
    Ladies, there is a shining land of happy menopause at the end of all this hell. It's lovely. I promise you. It will be yours some day. My cycles were hell too, and I was peri for 20 years. We were trying to conceive so I knew about it from bloodwork.

    20 years! That makes me want to cry. I'm only a few years in and am over the hot flushes, frequent toilet visits at night and irregular cycles (anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 months).

    I didn't have symptoms for 20 years, thank glob! If it weren't for the blood work, I wouldn't have known. I just had peri level hormones, but my cycles were still fine. I only had the weird symptoms for about 10 years. Which yeah, that's still bad, but you get used to them after a while. Towards the end, the periods *really* space out, like my last two came every six months. And I didn't have any hot flushes the last two years or so.
  • G8r4evr
    G8r4evr Posts: 45 Member
    Options
    I'm looking for anything to lengthen mine. Vitamin B helped one month, Im hoping it will help again.

    Had no idea peri could cause shorter cycles. I'm losing weight, on new medicine, new supplements and about to turn 39. Not sure which is the culprit.
  • 2baninja
    2baninja Posts: 511 Member
    Options
    It could be a little of everything, I lost 26 pounds and my last period went from a normal 6-7 days to 3, the length of my cycle has always been in the 25-30 day range- last day to 1st day, that hasn't changed.
    My gyno, has told me if I lose, it will get lighter, if being down from 7 to 3 from 26 pound, maybe I'll be at nothing when I hit 60 pounds....lol. But I'm also 49, so there's that....
  • whitpauly
    whitpauly Posts: 1,483 Member
    Options
    G8r4evr wrote: »
    I'm looking for anything to lengthen mine. Vitamin B helped one month, Im hoping it will help again.

    Had no idea peri could cause shorter cycles. I'm losing weight, on new medicine, new supplements and about to turn 39. Not sure which is the culprit.

    What kind of supplements are you taking?
  • Abby2205
    Abby2205 Posts: 253 Member
    Options
    I have a similar pattern since I turned 40–shorter cycle, plus longer, heavier periods, so just super all around. I saw a gynecologist and did some reading, it is very common with advancing age. I tried a progestin-only BCP to reduce bleeding, it had the opposite effect—bleeding or spotting almost all the time. Plus I was very irritable, but I can’t be sure if it was the BCP or just annoyance at bleeding ALL THE TIME.
  • G8r4evr
    G8r4evr Posts: 45 Member
    Options
    whitpauly wrote: »
    G8r4evr wrote: »
    I'm looking for anything to lengthen mine. Vitamin B helped one month, Im hoping it will help again.

    Had no idea peri could cause shorter cycles. I'm losing weight, on new medicine, new supplements and about to turn 39. Not sure which is the culprit.

    What kind of supplements are you taking?

    A bunch. About 10 a day...
  • G8r4evr
    G8r4evr Posts: 45 Member
    Options
    Abby2205 wrote: »
    I have a similar pattern since I turned 40–shorter cycle, plus longer, heavier periods, so just super all around. I saw a gynecologist and did some reading, it is very common with advancing age. I tried a progestin-only BCP to reduce bleeding, it had the opposite effect—bleeding or spotting almost all the time. Plus I was very irritable, but I can’t be sure if it was the BCP or just annoyance at bleeding ALL THE TIME.
    Abby2205 wrote: »
    I have a similar pattern since I turned 40–shorter cycle, plus longer, heavier periods, so just super all around. I saw a gynecologist and did some reading, it is very common with advancing age. I tried a progestin-only BCP to reduce bleeding, it had the opposite effect—bleeding or spotting almost all the time. Plus I was very irritable, but I can’t be sure if it was the BCP or just annoyance at bleeding ALL THE TIME.
    I was considering a low dosage pill, but worried it might make things worse, with everything else I have going on. :(
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Options
    Yep. 21 days cycle. It totally sucks. Although I got lucky this time and made it to 26 days. I just turned 40 but it's been happening for a year. Oh and I have anemia too and severe bloating and always feel awful a couple days into my period.

    PMS is hell too.

    GYN says it's normal.
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,088 Member
    Options
    Sorry for being the only guy here to comment. That being said, my ex wife was heavier. She used to have long periods. After some weight loss they got shorter. The less weight you carry, the better hormones work. Also, when you lose weight, leptin a master hormone will drop. It does have some effect on women's menstruation. The body does not know we need to lose weight, it just thinks we are in a time of scarcity, which is not the best time to breed. Just my 2 cents.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    Options
    Stored fat does affect estrogen so the weight loss could be part of it - if that's the case I imagine it will even out once your body figures out the new normal. But yeah, get checked for peri. And get your iron checked!
  • G8r4evr
    G8r4evr Posts: 45 Member
    Options
    Francl27 wrote: »
    Yep. 21 days cycle. It totally sucks. Although I got lucky this time and made it to 26 days. I just turned 40 but it's been happening for a year. Oh and I have anemia too and severe bloating and always feel awful a couple days into my period.

    PMS is hell too.

    GYN says it's normal.

    Right now, 26 days sounds amazing. LOL. I still can't believe I'm 21 this month...I was shocked at 28 and 25 days. When I was trying to conceive, I would go 60 days sometimes, so this is completely foreign to me.

Categories