Practice
Writing down what your cycle does
Irregular is expected in this stage. Written down is what tells you which kind of irregular you have.
What to do
Note three things each time: the date it started, how many days it lasted, and whether the bleeding was lighter, the same, or heavier than it used to be. Cycles getting shorter, then longer, then skipping altogether is the ordinary pattern. Some things are worth a call rather than a note, though — bleeding between periods, bleeding after sex, soaking through a pad or tampon every hour for several hours, periods closer together than three weeks, or any bleeding at all once you have gone twelve months without one.
Write it the first time you notice, before you deal with anything else.
On a hard day: The date alone. Four characters in your notes.
When you might notice
Three cycles before a pattern means anything. It is slow, and it is the thing that makes an eight-minute appointment useful.
Roughly what it costs
Free
What this is based on
Cycle length becoming variable is the defining sign of the menopausal transition, and the pattern over several cycles is what a clinician uses to place where you are. Memory is not a substitute: almost nobody can recall three cycles accurately.
Well established
What this is for
Also worth knowing about
Guía is not a doctor and none of this is medical advice. It is here so you can have a better conversation with someone who is. Who made this
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