Pregnant/menopause?

fabforty

Please excuse the title to this, but for some reason I couldn't enter spaces in the title box!

I am 46 and 10 days late. I have two children nearly 3 and 1 and the only times that I have been this late have been when I was pregnant. I took a pregnancy test two days after my due date and again two days ago, both were negative.

In view of my age, I know that the menopause is just around the corner, but I wouldn't have expected things to just 'stop' like this. Having said that, both of my pregnancies were late (44 and 45) and natural, so the possibility of pregnancy at my age is not quite as far-fetched as it seems.

I have had a couple of pangs of nausea, (actually, more than a couple) but these were short-lived and barely noticeable, however if I am pregnant, I would only be four or five weeks so the real symptoms would not have kicked in yet. I saw two doctors at my local surgery - one said that a negative test at this stage means I am definitely not pregnant and the other said wait and see, give it another few weeks and if nothing has happened, test again.

So I have a couple of questions. First has anyone on here, had negative pregnancy tests despite the fact that they were actually pregnant?
Secondly, for those who have gone through the menopause, did your cycle just stop one day or was there a gradual change?

I just want to know what is happening and the not knowing is driving me loopy.

sulkisu

I can't answer the menopause question (I'm not quite there yet ), but I also conceived twice in my forties. With my second pregnancy, I did three tests over three weeks which all came back negative. I was 9 weeks pregnant with twins before I got a positive test. I agree with the second doctor, wait a week (I know it's hard) and then test again.

jellie

Your cycle hasn't just stopped - you're 10 days late.

Periods tend to become erratic leading up to the menopause - I went 7 months without one, then they just came back for a few months as normal.

I started to get symptoms at around your age but now at 54, I still haven't been period free for a year yet.

There's a lot of information on menopausematters.co.uk, including a list of the symptoms you may, or may not, get.

Torry_Quine

Either could be possible.

I can't speak to pregnancy but my periods just stopped at menopause. I went six months without at the age of 47 and wasn't pregnant so saw my doctor who did blood tests which were on the first time inconclusive but on repeat showed I was menopausal. Went onto HRT at that point.

DevilsAdvocate1

I am 44 and a couple of months back suddenly had a period which was 3 weeks late. Then, when it started it lasted for 3 weeks instead of the usual 3 days. My next period was very light and now they have become regular again (mine are so regular I could set my watch by them!).

Don't know what was going on. Same thing has happened to another friend of mine though she is younger than me (41). So I'm guessing start of the menopause.

So it could really be either.

Spendless

Yes, I have had negative pregnancy tests when i was pregnant. Your GP can do a blood test instead, that's what mine did.

I'm the same age as you and though I haven't gone through the menopause, my periods have been irregular now for some time, starting when I was in my late 30s. I had my youngest when i was 36.5, so it wasn't that long after having a child that my periods stopped being on time every month, and became more 'erratic'.

Million dollar question - have you had unprotected sex? If you haven't and have been using a reliable contraceptive according to instructions, then it's unlikely (though still possible) that you pregnant. If you have then yes you may will be.

seven-day-weekend

fabforty wrote: »

Please excuse the title to this, but for some reason I couldn't enter spaces in the title box!

I am 46 and 10 days late. I have two children nearly 3 and 1 and the only times that I have been this late have been when I was pregnant. I took a pregnancy test two days after my due date and again two days ago, both were negative.

In view of my age, I know that the menopause is just around the corner, but I wouldn't have expected things to just 'stop' like this. Having said that, both of my pregnancies were late (44 and 45) and natural, so the possibility of pregnancy at my age is not quite as far-fetched as it seems.

I have had a couple of pangs of nausea, (actually, more than a couple) but these were short-lived and barely noticeable, however if I am pregnant, I would only be four or five weeks so the real symptoms would not have kicked in yet. I saw two doctors at my local surgery - one said that a negative test at this stage means I am definitely not pregnant and the other said wait and see, give it another few weeks and if nothing has happened, test again.

So I have a couple of questions. First has anyone on here, had negative pregnancy tests despite the fact that they were actually pregnant?
Secondly, for those who have gone through the menopause, did your cycle just stop one day or was there a gradual change?

I just want to know what is happening and the not knowing is driving me loopy.

I missed one period when I was 53, then they started up again regularly and normally until I was 54 when they stopped completely.

lady1964

I started my menopause very young - 34/35 and my periods were very erratic. I had kept a note as advised by the doctor when I got sterilised at age 33. There was no regular pattern at all, 2 weeks, then 6 weeks, then 4 weeks, then 12 weeks - you get my drift, but after another 10 week gap, I wondered if I might be pregnant even though I'd been sterilised so took a test, which was negative.

To cut a long story short, eventually it was confirmed it was the menopause.

Do what others have suggested, wait another week or so, get a blood test or take another pregnancy test, if that one's negative, keep a record of when you have your period and see your GP & request a hormone level test, this should determine if you are peri-menopausal or have any hormone problems.

Good luck!

troubleinparadise

It could well be peri-menopause, the time leading up to menopause, where hormone levels start changing and periods can become very irregular and change in their intensity.

Thyroid irregularities can also have altered periods as a symptom - it might be worth getting a check at your GPs to rule out that.