One of the common things during perimenopause is a change in your cycle, such as what you are experiencing (light, then heavy, flooding, clotting, lasting longer). You may want to mention it to your dr. because it can cause you to become anemic. Heavy bleeding sometimes has other causes, such as estrogen dominance, fibroids, etc. but I know it is very typical during these years.

Thank you so much! I really appreciate the help. I plan on going to the doctor next week and will ask about this.

Sorry you're dealing with this. As Rosa said, it's fairly common during perimeno. Here's some info that may be helpful -
http://hersfoundation.com/docs/Heavy_bleeding.html

Hope things improve for you soon!

I went through the same thing for almost two years and then one day my periods just stopped. After that it was great. The doctor eventually put me on hormone replacement (a light dose) because I was having hot flashes almost continually. Up till then, I was unusually tired and exhausted but the hormones helped a lot with that. That was 7 years ago and now I feel fantastic.

You are young enough to use birth control pills. They would help with the heavy bleeding. You should see your Dr about this, and check everything out so there is nothing else causing the bleeding. 41 is not too young to begin to notice these things, though it can seem a shock. I did see that my periods changed by my early 40s (even in my 30s) and I expected that just bc I read that it did.

Your worry is somewhat indicative of the anxiety we all seem to acquire with perimeno. I also had worries about physical changes too, but that is part of our adrenals kicking in to compensate and producing adrenalin, the "flight or fight" hormone. We seem in a hyper state all the time. I am a runner and that helped me to tone down some of my anxiety, but other times, I could not do that and had to tell myself I was OK, there was nothing to fear etc.

I stopped drinking so much caffeine about a month ago and I feel a big difference. I am on a very low dose HT (am trying to taper off permanently) and I think I am doing very well bc the caffeine isn't fighting with the estrogen any longer.

Try to eat a healthy diet, plenty of vegs, little sugar etc....that might help too with the bleeding etc...DaisyC

Thanks again to all of you! This is a great group! I appreciate the help and encouragement and am going take all of your advice to heart....

I would talk to your OBGYN if you have one or your primary. There are so many things to take into account. I would run all this by your doctor who might want to examine you or even do an ultrasound to rule out fibroids, etc. Best Wishes! Judy