Perimenopausal and ovulation

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-24-2004
Perimenopausal and ovulation
2
Fri, 05-14-2004 - 11:26pm
I am 43 years and my period is all over the board. Sometimes one-three weeks late, sometimes on time and sometimes (like now) slowing down but not stopping. Sometimes my husband and I are not real faithful with contraception (condom). How do I know when I'm ovulating with such a messed up schedule? Do I even produce an egg every period and how much do the odds of getting pregnant reduce with age?
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-29-2003
Sat, 05-15-2004 - 11:56am
My mother was 45 when I was born! But after age 35 the chances of conception drop and they significantly drop after age 40; and more so after age 45. You may not ovulate regularly but to avoid pregnancy, it would be best to know when that is! There is a book that is highly reccomended by this board called "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" by Toni Weschler. This book will help you understand the signs of fertility and more. Another thought would be to control your cycles (along with contraception!) by hormones. I know several women your age who use a low-dose pill or the patch or Nuvaring just to control theirs cylcles. Your dr would know for sure if it is an option for you. It would be best if you are a non-smoker, not overweight and do not have a history of blood clots, heart attacks or stroke. You may also what to consider an IUD. Then, of course there is a tubal ligation or vasectomy. My husband recently had a vasectomy and it was the best thing we could have done! He had little discomfort and though he felt like doing anything that afternoon, he waited till the next day(he couldnt do heavy work for 7 days). There seems to be a lot of options for you out there. Hope this helps!
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Mon, 05-17-2004 - 8:17am
There is a term you may not want to be familiar with--change-of-life baby! It does happen, and it's particularly tricky as your periods become more irregular (though that can happen any time, it's more likely as you approach your 50's) which means that ovulation is more irregular too. Unless you ovulate, you won't have a period--if you have a period, you ovulated a couple of weeks before, the period is a _result_ of ovulation, not a predictor. I too would recommend "Taking Control of Your Fertility" by Toni Weschler to learn how to chart your cycles, but if that's too much work there are a good number of women who take birth control pills during perimenopause (when things start to change) to make their periods more predictable and manageable.

Good luck, please be careful! ;)

Judie
Co-cl for Birth Control
Judie Cl for Birth Control