I Hit Menopause and Started Bleeding Again 2 Months Later
Key takeaways:
You’re considered to be in menopause when you’ve gone 12 consecutive months without a menstrual period.
If you have bleeding after your period ends, monitor it and consult your healthcare professional.
A healthcare professional should evaluate any postmenopausal vaginal bleeding. It could be a sign of a medical condition that needs attention.
My Journey is a series of personal essays about what it’s like to cope with a medical condition.
After a few years of mixed feelings — ranging from anxiety to optimism — I officially hit menopause in May 2024. I had gone 12 months without a menstrual period.
I reached this milestone at age 51. That’s almost exactly the average age for women to enter menopause, and I couldn’t believe a key function of womanhood was over for me.
After 38 years of monthly periods, I was struggling to accept their end.
The end of my menorrhagia era?
On the plus side, it meant freedom from a messy, inconvenient, and sometimes painful condition I had dealt with most of my life.
I often endured heavy menstrual bleeding, known as menorrhagia. I had undergone dilation and curettage surgery, a procedure that sometimes helps stop heavy bleeding. And I took tranexamic acid medication to manage heavy menstrual bleeding in the decade leading up to menopause.
On the other hand, menopause also meant a new stage of life undoubtedly characterized by aging. I could no longer think of myself as the young woman I’d believed myself to be since my 20s. Ouch.
Unexpected bleeding was a postmenopause surprise
But my mourning didn’t last long. About 3 months after the menopause mark, I discovered blood during a trip to the bathroom. It wasn’t fully flowing red blood that you normally see with a period. Instead, it was the brownish blood that often came at the tail end of a period. It was as if my body was teasing me and saying, “I’m baaaack!”
I went to the store to buy a pack of pads for the first time in more than a year.
How can you tell when you’ve reached menopause? By definition, it’s when you haven’t had a period for 12 months. Learn more about it.
What does menopause feel like? Here’s how three women describe it.
If you lose your sex drive in menopause, how do you get it back? Here’s what worked for one woman.
“We meet again, old friend,” I said to myself as I put the pads in my cart. I texted photos of it to a few female friends my age.
For 3 days, I used the pads to catch the bloody stains. Just like the good old days.
Getting some answers
At my annual OB-GYN appointment just before I approached menopause, I asked the doctor questions about the way my body was changing and what I could expect. It felt like a reverse puberty.
“Is it possible, after your periods cease, for them to start up again?” I asked.
“No,” my doctor said. Once menstruation ends, your ovaries are spent, and they cannot start ovulating again, she said.
But, she cautioned, if I experienced any vaginal bleeding after menopause, I needed to call her. Postmenopausal bleeding is not a period, so something else would be causing it. And that needed to be checked. It could be a sign of a problem, she said.
Remembering the doctor’s words, I called my OB-GYN’s office that week, explained that I was bleeding after menopause, and asked what I should do. They scheduled me for a transvaginal ultrasound, followed by an office appointment.
An ultrasound and reassurance
The possible causes of the bleeding were concerning. It could be a common explanation such as uterine polyps. Or it could be something more unlikely — like cervical or uterine cancer. Still, I wasn’t worried. I was glad to be getting it checked out, to rule out anything serious.
I underwent the ultrasound, an uncomfortable procedure that required drinking 32 ounces of water beforehand and not emptying my bladder. But the procedure took less than a half hour, and I was on my way.
At my office visit 2 days later, my doctor offered reassurance, even though the results weren’t ready yet. She said that about half of women have an episode of light bleeding, also called spotting, within the first year after menopause. The causes are usually benign and sometimes the result of using a hormonal product. Other times, vaginal atrophy — a thinning of the vulva and vaginal tissue, making it more fragile and prone to bleeding — causes postmenopausal bleeding, along with dryness.
I used vaginally inserted estradiol tablets for a few months in the year leading up to menopause to manage symptoms like dryness. Now, I use something more affordable that I like better: a plant-based moisturizing cream with bioidentical estriol, an estrogen. My doctor approves of using these products, but she said they might have triggered the breakthrough bleeding.
A clean bill of health — and maybe blood-free days ahead
A few days after my office visit, my ultrasound results arrived. Everything checked out.
My endometrial thickness was 3 mm, which is normal for postmenopausal women. The thickness refers to the measurement of the lining of the uterus, known as the endometrium. After menopause, the endometrium usually becomes thinner because of lower levels of estrogen. A thin endometrium in postmenopausal women is often a sign that there are no abnormal growths or conditions, like endometrial hyperplasia or cancer. I was relieved.
In the end, my doctor advised me not to worry. She attributed my bleeding to a fluke, possibly caused by the estriol-based cream.
I hope my bleeding days really are over this time. But I’ll keep my pack of pads tucked into my bathroom cabinet under the sink, just in case. And if the bleeding does happen again, I won’t be afraid to call my doctor. Staying vigilant about my health when unexpected symptoms arise makes all the difference in my well-being and peace of mind.
Why trust our experts?
