You Selected: The PreMenopause or PeriMenopause Years
Fertility is at its peak in the early twenties, after which it gradually declines. The decline in fertility is more marked from the late thirties onwards. The fertility of the pre-menopausal woman is very much diminished.
Normal physiological changes occur in most women between the ages of 45 - 52. The cycles become irregular as hormones fluctuate. A woman may ovulate infrequently or not at all, even though bleeding still occurs. The menstrual periods may be heavy and prolonged. However, many cycles can have the following characteristics:
Mucus production may decrease in quantity especially the slippery-type mucus.
Menstrual bleeding may be longer or shorter than previously experienced.
Inter-menstrual bleeding may occur. If this happens, it is strongly recommended that she visits her physician and asks for a biopsy in order to be sure that no re-cancerous condition is causing that unusual bleeding. If everything is normal, it may mean that the inter-menstrual bleeding is caused by high estrogen levels that drop suddenly and cause a bleed.
Another common occurrence in pre-menopausal women is that the luteal phase ( the time from peak day to menstruation) may be shorter.
The pre-menopausal woman may also experience several months without cervical mucus or menstruation.
The couple must continue to follow the Early Days Rule: Sexual relations are open to the couple only in the evenings of every other day. However, when there is a change in her basic infertile pattern, the couple must AVOID SEXUAL RELATIONS DURING THE DAYS OF CHANGE PLUS THREE FULL DAYS. Such a change can be: A change in sensation; the appearance of mucus; a wet or slippery feeling; a change in the amount of discharge or in its color, consistency or feeling; bleeding or spotting.
SEXUAL RELATIONS MAY BE RESUMED IN THE EVENING OF THE FOURTH DAY AFTER HER BASIC INFERTILE PATTERN HAS RETURNED. THE COUPLE CAN THEN CONTINUE APPLYING THE EARLY DAY RULES.
It is essential for her to keep charting until she has completed one year without mucus or bleeding. Eventually, bleeding and mucus will cease and the woman will be left with a permanent Basic Infertile Pattern, (B.I.P.) of dryness, which indicates that she has arrived at the end of her fertility.
