Your cycle after 35: heavier, less frequent, less predictable — what is happening

Your period comes after three weeks, then disappears for two months. It has become heavier and longer, with clots. A pad doesn't last the night. Between 35 and 50 such changes are very common — they are one of the first signs of the transition. But "common" does not mean "put up with it".

Why your cycle changes

In the transition, more and more cycles happen without ovulation, and there is less progesterone. Oestrogen, meanwhile, does not fall — it swings, sometimes higher than usual. Hence the unpredictability and heavier periods.

If you wear a ring or watch: they see the rise in night-time temperature after ovulation only after the fact. If there was no rise in a cycle, that does not mean "low progesterone" — after 40 some cycles simply happen without ovulation.

What counts as heavy

Heavy periods are often thought of as "just how I am" and go unchecked for years. Guides:

• you need to change a pad or tampon every hour for several hours in a row;
• clots larger than a coin;
• leaks, needing "double protection";
• periods lasting longer than 7 days;
• bleeding limits your normal day.

Heavy periods and iron

Heavy periods are the most common cause of iron deficiency in women. Iron stores fall before a routine blood test changes, and tiredness, breathlessness on the stairs, hair loss, brittle nails and feeling cold appear already then. Particular clues: a craving to chew ice and restless legs in the evening.

What to do:

• Ask for a ferritin test — it is the main measure of iron stores. Iron should be taken based on a test, not blindly: too much iron is harmful too.
• Iron-rich food. Iron from meat, poultry, fish and seafood is absorbed best. Plant sources — lentils, beans, tofu, pumpkin seeds, dark leafy greens — are best combined with vitamin C at the same meal: bell peppers, citrus fruit, kiwi.
• Tea, coffee and dairy — separately from iron-rich food, about an hour apart: they interfere with its absorption.

And most importantly: heavy periods can be treated. Gynaecologists have options that reduce blood loss several-fold. Iron without addressing the cause is a patch, not a solution.

Keeping track is half the job

Log the first day of your period in VIA-L. After a few cycles you will see how your cycle length is changing, and it is easier to go to the doctor with this. A diary also helps you see how your cycle is linked to sleep, mood and hot flashes.

What you don't need

• Supplement sets "by cycle phase" are marketing: taking supplements by phase is no better than daily.
• "Seed cycling" — there are no clinical data. Seeds are good as food, but rotating them by day changes nothing.

When to see a doctor without delay

• You need to change a pad or tampon every hour for several hours in a row.
• Periods lasting longer than 8 days.
• Bleeding between periods or after intimacy.
• Bleeding together with severe tiredness, breathlessness, feeling faint or fainting.
• Any bleeding after 12 months without periods — always a reason to see a gynaecologist promptly.

What to try this week

• Log the first day of your period in VIA-L.
• With heavy periods — iron-rich food together with vitamin C; tea and coffee an hour later.
• If you recognised yourself in the "heavy" list — book a gynaecologist and ask for a ferritin test.

This is general information, not a prescription. Tests and treatment are chosen by a doctor.