@Shippy Meaning the bleeding is irregular, not the time in between periods?
I have a feeling it varies for everyone what happens as the hormones begin to change. I know my mom had heavy bleeding the last 10 years before she finally stopped getting her period. The periods came closer together and the heavy bleeding was mostly attributed to her fibroids. Then one month she skipped a period. Then she had 9 more months of periods, then she never had another period again. never had a flash.
My neighbor was irregular in all sorts of ways for almost a year. She was very frustrated. She also had been diagnosed with hypothyroid and both her parents died all within this year more or less, and it was really difficult for her.
My MIL had a hysterectomy in her 30’s, but when she went through menopause in her early 50’s her flashes were terrible, and she still flashes today in her 70’s if she does not take hormones.
Another friend of mine basically just stopped getting her period and had very bad flashes for 6 months and then everything calmed down and she is fine. She complains she has gained weight since menopause, or because she is older, she is not sure what to blame. She is still thin.
I have never heard the same story twice about menopause, but at the same time there are commonalities.
You can get a day 3 test, to see how your hormones are doing, but it isn’t like it really will matter what it says I don’t think. Day 3 is primarily used for analyzing a woman’s fertility. Many GYN’s don’t even know what it is, they just do basic hormone tests that show what range your hormones are in. For example a few years ago my day 3 showed I was moving outside of normal (meaning leaving my most fertile years) while a regular hormone test done on whatever day of the cycle I was on showed me as still young, fertile, and healthy. Reprodcutive endocrinologists use the day 3 test, pretty much no other doctor does from what I can tell.