First off, let’s quickly look at the basics of the ovulatory cycle.

1. Menstrual bleeding stops.

2. About 12 days later the endometrium is thickened by estrogen, usually more than 6 mm, ready to receive a fertlised ovum.

3. A few days after ovulation, progesterone causes the blood vessels to become more prominent and protein content in the endometrium increases.

4. Immediately before the onset of menstruation, the endometrium is now ready for implantation. If the egg is not fertilised, the ovaries stop producing estrogen and progesterone.

5. The lack of estrogen and progesterone causes menstruation to start
6. The upper two thirds of the endometrium is discarded, ovaries start producing estrogen again, causing the new lining to develop
7. The bleeding stops and a new cycle begins.

anovolatory means no ovulation

Not all periods result from an ovulatory menstrual cycle. There isn’t always an egg. Anovolatory cycle literally means no ovulation. This is normally supposed to happen during menopause. In some women the follicular development will start but not complete, but estrogens will still form to stimulate the uterine lining. Sooner or later the uterus will shed this lining. As no ovulation and no progesterone involvement occurs, this type of bleeding is called an estrogen breakthrough bleeding.

Anovolatory bleeding commonly occurs in the buildup to menopause. Anovulatory cycles will happen every now and then during the childbearing years, but they are most common during adolescence and in the years of perimenopause.

It’s possible for women to experience anovulatory menstrual cycles from around the age of 30 and yet continue to have regular periods until their early fifties, the average age of menopause. Menstrual cycles can continue even without progesterone, and many women are not aware of any lack of progesterone, indeed many are unaware of distressing symptoms at all.

During the months or even years that women experience anovulatory periods, the estrogen production becomes erratic, alternating surges of high levels with low.

You’re a certain age and you begin to experience erratic menstrual periods from very heavy to very little blood flow. When you experience estrogen surges, the symptoms are usually breast swelling and tenderness, headaches, mood swings, water retention, sleep disturbances and weight gain. All those awful jokes about raging hormones make sense.

There are medical tests to determine if your cycles are anovulatory, consult your health care provider. If you have symptoms that cause you to wonder if you are perimenopausal, a list has been drawn up by a collective of menopausal women, in 35 Symptoms of Menopause

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