It would be SUPER NICE if one day you just never had a period again, but yeah…that isn’t how it goes for most people. Menopause is talked about as an event, but it’s really a process. That includes what happens with our periods.
Your cycles might get shorter, coming as often as every 2-3 weeks.
Your cycles might get longer, not showing up for well over a month.
You might sometimes have a normal cycle length, around 28 days.
You might skip months entirely.
You might randomly spot all month long, with or without an actual period.
You might pingpong through all of these.
When things are winding down, you might even come close to the magic 1 year mark without a period, only to wake up bleeding one day.
This can be a pain in the ass. To some extent, it can be managed using holistic or conventional therapies. But hormonal fluctuation is part of the process, and therefore so are wacky cycles.
If your period is changing a lot, I encourage you to talk to you doctor and make sure all is well. This is ESPECIALLY true if your period has been gone for over a year and then returns — this is a possible red flag that should be looked at as soon as possible.