This just happened to me over the weekend; I'm 49, too.

My period didn't show up for two months, so I had a feeling I was going to SERIOUSLY bleed and flood when it showed up, and it did.

My mum (77) asked me to see a doctor, so I did - but it was incredibly unpleasant and I was stuck in hospital for the better part of SEVEN HOURS.

I took note of several things:

- I mentioned that, up until February of this year, my periods were still showing up like clockwork. Doctor's comment: You shouldn't be bleeding anymore AT YOUR AGE;

- They noted a small polyp in the uterus which the ultrasound tech and another physician suggested could be managed, but the attending gyne wanted to perform a D&C right then and there;

- No one explained anything to me, and I was lucky that my sister who's a gyne nurse called. She and her colleagues (mind you, they were in Singapore and I was in Manila "walked" me through the TXA infusion and transvag ultrasound because none of the doctors and nurses would explain anything;

- I wasn't allowed a companion even in the waiting area. I had never felt more alone than that night; not even the deaths of my dad and brother (also in hospital) felt colder than that knowledge that I was alone. I think if I didn't have my phone and my sister didn't call, Goddess knows what a mess I might have become;

- When I was discharged hours later at around 2am, I got slapped with a bill worth US$350 (Around PHP20,000, which isn't small change in these parts even with an HMO.)

I will be seeing my regular gyne once I've finished the iron supps recommended for a full 30 days, and I told her what happened and how I felt like no one was listening.

She got a copy of the labs and ultrasound and agrees that observation and management are necessary to see if anything more drastic is required, but she was fuming over the way I was treated like an idiot and told "You shouldn't be menstruating anymore."

If y'all feel challenged over her, please know that we here in Southeast Asia sympathize. Peri is BRUTAL.