I'm 52 and had my last period in January 2018, so I thought I was well and truly past the menopause. I went to bed in the early hours of yesterday morning, had my usual wee before bed and was shocked to see bright red blood on the toilet paper. 

The previous morning I had woken with a painful shoulder (which I thought was because of the way I was laying) and the pain travelled down to my lower back and I got abdominal cramps.

Anyway, I tried to sleep but called my doctor straight away when I woke up yesterday morning. She said that she was going to refer me for an urgent hospital appointment. She thought I might need a blood test in advance of this but said she would call me back. She sent me a text late yesterday afternoon (she had tried to call me twice, but both times I was driving) to say that I did need a blood test and that she'd sent the form electronically to the hospital. I just needed to call the hospital and make a blood test appointment. The phlebotomy clinic had closed for the day by then, so I called this morning. A recorded message said that they were only doing urgent blood tests at the moment because of covid and that I needed to leave my name and number and someone would call me back within 24 hours.

So, that's the stage I'm at now; waiting for the blood test phone call. I'm worried that I'm not going to hear from them today and will have to wait anxiously over the weekend.

I've read other threads and was surprised to see how many women have had a period and are ovulating again after a couple of years of no periods. My symptoms are exactly the same as when I had periods. I've had the headache, breast swelling and tenderness, lower back pain and abdominal cramps, and bright red bleeding.

I had hoped that I was through the menopause, but I really hope to goodness that this is just my periods deciding to start again after a break of over 2 1/2 years rather than something more serious.

I'm so sorry for waffling. I'm terrified!