Post menopausal bleeding. Scared

[Egggywegggy]

No period for 4 years ( I'm 47) started to bleed Wednesday very lightly which hasn't stopped.
I've gone to the Dr who has fast tracked a referral for me so just awaiting an appt

I've had no other symptoms, no weight loss though tummy feels achy today, pap smears are upto date. I've not been on hrt

Feeling scared as all I see is references to cancer :(

43 was very young stop! Hopefully nothing sinister

Could be fibroids x

I'm 54 and my DS who's 52 and I both had similar recently.

See your GP. They will most likely send you for biopsy [just in case] and hysteroscopy to look for fibroids / polyps. In both my DS and I's cases all test came back negative so nothing to worry about.

I spotted / bled for about 9 weeks after the hysteroscopy as did she. Both of us now settled back into 'nothingness'.

Prior to the spotting I went to the GP for, I haven't had a period for >10 years. Theory is that it's actually your ovaries 'shutting down' and sometimes, your hormones can just kick off 'one last time', though you don't usually release an egg and even if you did it would have 'gone off' [my term, not an official GP term

DM had post menopausal bleeding twice years apart.
Both times urgent referral as per guidelines.
First time years ago was a one stop appointment at hospital...ultrasound, hysteroscopy and polyp removed.

Last year the guidelines changed in our NHS trust. Went and had USS and then waited for hospital appt had hysteroscopy and polyp removed again.
Waited around 3 weeks for histology results but all ok

Top tip- take painkillers before hysteroscopy appointment as you may get period like pains

I remember googling two years ago when I started bleeding heavily after 6 months without a period and GP referred me for tests, and I came across this thread (I think it was an american one) where women were posting about their experiences of post menopausal bleeding. It was going back years so involved many posters.

I went through the whole thread (many pages of it) and if I recall properly, of all the posters who expressed their anxiety as to the cause of the bleeding, only one resulted in a diagnosis of cancer, and even then, her prognosis was good as she had indeed sought treatment immediately.

Of course it is a very scary event, but it is far from an uncommon one. That's not even taking into account the number of women who won't go to their GP about it because they have no idea that you should be checked for bleeding after 12 months without a period.

DM had this and it did end up being uterine cancer, which shocked her
GP as of all the referrals they'd done, just in case of this outcome, hers was the first case that had turned out to be cancer.

Point being, they need to do the quick referral but it is v unlikely to be too nasty. DM's cancer was caught v early and totally addressed via a hysterectomy, no further treatment was needed so even though her news was bad, the outcome was not.

Hi, I am going through the same as you. PM me if you like.

Just had hysteroscopy - insist on a local anaesthetic!

Thanks for the posts I'll pm you later Lydia x

@egggywegggy Looking at the bigger picture ..have you had medical advice about your early menopause? Menopause before 45 is earlyy menopause and the recommended treatment is HRT up to age 51 ( doesn't matter if you have no symptoms like hot flushes...) This is to protect your heart and bones - early meno puts you are risk from heart disease and osteoporosis as well as other things maybe dementia.
menopausedoctor.co.uk/early-menopause/

menopausedoctor.co.uk/early-menopause/menopause-younger-women/

The other thing is with an early menopause, the ovaries do sometimes kick into action again a few years later. This might be what has happened to you.

Do really think about this and if your GP doesn't suggest HRT , make yourself clear on the benefits and ask for it.

You are having a menopause almost 10 years before average age and it's classed as a medical issue.

ps It's not very likely you have cancer as described by @chewbecca. It tends to affect women over 60 - you're too young! But get it checked out with a scan first.

@MrsPUddleDuck Prior to the spotting I went to the GP for, I haven't had a period for >10 years

Again,as above- you need to make sure you have your bone density assessed as you have been without estrogen for many years compared to the average woman.

No I've never had hrt. The few times I went to the Dr and mentioned early menopause for unrelated things hrt was never offered or early menopause investigated
Menopause didn't give any symptoms

I had a bone density scan last year and yes Its low I've started to make huge changes to diet and exercise.

I had a bone density scan last year and yes Its low I've started to make huge changes to diet and exercise.

Out of interest how was this arranged? Did your GP arrange it?
How low are your bones? The recommended treatment is HRT. You are still at risk fro heart disease and other serious illnesses. You can make improvements with exercise but you have to really work at it - forever.
(I'm talking from experience here. I had almost osteoporosis at 47 despite not being menopausal till 53. I had NO risk factors at all other than being small framed.) I did get some improvement with exercise but that included ankle weights, loads of floor based resistance exercises, walking 3miles a day etc. )

No. The Dr didn't arrange it, have never mentioned it, i asked for it and paid for it privately.
Took the drs over a week to actually send the referral through to the private hospital

I have osteopenia. Tscore -1.7 on spine. Hips normal. Lbd for age, but Not osteoporosis.