Cancer or menopause??

[lovely36]

My mom thinks she might be going through menopause. She is 48. She said she had a period for three weeks straight. Because of it she got anaemia, due to the amount of blood she lost in those three weeks. She has then had blood tests and other body tests she didn't want to go into too much detail. She told me everything came out fine. It now the doctor wants to test her for possible cancer which is really worrying me right now. She said before the doctor can tell her it's menopause she has to rule out cancer. Has anyone experienced anything similar?! I would really appreciate any comments, I've been crying my eyes out since she told me she was getting tested for cancer.

Heavy bleeding is usual during peri and meno, so maybe it is just a typical testing and nothing more serious! Try not to worry so much!

It sounds very unlikely that the Dr would assume cancer rather than menopause. At 48 your periods can go absolutely haywire due to approaching menopause, please try not to worry.

I think the average age is 51 for menopause so when I started it in my 40s I had various tests to rule out 'anything else', which included scans. I think because in peri menopause often the blood tests don't show the hormone changes so they need to be sure.
I'm not really sure what she means by a specific test for cancer. Ask for more info if it's worrying you.

Yes, I've been through all of that myself. It's very normal testing, to be thorough, and on the safe side.

I had a minor biopsy under a local anaesthetic. Didn't even hurt.

Honestly, it's good to be able to be sure. Meanwhile your mum can think about options for her heavy bleeding and peri-menopause - there's some very good threads on here.

I experienced a similar situation a few years back as I approached the end of my periods. My GP referred me to Gynae, I had biospies the lovely lady gnae doctor said "I've had a good fettle round" which made me smile. Everything was clear and my periods stopped shortly after the procedure.