[Reenboe]

Hello everyone.

This is my first post. I should probably do an introductory post in that section and I will a bit later, but I'd like to start off with a thread right away that deals with something I'm going through currently. This really is directed toward the ladies here.

I'll try and put it in a nutshell. I have a history of depressive episodes and in November for the first time I went inpatient for 9 days. About mid-way through my stay I got my period. And, it has YET to cease completely (2 months later). I am 52 years old, but historically and right up until the last period before I fell into my depressive episode and went to the hospital my periods were like clockwork...about every 28 days and of normal flow and duration. There is no pain whatsoever associated with this endless flow nor has there been at any time since November. I had a pelvic ultrasound 4 days ago, but have yet to learn the results of that. I'll probably need one or two other procedures to rule everything out. My doctor put me on a 10 day course of Provera which stopped the flow for a couple of days, but then it gradually returned over the next few to where it was at before I started the Provera.

What I would like to know is what type of menstrual irregularities other women have experienced in conjunction with their mental/emotional state. The timing of this is just two weird, given my history of normal periods up until hospitalization, to not wonder if it is tied in to the depression and maybe associated weight loss (15+ lbs in maybe 1-1/2 months). Also, my TSH level is over 4.0 (normal being up to 5.0), so I'm at the high end of what has traditionally been considered normal (meaning thyroid function is at low end of normal). I know that hypothyroidism can cause mental issues as well as irregular menses, yet my doctor didn't suggest treatment in that regard.

Any replies/feedback will be much apprecated.

[Reenboe]

Still hoping to hear from some women here about how their cycle/hormones have been affected by their depression.

[deliquesce]

hi reenboe,

firstly, welcome to PC! i hope you find the answers you are looking for here. if you don't get many responses to this thread, there is a women's forum on PC where you could post and would probably get more answers.

re: irregular menses. yeah, i've been there too. at the beginning of 2007 i lost about 10kgs in the space of maybe 6 weeks. i'm already considered underweight for my height, so this put me at a dangerously low level. since then, my menses has been quite irregular. it used to be like clockwork - down to the hour and everything. now sometimes it is early, sometimes it is late, sometimes there is spotting, or it'll come back a week after i thought it had 'finished'. i haven't had it checked out, but i did mention it to my pdoc who said that it is known that menses can become irregular after a huge emotional upheaval. he explained all the biological processes to me, but that was about 2 years ago, so i've kind of forgotten now - sorry .

please come back and let us know how the ultrasound results go. i hope you are able to stop it soon. another thing that occured me to me, which i'm sure your docs have already evaluated, is if you might not be going through menopause? i'm too young to have gone through it myself, but a friend's mum had continuous menses for about 7 months just before she started menopause. she had just turned 50.

i hope this has helped somewhat. if you dont get enough answers here, i'd suggest posting this again in the women's forum.

xo deli

[gimmeice]

Hello Reenboe, it's nice to meet you. I agree that you may receive more responses in the womens forum here. I haven't had too much of a problem with irregular menses, it is good that you are seeing a dr for this, hopefully they figure out what is going on soon.

If you have any questions while on this site feel free to private message any community liaison or moderator, here is a link to a list of forum leaders.
http://forums.psychcentral.com/showgroups.php

[Reenboe]

Thank you for your replies and welcomes Deliquesce and Gimmeice. Yes, I will post also to the women's forum. Hopefully that's okay and wouldn't be considered cross-posting. Wow Deliquesce...your friend's mom menstruated for 7 months straight before entering menopause? Do you know if she had the barrage of tests they typically do to rule out causes such as fibroid, polyps and endometrial cancer? Did menstruating for that long cause her to become anemic? When I had blood drawn several weeks ago my RBC was at the very low end of normal. I'm sure now that I'm anemic which of course doesn't help my mental state.

My doctor's office tried to call me yesterday regarding the ultrasound results, but I wasn't home. I'm going to call them in about half an hour when they open. I won't post this until I do and (hopefully) learn the results.

Well, all that showed up on the ultrasound is a small ovarian cyst. My doctor's receptionist said that the doctor wants me to see an actual gynecologist and I also need to have an endometrial biopsy. To be continued...