Meds, hormones, periods, menopause, and a pelvic exam

I had my annual physical today. Lets just say it wasn't fun, and now I have to go for a slew of other tests. At least I can say my Dr. is proactive.

But my Dr. thinks I may be menopausal even though I'm only 44. This is apparently a bad thing, as it's associated with increased risk of osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease.

But we're not sure if it's really menopause, or my meds messing up my hormones. I'm on quite a few psych meds, including Risperidone which has increased my prolactin levels. So she's ordered a bunch of blood work to try to determine if I'm in fact menopausal. If I am she want's to try hormones, which I'm not wild about because of the increased breast cancer risk, and I'm already at increased risk of breast cancer due to my years of alcoholic drinking. And who knows how adding hormones would interact with my psych meds.

And she's also concerned because after 18 months with no period I out of the blue had a period this past April, that lasted 3-4 days, but since then nothing. This can be a sign of a problem with the endometrial wall lining, so I have to go for a pelvic ultrasound. I hate pelvic ultrasounds, because for that one, you have to drink a ton of water and can't go to the bathroom for an hour before the test. Then she's also ordered a transvaginal ultrasound, which I really hate.

I'M not sweating any of this until I get the actual test results, I'm just frustrated that my meds may be causing so much weirdness.

splitimage

Yeah, the no periods for a year, can be a sign of menopause. I was more under the impression that if there was a full hysto, with ovary removal, then the increased cardiovascular illness and osteoporosis. Then, again, I may have misunderstood, when I was going through my own health scares, last month.

Oh My, I pray you don't have anything with endometriosis. There's a biopsy, that is oh so painful! Hope they can get a good peak with the ultrasound!

Considering, your doctor is considering HRT, can your doctor, also give you the BRCA test, in office?! It's a really easy test, involves, mouthwash and a vile to submit your DNA sample in. I just had that done, last month. I am waiting for my results. But if they are negative results, chances of either ovarian or breast cancer can be below 1%. I haven't heard from insurance, so it's sounding 'covered' to me!!

(((((((((((((Split)))))))))))))))
I hope that the tests go smoothly. I hope it all gets figured out.

Please let us know how the tests all go.

We hope for the best.

warm regards
Jade