Hi again - sorry I had to cut short my response! I had to go out.
What I also meant to say was that it sounds like you need local oestrogen as well anyway - because your vaginal tissues have thinned and you are probably suffering from a degree of vaginal atrophy if you are that long post-menopause. Hence the smear test was painful. Here is some more information:
http://www.menopausematters.co.uk/vaginalsymptoms.phphttp://www.menopausematters.co.uk/dryness.phphttp://www.menopausematters.co.uk/local.phpThis will help plump up the tissues and mean that any investigations should be less painful after you have been using local oestrogen for a while.
It depends also what sort of scan you have - in my area we would be given an ultra-sound scan first, but sometimes a transvaginal scan can be given at the same time - where a probe type thing is inserted - but they use plenty of lube. If you have to have one of these then i suggest you take a couple of painkillers an hour before your appointment - this was the advice given to me when I went for a hysteroscopy.
It is unlikely you would need one of these unless your womb lining was very thick or they could see any irregularities on the other scans. As I said - many doctors would not send you for investigations for bleeding after a short time on HRT. You did mention the bleeding continuing - but again - you have stimulated your uterus with oestrogen and it takes a while for the progestogen ( in the Evorel conti) to work properly in preventing thickening of the uterus so the bleeding after stopping could well be the odd thickened parts coming away.
I would always go of any investigations though - since it can put your mind at rest - provided that it is not painful for you!
Good luck with it and let us know how you get on
Hurdity x
