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[Clovie]

(Severe health anxiety, sorry for all the questions  )

I'm being sent for a scan.

In brief- I'm not post menopausal but am being treated as such by my doctors due to my age alone. Annoyingly, I am continuing to have regular predictable bleeds and my periods have never stopped, no other red flags... 2 years ago I had a perfectly fine scan and 'the womb of a menstruating woman' so all was fine then. The 'periods' have continued.


The scan date is scheduled for just before I anticipate a period/bleed.

I do not want to be scanned just before a period as my lining will be at its thickest and given they are looking at me as POST menopausal I do not want to set alarm bells off unnecessarily.

I agree to be scanned towards the end of my period/bleed or just after to get the most valid information.

Would I be able to, be allowed to insist on this?

[bombsh3ll]

You can always postpone an NHS appointment,  but you can't always reschedule it for when you want, however if your cycle is pretty regular you could try and ask for one when you expect to be in the early follicular phase.

Another option would be to manipulate your progesterone to try and induce a withdrawal bleed a few days before your scan date.

If this didn't bring on a bleed you could just phone and say you were sick and needed to reschedule.

[Nas]

Can you ring the clinic to reschedule? Explain that a scan at this point, would not be accurate and likely to cause further worry. They may or may not agree.

Are you receiving any help with your health anxiety? What are you most afraid of?

[Clovie]

You can always postpone an NHS appointment,  but you can't always reschedule it for when you want, however if your cycle is pretty regular you could try and ask for one when you expect to be in the early follicular phase.

Another option would be to manipulate your progesterone to try and induce a withdrawal bleed a few days before your scan date.

If this didn't bring on a bleed you could just phone and say you were sick and needed to reschedule.

Thanks Bombshell.

How could I manipulate my bleed please? 
I have been taking 100mg Utrogestan and 2 pumps of estrogel on a continuous basis but still I am bleeding cyclically every approx 20 days (as in regular spaced, regular length, so my periods essentially, though they don't accept they are) The conti regime has not supressed my cycle.
 I started taking 200mg every night on Saturday just gone at the Dr's request. I take continuous estrogel.  I have just started a 'period' today.
How could I guarantee a bleed?

Thank you so much 

[Clovie]

Can you ring the clinic to reschedule? Explain that a scan at this point, would not be accurate and likely to cause further worry. They may or may not agree.

Are you receiving any help with your health anxiety? What are you most afraid of?

Hi Nas, no, I have written a letter today to my Dr asking to try anything new in the form of anti-depressants as none have ever worked, or to have some kind of temporary sedative for short term.

i'm afraid of cancer - and with good reason. 2 Years ago I was told by my doctor that I MUST have womb cancer because at 59 my periods could not possibly be periods. She actually said that! This was before a scan! Which came back, incidentally as perfectly fine and the sonographer could tell my womb was that of a menstruating woman. (size/shape?)
Anyway the gynae I saw after and my Gp continued to not accept my continuing cycle as periods.
Tried to stop my bleeds with conti HRT but my cycles have continued.
I mean I  KNOW I should have stopped by now    I WANT to have stopped, I feel like a freak -  I am scared stiff that i am going to die and I DO blame my GP for making me feel like this, I now feel panic shame and disgust every time I 'come on'  Even though everything was perfectly fine 2 years ago I can't get over feeling something baaaaad has happened inside me since...

I've explained all this in a letter to my GP because I get overwhelmed face to face because of my anxiety and forget what to say etc, I'm in such a state.

Thank you for asking,.... 



 

[bombsh3ll]

You can never "guarantee" a bleed, however if you were to take 200mg of progesterone every night from now, stopping this 2-3 days before you want the bleed to occur, you have a good chance.

If you could stop the estrogen at the same time even better however your wellbeing has to be balanced against this if it would result in unacceptable suffering.

This is how it is done to bring on a bleed for scheduling IVF.

[Clovie]

You can never "guarantee" a bleed, however if you were to take 200mg of progesterone every night from now, stopping this 2-3 days before you want the bleed to occur, you have a good chance.

If you could stop the estrogen at the same time even better however your wellbeing has to be balanced against this if it would result in unacceptable suffering.

This is how it is done to bring on a bleed for scheduling IVF.

Thank you SO much Bombshell,  This makes total sense. I shall do this. It is worth a try!
I will forgo my Estrogel as well, it does take a good few weeks for the lack of gel to bring back the sweats etc (had to stop once begfore a hip replacement op)
Thanks again xx

[Kathleen]

Hello Clovie

I am so sorry that you are in this position.

You say that you have had many tests and I wonder if they included a C125 blood test?
I believe that this is a marker for cancer so if this test was also fine for you it is extremely unlikely that you have cancer.

I hope you get sorted soon and sending hugs.

Take care.

K.

[Clovie]

Hello Clovie

I am so sorry that you are in this position.

You say that you have had many tests and I wonder if they included a C125 blood test?
I believe that this is a marker for cancer so if this test was also fine for you it is extremely unlikely that you have cancer.

I hope you get sorted soon and sending hugs.

Take care.

K.

Hello Kathleen, thank you for the hug, much needed.

No, I've not had many tests, I have only ever had a scan once, which turned out fine. I was 59 and still having periods but the Dr obviously didn't believe me    Scan was absolutely fine and supported that I was indeed having periods. So no further investigations required

2 years have passed, nothing changed, still having periods, regular, with PMT etc but getting closer together and lighter, no red flags or anything, hoping coming to an end, but Dr still saying can't be periods at my age. 
I have no REASON to think something bad has happened its just the constant blatant scaremongering.
And no, never had any blood tests, only for iron levels.

 thanks for taking the trouble to reply x

[sheila99]

Have you tried ringing the clinic directly to reschedule? Your GP won't do anything about it but the clinic might and the sooner you do it the better. You can try changing your utro schedule but it never worked for me, my own cycle was always stronger than the hrt one. If doctors are too uneducated to admit you might still be menstruating that's their problem, it can only worry you if you let it.
  Why not get a private blood test done (£30 ISH from randox) then you can take the results that show your fsh/LH in the range of a menstruating woman and well out of range for post meno and ask them to explain how you can possibly have these results?

[Clovie]

Have you tried ringing the clinic directly to reschedule? Your GP won't do anything about it but the clinic might and the sooner you do it the better. You can try changing your utro schedule but it never worked for me, my own cycle was always stronger than the hrt one. If doctors are too uneducated to admit you might still be menstruating that's their problem, it can only worry you if you let it.
  Why not get a private blood test done (£30 ISH from randox) then you can take the results that show your fsh/LH in the range of a menstruating woman and well out of range for post meno and ask them to explain how you can possibly have these results?

Thanks Sheila, yes i'm HOPING this doubled dose MIGHT stop my cycle byt the 100mg hasn't made a blind bit of difference. It's worth a try.
whatever happens, I will make sure I'm not scanned when I'm due to start .
 I'll try to schedule a scan for when it is best. As soon as a bleed makes an appearance I will be getting my husband to phone up and schedule it hopefully for just after, or as it is finishing.
Its the best I can do.

I even tried looking for private scanss but they all say don't book if you are under a gynae or  getting a scan on NHS 

[Taz2]

  Why not get a private blood test done (£30 ISH from randox) then you can take the results that show your fsh/LH in the range of a menstruating woman and well out of range for post meno and ask them to explain how you can possibly have these results?

As Clovie is on HRT wouldn't the FSH result be reduced anyway so wouldn't prove on it's own that she was in fact still a menstruating woman?

Taz x

[sheila99]

  Why not get a private blood test done (£30 ISH from randox) then you can take the results that show your fsh/LH in the range of a menstruating woman and well out of range for post meno and ask them to explain how you can possibly have these results?

As Clovie is on HRT wouldn't the FSH result be reduced anyway so wouldn't prove on it's own that she was in fact still a menstruating woman?

Taz x

You're right. Apologies for the misinformation.

[Taz2]

Thanks Sheila I wasn't quite sure.

Taz x

[Summer-sky]

Hi Clovie,
Sorry you have this going on. 
Maybe try the clinic to see if you can change the appointment to schedule it for after your period, if no joy with that, then you could go for your scan - hopefully you will have your period before the NHS scan but if not, take that appointment and then after your period and if you can do it financially, go for a private scan to check the womb lining measurement?  Take this scan result to your GP to demonstrate/compare what is going on ie reduced lining measurement post your period. It's a faff to do this but it might help you to present it to the GP to put a line under the back and forth you have to keep going through about it with them.
I think it was Taz who mentioned about conscious sedation, which I've also had a few times for colonoscopies and it does help loads but I think there is a question mark around doing this for hysteroscopy procedures but with all these things, if you can talk with the clinic to just explore what options there are then it is worth doing and ahead of time and this will help you feel more in control of the situation.  It might not even come to the point of any further investigations so although hard, to help decrease anxiety about it all, try and just do one stage at a time. 
It is hard not to be swayed by a doctor's words and understandably that can then push anyone into a vortex of anxiety if health anxiety holds a lot of weight but if you can find a way to just put in a box what the GP said about womb cancer a few years ago and not let those words worm away in you and remember what the sonographer told you at the time - the fear of cancer is nectar for health anxiety and although it's not a road anyone wants to go down, a lot of times it is now very treatable.  x