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Postmeno symptoms-cancer or endo?

I was never diagnosed with endometriosis and am now in my 50s and post-menopausal. I’ve been experiencing pelvic cramping since late March & US showed endometrial thickening. Biopsy was a failure so I’m scheduled for a hysteroscopy & D&C but not for a month, w the follow up discussion in mid-July. The wait is AWFUL. Any advice appreciated. I have other symptoms besides just near-continuous pelvic cramping, which makes me wonder if something is driving this. My fingers are puffy, my chest swells like pre-menopause (last ~4 days, goes away, returns), and this is strange but my private area engorges at random times (like anything arouses me but I don’t feel aroused, it’s just a physical response). They did find a cyst on my left ovary that they are ignoring (I’m several years post-meno and hadn’t experienced left-sided pain until recently so I think it’s related), and doc said my FSH is lower than she’d expected for my age. So that’s all I know and I won’t know more until mid-July, which is a long wait since I’ve been experiencing this since March. Oh, key point missing (because it’s so minor to me)-in mid-April, I experienced 4 days of the lightest spotting, which is why they went straight for the biopsy & ignored everything else I’d said. ALSO-the cramping started about 2wks after my first Covid shot and I have autoimmune issues. I’m wondering if it’s all related.

  1. I'm so sorry you're going through all this. I know how hard it must be to wait for tests and answers. We can't give you medical advice here, but it's possible to have endo symptoms even after menopause I'm glad to hear that you're following up with your doctor. I hope they can provide you with some guidance and assurance while you wait. But if not, you shouldn't hesitate to schedule a telehealth visit in the meantime. Ask them all the questions that are bothering you. They should be able to tell you what symptoms to be concerned about. And they likely wanted you to get a biopsy because, while it can be no big deal, spotting or bleeding when you're post-menopause isn't normal.

    In regards to your vaccine, I had an increase in some of my inflammatory issues for about 5 days after my second shot. My doc told me it's related to my immune response from the shot, and suggested I let them know if my symptoms didn't go away. But thankfully, all that has resolved and I'm back to normal.

    I'm wishing you well and hoping you get some answers soon! - Keri (team member)

    1. Thank you for the feedback. I won’t get feedback from a doctor for another two months so am appreciative if I can get feedback whether others have experienced what I’m experiencing (that it’s similar to endometriosis, especially in post menopause) or not. This is all completely new to me so I know very little about endometriosis. If anyone can even point me to another forum that may more closely align with my symptoms if not this site, that would be great! Or a yes or no about how symptoms match would help, even!

      1. Thank you. They did find an ovarian cyst but dismissed its importance. Interestingly, I started a real period (how heavy, we’ll see) today after experiencing pre-menstrual-like chest swelling late last week into this week (gone now despite doc insisting I need a mammogram to make sure there’s no bilateral cancer or something causing this). Second complete cycle, with this one’s symptoms more intense. I wonder if this will help resolve the endometrial thickening “for age” (I should check to see how it is relative to someone cycling!)

      2. Hi . That's interesting that you started a real period after experiencing that. I think so many people can relate to doctor's dismissing something that turned out to be important. Thank you for sharing this with us. Please keep us posted on how you're doing! 💛 Warmly, Kayleigh, Endometriosis.net team

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