I'm 54 and have been fortunate to have had very light periods most of my adult life. My period started when I was 12 and then disappeared until I was 16...Lucky me...right? That is until I turned 45 and had a lot of stresses in my life....First my L4/L5 disks started rupturing due to spinal stenosis, degenerative disk arthritis. I made the mistake of having a lamenectomy fusion..,big mistake...although I had a wonderful neurosurgeon, this particular surgery made me significantly worse regarding my pain...similar to the domino effect....now all my disks are rupturing...I was a competitive swimmer throughout college and I am fortunate to have a pool at home. I swim laps to suppress the pain....When I was 48 I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and was prescribed synthetic thyroid Rx med...This resulted in high blood pressure, and high cholesterol....then to top it off, my husband passed away from cancer 3 1/2 years ago....I landed in the hospital with two TIA's in conjunction to Thyroid storm only to be told that my previous health care primary care physician misdiagnosed me and I am actually hyperthyroid and was diagnosed by an Endocrinologist as having Graves Disease...I am taking the correct ATD's now. I've been asthmatic and have had bronchitis triggered by various environmental allergies since I was 2....Simce my Graves diagnoses, I catch more infections..Since Graves is an autoimmune disease and I am a public school teacher, when I am exposed to colds and flu's, I catch them all and they linger for months exasperating bronchitis and chronic asthma attacks even after I take the flu shots every flu season....My periods are now super heavy, lots of cramping accompanied with severe migraines that I have never had before..Recently, I skipped two months not having a period, then by the third month I had two periods...Causing even more fatigue due to my iron deficiency anemia and the fact that my Graves also causes significant fatigue...Although I was diagnosed with fibroids and endometriosis in my 30's, I am not a candidate for a hysterectomy because I am currently being screened for possible Afib from the Graves' disease and cannot risk surgery when I have these other health factors...I cannot have an endometrial eblation because my uterus is retroverted....With all this, I am fortunate to have two children in their early to mid 20's....I refuse to take hormone replacement for fear it may potentially cause various cancers....What can I do to alleviate this pain from the heavy irregular periods I am having and because I have had iron deficiency anemia most of my life iron vitamins hurt my stomach. Intake prescription Prilosac due to my hiatal hernia and mild stomach ulcer...My iron deficiency is so low that I feel very faint and dizzy during my heavy periods. Does the thyroid hormones from the Graves contribute to all my menopause symptoms? Thank You.....Allie
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I'm 54 and have been fortunate to have had very light periods most of my adult life. My period started when I was 12 and then disappeared until I was 16...Lucky me...right? That is until I turned 45 and had a lot of stresses in my life....First my L4/L5 disks started rupturing due to spinal stenosis, degenerative disk arthritis. I made the mistake of having a lamenectomy fusion..,big mistake...although I had a wonderful neurosurgeon, this particular surgery made me significantly worse regarding my pain...similar to the domino effect....now all my disks are rupturing...I was a competitive swimmer throughout college and I am fortunate to have a pool at home. I swim laps to suppress the pain....When I was 48 I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and was prescribed synthetic thyroid Rx med...This resulted in high blood pressure, and high cholesterol....then to top it off, my husband passed away from cancer 3 1/2 years ago....I landed in the hospital with two TIA's in conjunction to Thyroid storm only to be told that my previous health care primary care physician misdiagnosed me and I am actually hyperthyroid and was diagnosed by an Endocrinologist as having Graves Disease...I am taking the correct ATD's now. I've been asthmatic and have had bronchitis triggered by various environmental allergies since I was 2....Simce my Graves diagnoses, I catch more infections..Since Graves is an autoimmune disease and I am a public school teacher, when I am exposed to colds and flu's, I catch them all and they linger for months exasperating bronchitis and chronic asthma attacks even after I take the flu shots every flu season....My periods are now super heavy, lots of cramping accompanied with severe migraines that I have never had before..Recently, I skipped two months not having a period, then by the third month I had two periods...Causing even more fatigue due to my iron deficiency anemia and the fact that my Graves also causes significant fatigue...Although I was diagnosed with fibroids and endometriosis in my 30's, I am not a candidate for a hysterectomy because I am currently being screened for possible Afib from the Graves' disease and cannot risk surgery when I have these other health factors...I cannot have an endometrial eblation because my uterus is retroverted....With all this, I am fortunate to have two children in their early to mid 20's....I refuse to take hormone replacement for fear it may potentially cause various cancers....What can I do to alleviate this pain from the heavy irregular periods I am having and because I have had iron deficiency anemia most of my life iron vitamins hurt my stomach. Intake prescription Prilosac due to my hiatal hernia and mild stomach ulcer...My iron deficiency is so low that I feel very faint and dizzy during my heavy periods. Does the thyroid hormones from the Graves contribute to all my menopause symptoms? Thank You.....Allie
June 19, 2015 - 12:30amThis Comment
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