Hi, Anon, and welcome to EmpowHer. Thanks so much for your question.
I'm 51, so I understand about perimenopause! And my closest friends are six other women between the ages of 51 and 59. We have known each other for a couple of decades, so we've all gone through it together -- except it's been different for every single one of us. Ugh!
How long ago were your hormones checked, and how were they checked (blood test, saliva sample, etc)? This is the first thing that comes to my mind, even though you had test ranges in the "normal" area before. Here's the thing -- one woman's normal is not necessarily another woman's normal. What's normal for YOU might have been different. (In some ways I wish we all had baseline hormonal levels checked in our 20s or 30s so we'd know, during perimenopause, how far off our own normal we actually are.)
I think if I were you, I'd go ahead and make another appointment with your doctor based on how you're feeling -- bloated and with a possibility of recurring cysts and endometrial tissue building up again. And before you go, ask if it's possible to have your hormones checked again.
You've done a lot of reading on your own, so I don't want to list websites for you that you might already be familiar with. In your reading about PCOS, menopause, perimenopause and hormones, have you come across something that feels more like your symptoms than anything else? When you had the 30-day period before, (and you get my total sympathy for that, believe me), did your doctor believe it was caused by the cysts?
My favorite reference for all things menopause is Dr. Christiane Northrup's The Wisdom of Menopause. Do you have it? If not, I want you to go to get it right away. It's thorough, easy to understand and goes into incredible detail about everything. Here's what she says about retesting hormones:
"If you're having symptoms and are actively working to improve hormone balance, I recommend double testing, which acknowledges the fact that hormone levels fluctuate, especially during perimenopause. The best time of day for sample collection is the early morning, and the best time of the month is between days 20 and 23, when progesterone levels are apt to be highest. If your periods are irregular, it is more difficult to accurately assess progesterone levels with just one sample -- another reason for double testing. With double testing, the sample is drawn or collected and assayed on at least two different occasions before treatment. (If symptoms are really severe, you needn't delay treatment. Just get another set of levels about one month after starting treatment so that adjustments can be made.) "
And here's what she says about heavy bleeding: "Many women develop heavy and irregular bleeding in the years before menopause because estrogen dominance causes the lining of the uterus to overgrow." Did you and your doctor talk about possible estrogen dominance? Has your doctor discussed natural progesterone with you, or temporary hormone replacement of any kind?
Do you like your doctor? Do you believe she is assertive enough in dealing with your perimenopause?
Comment Reply
Hi, Anon, and welcome to EmpowHer. Thanks so much for your question.
I'm 51, so I understand about perimenopause! And my closest friends are six other women between the ages of 51 and 59. We have known each other for a couple of decades, so we've all gone through it together -- except it's been different for every single one of us. Ugh!
How long ago were your hormones checked, and how were they checked (blood test, saliva sample, etc)? This is the first thing that comes to my mind, even though you had test ranges in the "normal" area before. Here's the thing -- one woman's normal is not necessarily another woman's normal. What's normal for YOU might have been different. (In some ways I wish we all had baseline hormonal levels checked in our 20s or 30s so we'd know, during perimenopause, how far off our own normal we actually are.)
I think if I were you, I'd go ahead and make another appointment with your doctor based on how you're feeling -- bloated and with a possibility of recurring cysts and endometrial tissue building up again. And before you go, ask if it's possible to have your hormones checked again.
You've done a lot of reading on your own, so I don't want to list websites for you that you might already be familiar with. In your reading about PCOS, menopause, perimenopause and hormones, have you come across something that feels more like your symptoms than anything else? When you had the 30-day period before, (and you get my total sympathy for that, believe me), did your doctor believe it was caused by the cysts?
My favorite reference for all things menopause is Dr. Christiane Northrup's The Wisdom of Menopause. Do you have it? If not, I want you to go to get it right away. It's thorough, easy to understand and goes into incredible detail about everything. Here's what she says about retesting hormones:
"If you're having symptoms and are actively working to improve hormone balance, I recommend double testing, which acknowledges the fact that hormone levels fluctuate, especially during perimenopause. The best time of day for sample collection is the early morning, and the best time of the month is between days 20 and 23, when progesterone levels are apt to be highest. If your periods are irregular, it is more difficult to accurately assess progesterone levels with just one sample -- another reason for double testing. With double testing, the sample is drawn or collected and assayed on at least two different occasions before treatment. (If symptoms are really severe, you needn't delay treatment. Just get another set of levels about one month after starting treatment so that adjustments can be made.) "
And here's what she says about heavy bleeding: "Many women develop heavy and irregular bleeding in the years before menopause because estrogen dominance causes the lining of the uterus to overgrow." Did you and your doctor talk about possible estrogen dominance? Has your doctor discussed natural progesterone with you, or temporary hormone replacement of any kind?
Do you like your doctor? Do you believe she is assertive enough in dealing with your perimenopause?
August 17, 2009 - 8:40amThis Comment
Reply