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Hormonal imbalance years after menopause??
I am 72 and new to this site so thank you for your patience with this question,
I have not had hot flashes for many years. Prior to menopause I used to get PVCs (skipped heart beats) and it only happened around my period so it was hormonally related and they stopped after menopause. Vaginal dryness and tightness also increased after menopause making sex impossible. I also have several rather large fibroids which are smaller now but still a substantial size and they cannot see my overies on ultrasound,
All that said and fast forward, suddenly I started getting hot flashes some days off some days severe. The PVCs started back again, some days off some days severe. I had some spotting once.. end of day most likely from atrophy but discovered very tiny cyst on one of my overies. So all odd things hormonally related.
I saw all my docs.. my gyn wants to give me vaginal estrogen, I told her I was concerned about the fibroids growing and she stated that its local and not systemic... however I have used it many yrs ago and my fibroids did seem to get bigger so I stopped. She has no clue re the hot flashes but wanted to give me meds for them. I said no.
I told her I had ordered a hormonal panel thinking maybe my hormones are askew more than ever for some reason. Adrenals? She said, we know what your hormones are like now and the test is not useful. mmm?
One thought I had was to seek out advice from an endocrinologist.
This past weekend I had severe burning below and thought it was a UTI but then I took a look and my vagina inside and just outside had tears and slight bleeding. I used some aquaphor and its somewhat better and have messaged my doc.
SO I have three questions.
Has anyone ever had this combo mess that I am experiencing?
I read on this site about coconut oil so will explore that but has anyone used Juvi gel?
Is anyone post menopause with fibroids and vaginal atrophy using estrogen cream and what is your experience.
Has anyone ever had hormonal fluctuations years after menopause.
I feel we need to be our own doctors in a way, research and learn because our docs are so busy and so focused on their specialty I am not sure they are the systemic problem solvers docs used to be. It seems all they want to do is test and give meds. Sometimes necessary sometimes not. Thank you for reading and please share any similar or relevant experience.
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I use bhrt: vaginal estradiol cream, estradiol/testosterone pellet and progesterone. I also have had a hysterectomy at 68.
Thank you fir that
My doc has suggested the estrogen cream but O don't want my fibroids to grow again and when I tried the cream that started to happen.
The odd thing is that all the issues I was having when I wrote this post have disappeared. I don't know why they started and don't know why they stopped but I am grateful. I read that an ovarian cyst can effect hormones so perhaps it was that and it's gone now as it was a small one but no idea why that developed as its unusual after menopause.
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1 ReactionHello! I'm sorry that you are having these problems, yet there's a part of me that's thankful that I'm not alone! I don't have the fibroids, (that I know of), but at 74 years old, I am again having the hot flashes and like you, I also have the PVC issues. I had a partial hysterectomy at age 27, went through the hormonal phase and was without hot flashes for years. Then, suddenly they reappeared, and with a vengeance! I don't like the experience, I don't like the headaches, and I definitely can do without the mood swings! I don't know what to do! I'm tired of being my own doctor and the medical "experts" just guess. I'm in the same boat with you and will share anything new that I learn. Blessings to you.
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2 Reactions@meh3
So sorry you are dealing with this as well. It's very frustrating. I strongly believe it's hormonal but why all of a sudden and now fir me suddenly all better with no apparent reason. I have not taken anything. I didvstop my magnesium that's the only change as it was bothering my stomach so I only take it periodically butvI am not thinking that's it. If it starts up again I will go-to an endocrinologist.
I hope ypu figure yours out and I will post if I discover something.
@barb72 My mother is 74 and just started bleeding heavy. Just went to the ER and they said it was fibroids. What? I had never heard of them. He said they are created by hormones which she shouldn't have at her age and now, I am lost at what to do. He wants her to go to a gyn. So I guess that's the next step but we too don't like to just take meds and do a lot of our own research. I would love to know if you have found out anything new since your first post.
@sweetnis3 Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect.
This must have been frightening for your mother and for you. Anytime a woman has bleeding after menopause it’s considered a problem and one should get to their doctor as soon as possible. It could be a hormonal problem for your mother but frankly if this were my mother I’d question what the ER doctor told her. I’d want a specialist to spend time with her and take complete history with your mother and additional tests.
Were you with her in the ER? What does your mother want to do? Will she follow up with her gynecologist? How did the ER get the bleeding to stop?
I got interested in your issues because of a medication I’m on that affects the hypothalamus and I know it can cause heat regulation issues. I’m also tested for adrenal health.
If you’re interested I posed most of your symptoms to a simple AI, this is the suggested issues:
When hot flashes reappear after a long, symptom-free period, it is rarely due to a shift in ovarian hormones. Instead, it usually happens because a new medical factor is destabilizing the hypothalamus, the brain’s temperature-regulating center.
The most common culprits include:
Thyroid Disorders: An overactive thyroid gland (hyperthyroidism) accelerates the body's metabolism. This frequently causes sudden "heat spikes," heavy sweating, anxiety, and a racing heart that perfectly mimic severe menopausal hot flashes.
Cardiovascular and Autonomic Changes: The simultaneous return of PVCs (heart palpitations) and hot flashes is highly significant. Sudden surges in your autonomic nervous system or changes in blood pressure can cause a rush of adrenaline. This adrenaline rush simultaneously triggers a rapid flush of intense heat and destabilizes the heart rhythm, causing premature ventricular contractions.
Medication Side Effects: New medications, changes in dosages, or interactions between over-the-counter supplements can alter blood vessel dilation or brain chemistry, triggering flushing and palpitations.
Blood Sugar Fluctuations: Newly developing metabolic shifts, such as insulin resistance or diabetes, can cause sudden nighttime sweats or daytime flushing episodes.
A good endocrinologist might be very helpful! Even to rule out what it isn’t. Because I like understanding about my health issues, I will often discuss what the “differential diagnoses” are being considered. I then learn why they may have dismissed adrenal issues, thyroid, hypothalamus, etc.
Sorry your mom is going through this. It's possible she has had fibroids all along. They don't go away entirely but the heavy bleeding is odd at this point in her life. My symptoms I mentioned in my initial post went away after several weeks without any intervention. It was very odd
Having different issues now not gyn related.
I don't have anything new related to yr moms situation. Definitely go to gyn. She needs testing done to look at her ovaries and uterine lining. I have no idea how large your mom's fibroids are I know mine had been very large before menopause then they shrunk but they're still pretty big and still there.
If your mom had not been going to a GYN all along it's quite possible that she's had these all along. The thing is that they were concerned for me was cancer of the uterine lining so they need to see the thickness of the uterine lining they can only do that with a test. My fibroids hid my ovary so the only way they could see both ovaries fully was to do an MRI so looking at the MRI they were able to see the endometrial stripe which is the lining and my two ovaries that's how they discovered the cyst. They don't typically do an MRI they typically do an ultrasound of the abdomen and then another test where they insert a ultrasound wand into the vagina I forgot the name. But they will do tests to see what is going on. Definitely go to a GYN.
So hard to get appts these days but beg for one explaining the situation as she should not wait months for an appointment. When seeking out a new doc here in NY it can take months for an appointment I have started making appointments with multiple docs while waiting just to see who can get me a sooner appointment while on the waiting list. You really need to be your own advocate these days. It's good to do your research but with AI it's not always accurate so you need to be careful. Please post back updates. Good luck
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I went through menopause without any symptoms. At the age of 75 I started to have severe sweating. I saw several doctors but no answers as to why. Tried holistic medicine. No answers. At 80 years of age the sweating stopped. I have now been diagnosed with MSA. Guess sweating was an early symptom. No idea why it stopped.