Hormonal imbalance years after menopause??

Posted by barb72 @barb72, Sep 8, 2025

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 am so sorry jennasjandy. My friend's sister had MSA so I am familiar with it. I hope there are new treatments out there for you. The body is so complicated docs often don't have time to think outside the box and miss things. That is why it's important to educate yourself so you know what questions to ask.

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Profile picture for sweetnis3 @sweetnis3

@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.

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@sweetnis3 Please make an appointment with a gyn. My cousin is 84 and has all her female parts. She just started noticing blood and when to her gyn. I don't want to scare you but she has since had a complete hysterectomy and now has to have radiation. She was very lucky to get this in time.

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Yes we do need to be very strong advocates for ourselves. I'm sorry to hear you suffer with all these symptoms. I had a gyno for 30+ years that never mentioned I have 3 significant endometrial cysts.. imagine my shock and panic when I was told on an MRI for pelvic and back pain that I had a cyst that almost completely displaced my uterus..I had tried vaginal estrogen for the very first time in 2023 for what I too thought was a UTI (kept coming back so I asked for the estrogen) and after TWO doses it put me into a pain spiral that I am still not fully past. I would not use it again for any reason . I also started getting hot flashes again at 64 and chills in between. Turns out I am dealing with Long Covid and it wreaked havoc on my body. I did not have a "serious" bout (I had taken 2 shots before and one after) but I have not been the same since. I'm just now starting to find medical support that is helpful. I have seen 10 doctors in 3 years, all of whom said to me "all tests are normal" and one even suggested I go to pain management because i cried in her office when she tried to dismiss me for the 3rd time in a year. The takeaway for me was not giving up and continuing to work with finding a doctor who will take more than a basic few minutes and order tests that are not a repeat of ones I have had a half dozen times. I looked for women's health specialist and that's where I found someone who is on this.. I have spoken to people on the Long Covid boards who have said they found concierge medicine practices who took the time and found the right referrals to help them. It's an investment but it appears that might be the way to get the time and attention your situation requires from the medical professionals you see.

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Profile picture for jgk177 @jgk177

Yes we do need to be very strong advocates for ourselves. I'm sorry to hear you suffer with all these symptoms. I had a gyno for 30+ years that never mentioned I have 3 significant endometrial cysts.. imagine my shock and panic when I was told on an MRI for pelvic and back pain that I had a cyst that almost completely displaced my uterus..I had tried vaginal estrogen for the very first time in 2023 for what I too thought was a UTI (kept coming back so I asked for the estrogen) and after TWO doses it put me into a pain spiral that I am still not fully past. I would not use it again for any reason . I also started getting hot flashes again at 64 and chills in between. Turns out I am dealing with Long Covid and it wreaked havoc on my body. I did not have a "serious" bout (I had taken 2 shots before and one after) but I have not been the same since. I'm just now starting to find medical support that is helpful. I have seen 10 doctors in 3 years, all of whom said to me "all tests are normal" and one even suggested I go to pain management because i cried in her office when she tried to dismiss me for the 3rd time in a year. The takeaway for me was not giving up and continuing to work with finding a doctor who will take more than a basic few minutes and order tests that are not a repeat of ones I have had a half dozen times. I looked for women's health specialist and that's where I found someone who is on this.. I have spoken to people on the Long Covid boards who have said they found concierge medicine practices who took the time and found the right referrals to help them. It's an investment but it appears that might be the way to get the time and attention your situation requires from the medical professionals you see.

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@jgk177 hi, ive had non stop medical issues since 2020 and no doc, and ive seen just about every ologist there is and have had bone marrow biopsy to prove my hunch that 2 oncologist misdiagnosed me with blood cancer, no blood cancer and their treatment wrecked me for a long time. Then diagnosed with Hashimoto's hypothyroidism, given levothyroxine, TSH, T3, T4 all look normal, ok Wendy you're good. NO I was not and he wouldn't listen when I'd suggest, perhaps their acceptable scale isn't what my body likes? Oh the look I'd get, im just a crazy woman and my pain is all in my head or maybe youre depressed or perhaps your ADHD is the cause?? Really?? So I kept digging and digging, recently I had my first visit with a psychiatrist (my GP should NEVER have been prescribing me Adderall, then he felt I was bipolar so here take this vraylar etc. I am ADHD-C and can be off the charts if not on meds now. Late diagnosed when I was 58, explained so much of my entire life. She feels my headaches easily could be from my many traumas from childhood to 2 abusive marriages, divorces and raising my 3 kids alone, very alone since my folks moved to the UK when my first was only 1 yrs old and I was 20, it was hard but I stayed strong. She's exploring PTSD which id suggested to my GP on numerous occasions and he blew it off, so I did too.
I am getting a thorough nuero eval with MRI of my head & neck (ive had disc herniations for hears) had an EEG which triggered a lovely migraine with the flashing bright lights for what seemed like 10 mins. Ive been stuck with needles for EMGs, if you've had them the 3rd zaps was yelling oh F@#$ very loudly the entire office could hear, I was embarrassed but the doc rolled with it and even said, hear that and it was very noisy, he said those are your nerves say FU Wendy. We laughed, he's so caring and felt terrible he put my entire body into spasms and couldn't leave till they subsided.
Was in Florida for what should have been a fun and sun filled 2 weeks, instead had to stay inside with sunglasses on because my head hurt so bad, 6 day headache got worse and worse so ER and worried its GCA (giant cell Arteritis) which my Mom had and she has PMR. Off to the vascular surgeon for 2 TABs, Temporal Arterial biopsies to rule out GCA, have 3 inch long scar on the left and about 2 inch on the right. He took a lot of samples, ended up negative but in the meantime was put on 80mg prednisone by my GP for fear of losing sight in my left eye. Im 5'2 and weigh about 130/135 and found out a 200+ lb individual wouldn't even be put on that hight dose and why not combine with methotrexate and wonderful newer drug (not that new) that helps to lower the dosage of the steroid but makes it act like much higher so its safer. Well, it put me into a psychotic episode that lasted weeks, once neg for GCA they started titrating me down to get off ASAP. I ended up quiting cold turkey by 40mg because the Psychosis got so bad. Then ended up in the ER 3/4 days later with my head about to explode. ER doc agreed it was from going off so abruptly. He listened, did not send me for unnecessary scans or pokes, prods, cutting me open etc. Got a migraine cocktail via IV and pain level came down to my usual daily level of 2.

So, my journey continues and ive often wondered if my issues are exasperated by long covid and how is that even proven? I got covid very badly before they were testing for it, I was neg for the flu. I worked in a hospital in 2020 and had put in my resignation to take another job end of Feb. I got severely sick and missed several days with a high fever, my boss made me feel so bad for being out, I had to go in, with a freaking fever and they were ok with that - CRAZY! I knew enough to hide out as much as possible in my office and wore a mask when I had to walk in the halls etc. I was creating and running a Senior Program they wanted implemented. The APN I worked with said there's no doubt in her mind I had covid, the flu test was neg. Im very susceptible to pneumonia when run down, thank god my immune system was strong enough when I got it. I got 2 covid shots and no boosters and won't ever get covid related vaccines because I think they're the culprit of many of my issues.

I honestly don't know if its worth pursuing a possible long covid diagnosis or not?? I'm exhausted from all the ologists tests and starting PT for my back so insurance will approve cortisone shots even though my L5 has been GONE for about 50 years now so ive done well with exercises and keeping weight down etc to keep it at bay. Insurance companies suck with their processeses and constant denials, it's exhausting.

End of rant, thanks for listening if you did happen to read this 😉

Love this forum, its been a lifesaver for me ever since my blood cancer misdiagnoses and then flipped to Autoimmune group once Hashimotos came into play.

Be well and stay strong 💪 🤘 🙏

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