Period started again after 12 years and endometrial ablation.

@amynan5548

Hello and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Those of us in the Connect community aren’t medical professionals but we are able to draw on our experiences to help answer questions.

Having a period re-appear after 15 years would be a shocker. I’m sure that was an unexpected surprise for you! I wouldn’t even have anything on hand for that occasion anymore. I’d have to rummage through drawers in my daughter’s old room or old purses in hopes of finding a pad. LOL

When is the last time you’ve seen your gynecologist? Are you having cramps too?
Honestly, if that were me, I’d be making a phone call for an appointment. Just for peace of mind. Anytime we have a radical change in our bodily functions is worth a look-see.

Thanks for your input. It's actually a bit of a story. I just turned 50 two weeks ago and I'm dealing with several things. Other than a few small issues I've always been healthy. In January I started having shortness of breath and lightheadedness on exertion. At first only doing stairs or with activity. Within a few weeks it was with very little exertion. Around the same time I began to have uti symptoms. Have had several in my life. Frequency, burning, urgency, and gradually not emptying bladder and difficulty starting to go altogether. My primary care doctor referred me to a Nephrologist, Urologist, Pulmonologist, and a Cardiologist. All of this do to scheduling happening over the course of about 8 weeks. So far 4 specialist in and lots of tests done and very little info collected. It doesn't appear to be lung related, and we are still pending a few test results for cardiology. Waiting to have an Echo Doppler this week and possibly a heart catheterization afterwards. Nothing definitive at all. Only other symptom has been elevated heart rate. Kidney doctor doesn't think it's my kidneys, not sure why there is protein in my urine. Urologist initially said possible Interstitial Cystitis, now seems to be leaning towards overactive bladder. Still have ultrasound and scope with possible biopsy in process. All of this combined has me basically home bound. I used to take care of an elderly man with poor health 3 days a week but haven't been able to since third week in March. At the moment I'm very frustrated but understand the doctors are trying. Just met with the Cardiologist last week, very nice guy but obviously right out of school. He cut my blood pressure meds from 20 to 10 milligrams after hearing that I changed my ways and lost 70lbs since Christmas. Having me wear a Holter Monitor over the weekend and check my blood pressure 3 times a day for two weeks. FYI, am keeping track of blood pressure and heart rate over past year to compare. BP has been controlled with meds and consistently has been normal through out the year. Only difference I can see is my hear rate has traditionally run about 75-80. Since this fiasco has begun it tends to stay between 110-125. Keeping all of that confusion in mind on Friday late afternoon my period started up again. Adding yet another chapter to this already too complicated saga. Aside from a mid grade headache that I woke up with Friday morning and is still lingering no other new symptoms. Considered going to the ER, both friend and mother thought I should to rule out possible bleeding from a fibroid or even bladder cancer, all a guessing game at this point. I considered it but felt that as long as it wasn't excessive bleeding, no temperature and no new or increasing pain I was probably ok. Thus far it has been a normal period with no additional side effects. Too late to make a long story short, but that's where I am. Any ideas or suggestions you may have are welcome. I'm kind of at a loss right now. Thanks for reading this!

@amynan5548 My gosh, girl, you buried the lead with this story. Getting your period on top of all the other harrowing chapters in your book is reading like a medical thriller.
I’m so sorry you’re having these unexplained symptoms and surely hope it all gets sorted out soon!

First thing that stuck out is you’ve lost 70 pounds since Christmas. Has this been intentional? That’s drastic. It’s wonderful that you’ve “changed your ways” taking control of your health. But that is a lot to lose in very short order. Are you drinking plenty of water and keeping up with electrolytes? Have your potassium and magnesium been checked with your blood tests? Losing that much weight in itself will alter your body chemistry. Just curious, have you been diagnosed with diabetes? Are your other blood test results normal except for protein in the urine?

It’s good that you didn’t wait to get some medical attention. Sounds like you have a great medical team now trying to get to the bottom of things. With your weight loss, your cardiologist was good to catch that you might be on too high of a dose of HBP medication. Wearing the Holter monitor will help him discern what’s going on with the rapid heartbeat and check for tachycardia. Which could explain some of the shortness of breath and rapid heartbeat.

Having the ultrasound and scope will be important for you for the kidney/bladder area because that will also encompass your reproductive area as well. I’m sure this is all weighing heavily on your mind, my dear. Not to mention frustrating as heck!

I would still mention getting your unexpected period to your doctor. It warrants a closer look and that area can then be added to your ultrasound order. Is that appointment coming up soon?

Thanks for your input. Yes the weight loss was intentional. I quit drinking alcohol and eating bad all at once. Seeing how high my weight had gotten was a wake up call. The fact that it has come off so fast is a bonus for me. Unfortunately I'm still technically overweight and need to lose at least 25 more pounds. I'm 5'10 so I look alright but my BMI is still too high. And yes all my blood work is normal, and I already drink water all day every day. No one is sure why there's protein in my urine. The urologist is still trying to figure out the bladder stuff which is currently keeping me tied to the bathroom most of the time. 15 years ago when I had the endometrial ablation my doctor said it would most likely be permanent, so having it come back especially now is awful. But I can't focus on that at the moment. I'm sure they will send me to a Gynecologist to check it out. Right now I've been watching my blood pressure every day and keeping track for the Cardiologist. I'm having a friend come over to do a trial run because my readings are a little scary. At rest it's been staying around 120/85, and even with some exertion it goes back to that. What's concerning me is that walking in the kitchen and back or letting the dogs out the back door and sitting back down it's been extremely high. All I did this morning was go into the front room to the door and back then sit down. After a couple of minutes it was 170/115. It has continued to do that or something close to it whenever I move around. Seems drastic to me so I'm getting a second opinion by checking a friend after she repeats everything I've done. Wish me luck!

Wow, a hearty congratulations on losing the weight and making the drastic changes to your overall diet to make that happen! It’s a shame that all these other health issues are now creeping into the picture and stealing the thunder from this impressive achievement!

Bladder issues are such a nuisance. They really control your life with a very short leash from the bathroom. I had experience with that many years ago. Took a year on a low dose antibiotic to finally clear it away. Have you run a course of antibiotics such as Bactrim? Did the symptoms go away and return?

It will be interesting to see the results when your friend tries out the BP cuff.
Blood pressure does rise during exercise. Generally it’s the Systolic pressure (the upper number) which increases the most. That number measures the blood pressure when the heart beats.
The Diastolic pressure is the measure between heartbeats and that normally doesn’t change too significantly when exercising.

You’re doing a great job by keeping a log of the numbers, the time of day and what activity you’re doing when they fluctuate. All of this information will be valuable for your cardiologist in putting the pieces of this puzzle together.

Do you know if your previous BP medication also contained a diuretic? Seeing that some of these changes have come on with the drop in dosage of BP meds, if you’re retaining any water, not having that diuretic in the prescription can increase the BP too. Thinking out loud...

I’m sure all of this feels overwhelming and adding to your stress level. But don’t let this confine you to a chair for fear of a high reading. Walking and moving around to keep your blood flowing is important too.

I do wish you all the best for some answers soon! When is your ultrasound?

Hey there thanks for the response. So far they've tried 3 antibiotics with no change. Given up on that at least for the moment. Dr is concerned about possible fibroids or bladder cancer, hoping ultrasound next Monday will she'd some light. Blood pressure medication I'm on is Lisinopril, so far after cutting back from 20 to 10 mg haven't seen any change in the numbers. My friend came over to help me test my machine and it was perfect for her so I'm sure it's accurate. Thus far my BP is averaging about 137/95. I still don't see how the Cardiologist thinks that is a sign of low BP but he's the doctor. Currently I can't exercise because if I try I can't breath. Any physical activity starts the shortness of breath and weakness. Still another week until cardiac echo so we'll see what it shows. I appreciate your input, always willing to have another opinion. Thanks again.

@amynan5548 I'd like to add my welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect.

It sounds like there are a few things going on and it's important that you receive support. It looks like you have received responses from members and mentors.

I don't see much discussion on this topic in the past. Below I have linked a loosely related discussion that you may find of interest to scroll through. Members like @khauff @patsydanley @airey2 were part of that conversation and my be interested in commenting here.
- endometrial ablation or Hysterectomy https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/endometrial-ablation-or-hysterectomy/

Will you give us an update after your cardiac echo?

Thank you for the welcome. I appreciate the link, anything I can research is helpful. I will provide an update after the echo is done. Thanks again.