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Menopausal bleeding

aggle-rithm

Ardent Formulist
aggle-rithm
Joined
Jun 9, 2005
Messages
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Location
Austin, TX
My wife is menopausal and for the last few months has been trying hormone replacement therapy. Recently she started having vision problems, and when she read that this could be caused by the medication, she stopped taking it cold turkey.

A few days later she started having vaginal bleeding. She was alarmed at first, then decided it was a side effect of stopping the hormones and wasn't a big deal. But the bleeding hasn't stopped after almost four days.

Before anyone say, "She needs to go to a doctor!", you're preaching to the choir. I've been telling her that all along, and she finally promised she'd call today.

A couple of things that complicate the issue: She's had a urinary infection for the past few weeks, and she's had hormonal issues pretty much her whole adult life, which is why we were never able to have children. It's been years since she's had a normal menstrual cycle.

Has anyone experienced or known someone who has experienced something like this?
 
I've never been on HRT, but I've had weird menstrual issues lately. I skipped a month. Then the next month I basically had a very light period for three weeks straight. Then this month it was back to normal. I wasn't concerned enough to call the doctor, because all my female friends my age are going though the exact same sorts of symptoms.
 
Another complicating factor is that her doctor is on vacation and she is reluctant to see anyone she doesn't know.
 
Lisa Simpson said:
I've never been on HRT, but I've had weird menstrual issues lately. I skipped a month. Then the next month I basically had a very light period for three weeks straight. Then this month it was back to normal. I wasn't concerned enough to call the doctor, because all my female friends my age are going though the exact same sorts of symptoms.
Click to expand...

My wife was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome about fifteen years ago. She went off the pill because we were trying to start a family, and lo and behold found out that the pill had been unnecessary all those years because she wasn't ovulating.

When she went to another doctor, she was told the polycystic ovarian diagnosis was probably wrong, but that doctor was never able to determine what the issue was.
 
I'm 51 and in the beginning stages of menopause. All I can say is, things don't go the way you're expecting them to. Of course a doctor is a good idea, but unless the bleeding is very heavy or there is unusual pain, weakness, etc., I'm not sure I'd be in panic mode. After all, a normal menstrual cycle is (was) about 7 days, at least for me, so four days of bleeding is not that unusual.

ETA: other posts while I was posting - I have polycystic ovaries, too.
 
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Another issue: She had one of her fallopian tubes removed in 2001 due to an ectopic pregnancy. So I'm hoping the bleeding isn't coming from the ovaries.

She's a train wreck down there. :(
 
If she's bleeding heavily, she really does need to see a doctor. I could ignore three weeks of bleeding because it was so light.
 
She did go to the doctor's office to see a nurse about another issue on Monday. She told them about the bleeding, but I don't think the people she talked to knew the whole story.
 
If the bleeding was from any other orifice, you'd be rushing her to the emergency room, wouldn't you? So get her to a doctor now.
Although it's usual even for healthy women with no gyno problems to have odd episodes of heavy bleeding before and during the menopause, continual heavy bleeding for days needs medical attention.
 
Aggle-rithm,

First off, I am an anesthesiologist, not a gynecologist. So, not an expert (at all) in this arena.

Bleeding such as this could be due to uterine leiomyoma. Hormone therapy can suppress these in perimenopausal women. If the bleeding is heavy, she needs to see someone sooner rather than later. Heavy bleeding will result in fatigue, light-headedness, rapid heart rate, a palor to the skin, and it may exacerbate other underlying health conditions such as heart disease.

If streaking as opposed to heavy bleed in present, an evaluation by a gynecologist is in order. She should, at the very least, follow-up with the physician that initially prescribed the hormone therapy.

This is one of many possibilities. She should not blow this off. It is not normal to bleed like this at this point in a woman's life. Ever.

(Please read my disclaimer.)

~Dr. Imago
 
OK, the doctor said the bleeding was due to her stopping the hormone suddenly. Taking hormones causes a lining to grow in the uterine wall, which sloughs off as soon as the medication is stopped. She said it should taper off in the next few days.

However, the doctor was alarmed at the vision problems she described, which is what made her stop taking the hormones in the first place. She recommended that my wife see an ophthalmologist as soon as possible.

The opthalmologist's diagnosis: Migraine. My mother-in-law had horrible migraines when she started menopause, so it could be hereditary. Apparently it had nothing to do with the hormones.
 
I'm hoping my migraines stop with menopause (I've had them since puberty).

Glad she's okay.
 
Lisa, I haven't had a migraine since I stopped having periods in March of this year. Hopefully it will be the same for you. Mine were generally period or stress related.
 
Mine are too. 3 days just before my period starts and three days in the middle of my cycle. Unless I'm stressed, like now.
 
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