Ovarian Cyst after menopause - Gynae Cancer Support

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Ovarian Cyst after menopause

Mrsdoozer profile image
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Hi Everyone Hope you are all keeping safe in this storm.

I have not had a period in over 2 years and have been struggling with depression anxiety all the usual thing us ladies of a certain age suffer. My GP suggested I tried HRT. I have had various opinions on this from G.P.s and my Consultant Rheumatologist as I am immunosuppressed due to auto immune disease.

Long story short I tried various HRT all gave me bleeding ,bloating and very uncomfortable boobs and made me feel even worse. Eventually I settled on the patches but started to bleed again and found my self with a prolapse . I saw my GP who examined me and said that I should not be bleeding so was sent for internal scan. The scan has showed a cyst on one of my ovaries (i had a ectopic pregnancy 25 years ago and lost a tube)

I had the blood test to see if the cyst is anything to worry about and I am waiting for the result. Has anybody else experienced this.? As I understand it I should not be having cysts after menopause and I am more at risk of it being something nasty . Could this have been brought on by the HRT ? I had one consultant tell me i should not go on HRT and others telling me it would be ok , confused does not come close.!! Does being immunosuppressed make me more vunerable to these sort of problems ? I am very much in the mind that its in the lap of the gods and I am greatful that if it is something awful that hopefully its been caught early . Hopefully all will be ok and I am worrying unnecessarily.

Stay safe everyone!

Angela xxx

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Mrsdoozer
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AskEveTeam profile image
AskEveTeam

Hi there Angela, Thank you for your message.

Having scans/tests and waiting for those results can be so stressful, can't it? Really sorry to hear you're having to go through this worry.

It's good to read that you're GP has been thorough and referred you for a test. Being immunosuppressed doesn't make someone more prone to ovarian cysts. And whilst ovarian cysts are more common in those who are pre-menopausal, having an ovarian cysts after the menopause still doesn't automatically mean that it's ovarian cancer, but of course investigations need to be done to rule out anything serious.

We're available on nurse@eveappeal.org.uk if you want to chat about anything when you get your results.

Best Wishes,

The Ask Eve Team

CarpeDiem11 profile image
CarpeDiem11

Hi Angela. My story is very similar to yours. I had a high CA125 result- the one they take to look for possible Ovarian cancer. Over 4 months, it came down to be in range, but my cysts increased in number from 1 to 3. However, the size of them is what they look at (over 5cm is what interests them) and the vascularity. I was told by the two different Consultants that cysts post-menopause are actually extremely common, and that many women probably don't know they have them because they are not causing them any problems. I was also told that removal of part of an ovary could have "seeded" the cysts, so ask if this is also possible with removal of the fallopian tube.

I am also immune suppressed for an auto-immune disease (putting me into the CEV group for the whole of the pandemic) and this does not seem be the issue. The normal pathway for observing you should be 3 or 4 scans over a 12 month period and then depending on the outcome, then further monitoring may occur on a 12 monthly basis (via GP).

I really had to chase for anyone to get back to me (6 months for contact after a letter saying they would contact me soon), so I hope you have better success at contact than me. When someone did speak to me though, they were extremely helpful. I had really good feedback from the sonographer on each occasion, which put my mind at rest that there was anything sinister going on and I also requested a copy of the scan on each occasion to read at my leisure.

I don't take HRT, so can't comment on that, but I do hope I have managed to put your mind at rest. Even though my CA125 was very high initially, the Consultant has said that the chances I have Ovarian Cancer are negligible. (let's hope that this post hasn't jinxed it all lol ;) Wishing you all the very best going forward.

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