Adenoymiosis and Hypothyroid

[magsyh]

Hi just wondered if any of you have been suffering with period problems and then adenoymiosis around menopause? I have just found out that there is most likely a link? I have had low thyroid most of my life and never had medication as docs despite all my symptoms say Im "normal" Im almost 59 and have never truly gone through menopause. The adenoymiosis was diagnosed privately so my nhs doc has even dissmissed that and instead scared the hell out of me by telling me I must have womb cancer and I would be treated as such untill they proved otherwise. I had a few biopsies which came back clear so since then Ive been ignored. So is Adenoymiosis just another symptom of hypothyroidism? Another question I wonder, Ive never had a hot flush. I have a friend who was found to be hypothyroid after menopause she never had a hot flush either. Is it because we have a lower body core temperature? Any thoughts ladies? Xx

[magsyh]

Head and neck cancer! Where did that come from?

[marram in reply to magsyh]

Those keywords are crazy sometimes, aren't they!

[marram]

I am no expert, far from it, when it comes to menopause, but my mother had no symptoms of menopause. Absolutely nothing. She said that her last period was very scanty and then....nothing more.

I know she had autoimmune problems - pernicious anaemia, vitiligo - but I wondered if she had some kind of undiagnosed thyroid issue, because she had 5 miscarriages and two live births, one of them being me of course! She was never overweight but there was something amiss.

Another thought is this - what if the hormone levels were always low anyway? Then, when the menopause came, the body does not react, because it is quite used to having low hormone levels?

[Jenny1410]

Periods at 59 my doctor told me I'm nearly there 52 it was that not knowing feeling so I opted to have the monthly injection to stop it all don't think I'm very lucky because that didn't work either

[magsyh in reply to Jenny1410]

Hi Jenny, monthly injection? I hope it wasnt Lupron? They tried that on me too. Only 2 months as my blood pressure went sky high and I had the most terrible headaches. My doc told me I was almost there at 48. Every year they were surprised I wasnt nearer to menopause. Its almost 2 years since I had my last very heavy period but Im still bleeding very lightly every month or so. The nhs doing nothing they are not interested since my biopsies and smear tests came back clear. I was diagnosed privately with Adenoymiosis but what no body is telling me is am I menopausal? Is the bleeding due to hormones or the Adenoymiosis? I still feel horrible and get a headache before the bleeding starts no matter how light the bleeding is? Another big question i am trying to get an answer to is, is all this due to untreated hypothyroid? Ive never had a hot flush and have no other symptoms of menopause. Apart from very grey hair I dont look anything like my age?

[Jenny1410 in reply to magsyh]

My cancer is hormone so I was willing to try anything for it to stop coming back and yes I have had a bad couple of weeks on the injection even had to stop driving as I have headaches and blurred vision not sure if it gets any better after 2 or 3 months or not if not guess I'll have to stop and suffer it's so annoying when Drs don't know the answers and are quiet happy to leave people on there own

[humanbean]

The adenoymiosis was diagnosed privately so my nhs doc has even dissmissed that and instead scared the hell out of me by telling me I must have womb cancer and I would be treated as such untill they proved otherwise. I had a few biopsies which came back clear so since then Ive been ignored.

Your doctor sounds like a real charmer. Any chance you could find a different (better) one somewhere?

Adenomyosis is basically a form of endometriosis.

Endometriosis is a condition in which cells which line the uterus are found in places they were never meant to be, and they bleed in response to hormonal signals just like the uterus does when women have a period. When these cells bleed they cause pain, cysts, scarring because the blood has nowhere to go.

In the case of adenomyosis these cells which are in the wrong place are found specifically within the muscular walls of the uterus.

I was diagnosed with endometriosis when I was 30. I was diagnosed with adenomyosis in my mid 30s following a laparoscopy. The surgeon took pictures of the external surface of my uterus and showed them to me. (I asked to see them.) The adenomyosis looked like big, fat varicose veins which were arising from the wall of my uterus, and were presumably forcing apart the muscle fibres forming my uterus. This particular surgery was done privately. I'm assuming, based on the information I was given, that adenomyosis stops bleeding when menopause is complete.

A year or so after the diagnosis of adenomyosis I had a hysterectomy done by the NHS, and I was again told I had adenomyosis. I told the surgeon that I had already been told this, and he got really angry and said that was impossible. Adenomyosis could, apparently, only be diagnosed when the uterus had been removed from the body. Bear in mind these events took place in the 1990s. I'm not aware that diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis and/or adenomyosis has moved on to any great extent.

I hope what I've written helps you to make sense of what has happened to you.

I am hypothyroid. I think endometriosis (and adenomyosis) are quite common in women with untreated or under-treated hypothyroidism. I was in my 50s before I got treated for hypothyroidism, despite having had symptoms all my life.

I don't believe hypothyroidism treatment would cure adenomyosis and/or endometriosis that had already formed, although I do believe that good thyroid hormone levels may prevent them from occurring in the first place if treatment is started early enough, or may reduce the severity of the conditions when they do arise.

One thing I have realised many times over is that doctors are largely indifferent to female pain. If you are having problems, then you should do what you can to fix them yourself if that is at all possible. Personally, I just wish DIY surgery was a realistic option!

[magsyh in reply to humanbean]

I have seen many nhs and private docs and they all have the same attitude. Ive come away from hospital so angry and in tears. How can these docs be so ignorant and arrogant at the same time? I have been trying to do what I can to take control of my health as I feel now nobody else will. I have been hypothyroid for years and they keep dismissing that too. Thanks to everyone here I have been putting my own personal puzzle together. My vit d levels were much too low as was my ferritin, b12 and folate. I also had my gallbladder removed in my 30's so absorbtion of vitamins etc has been an ongoing problem. I feel more in control now and hope that soon I can try out some NDT and fingers crossed it will be the next positive stage of my journey xx

[humanbean in reply to magsyh]

I agree about the attitude being the same whether doctors are private or NHS. But then, in many cases, they are the same doctors.

I've been in floods of tears on many occasions after contact with the medical profession, so you have my sympathies!