Alarming blood results. Worried sick!

[Cross-fit]

Hi

I’ve just turned 47 and am on my sixth year of Merina Coil. I love it and haven’t had a period for 6 years now! Over the last few months I’ve felt quite anxious for no reason, had trouble sleeping and getting hot flashes on and off.

None of my symptoms have been severe, but the sleeping was distressing. I emailed my gp to request a blood test to see if my oestrogen was beginning to drop.

The results came back with a FSH reading of 93!! He said usual menopausal indication is around 30-40. My reading was sky high.. that of someone who has completed menopause. He said cancer can elevate FSH along with thyroid or liver issues. He’s running more tests.

This has hit me like a wall and I’m so frightened I may have womb or ovarian cancer. It’s the weekend so I can’t book any private ultrasound or do anything. Going out of my mind! Any tips, comments, advice or stories much appreciated.

Thank you x

[wobblybee Administrator Pioneer]

🙂 Try not to read too much into his comments, personally I think that was callous prior to considering other testing, unless he was taking something else into consideration. Did he raise the possibility that you could even be in premature menopause, or perimenopause.

FSH

FSH is made by the pituitary gland. Levels often go up and down during the menopause transition. FSH levels can be very high one day and very low the next day. When FSH levels are high, the ovaries make more estrogen. When FSH levels drop, estrogen levels drop. These changes in FSH and estrogen can happen months to years before menopause.

Keep in mind that you may end up with FSH levels that are well in the post-menopausal range, but still be getting a period. This is one of the things that differentiates premature menopause or premature ovarian failure from “regular” menopause (i.e. menopause that occurs to older women and is generally recognized after going a full year without a period).

Yet again, this hammers home the unfortunate fact that you may indeed be in premature menopause even if you’re having periods. Once your FSH levels have reached a certain height for a period of time, it’s highly unlikely that they’ll drop back to pre-menopausal levels. In my case, even after my FSH was tested at over 150, I had apparently normal periods for eight months.

Then when I was retested — hoping that somehow my body had snapped back to normal, I learned that my FSH level had dropped, but only to 126. Since my FSH levels had been well above 35 for over a year, I finally accepted that my ovaries had failed.

Copied from earlymenopause.com

[Cross-fit in reply to wobblybee]

Thank you for your reply and your reassurance. I appreciate you taking the time. Thank you

[LittleMissie]

Try not to worry, easier said than done I know. But wait until you have all the facts before reading anything. The mirena coil can also be used to help going through menopause unless you begin HRT.

[Cross-fit in reply to LittleMissie]

Thank you. Will hopefully get some more answers next week. Will keep away from google in the meantime!

[Tracytrace]

Hi can I ask what’s happened since , hope everything is ok

[Cross-fit in reply to Tracytrace]

Hi Tracy. Thank you for asking. All my blood tests came back clear. Phew. So relieved. I also saw a private menopause doctor who explained to me how FSH levels can be very high then low throughout the month. She said 93 was nothing alarming and all part of the peri menopausal journey. If my symptoms persist I’m going to try an oestrogen patch.

It was just clumsy wording by the GP when he mentioned cancer.

[Tracytrace]

HiOh that’s good , I was going to say about levels going up and down as I have read that , not good of the doc though really x