hi all, ok, i went back to dr. today, because the ache in my RIGHT leg was bad, and I felt as though my calf was kind of cramping, aching too......well, then, he is sending me for some more blood t ests on Monday, but WON'T do any hormone level checking because to him, as long as I'm still getting my period, why bother? He said to me, that obviously from my age, i'm in peri, so my hormones will prob. be out of whack anyway...oh, great. But, he wants me to do a PAP smear on Wed, which I am, "just in case" as he puts it, BECAAUSE my mother died in 1988 of ovarian cancer, but it STARTED OUT ON HER CERVIX...! Now, I looked up symptoms of cervical cancer, and they basically tell you that there really arent' any symptoms UNTIL the late stanges....but they list a number of symptoms anyway, for ADVANCED cervical cancer....I have only one...which is LEG PAIN! The only other one I MIGHT have is "back pain" but again, they're not speciific, because sure, I have back pain, who doesn't? But it's not bad. Then I became panicky because I thought of that weird deep ache I get sometimes on my left side, and how my abdomen can kind of swell when that happens, and feel different sort of "pains" in the abdomen area as well...but then, a few of you ladies responded to that and said you have that too, and it's prob. IBS.....

So, now, I wonder what they mean by 'LEG PAIN" on the list of symptoms. I mean, ok, as of last night, my RIGHT leg was aching so damn bad, i had to take tylenol PM just to get it to die down some and I could sleep.! Now, today, again, I had to do the same, the ache in the right thigh was bad, and then the cramping of the calf muscle. Dear God, I hope that's not what they mean when they say "leg pain".....! I wish I could remember more about my mothers situation, but we were living here in florida, and she wa still up in NY.....I just remember her going for a pap smear and having it come back abnormal...and having to go for another one, and THAT'S WHEN THEY DIAGNOSED HER WITH CERICAL CANCER. She ended up dying about 2 yrs. later, they put down it was ovarian cancer, but really, it started out in the cervic. I can't remember at all, if she had LEG PAIN.

But, keep in mind one thing here, if any of you here remember, I had posted back in very early January, around the 2nd or 3d...that one night I had gotten up to get water, and sudenly felt this weird ache on teh top part of my right foot, and saw sort of like a bubble area on the top of the foot, and after that, my leg went into hot/cold for a few days, and then my foot (RIGHT) started going nuts, burning, stinging, hot/cold.....THEN it finally stopped down there and went up the leg, and THAT'S WHEN I had all those vericose veins pop out (do any of you remember this?) and I kept posting and posting because I was so freaked out about that, because that was totally weird. They ached too! THEN, I also, GOT MY PERIOD ABOUT 12 DAYS EARLY, all in that one month, JANUARY. So, I wonder if ALL OF THIS, EVEN THE BUBBLE ON THE FOOT, THE HOT/COLD, PINS AND NEEDLES, VERICOSE VEINS...were all hormonal? Now, he is trying to be very vague till the blood tests come back, ok, but I'm scared out of my mind,....because when i saw on that site just now, that ONE of the symptoms of ADVANCED CERICVAL CANCER is LEG PAIN.....I NEARLY DROPPED TO THE FLOOR! I felt the life drain right out of me. Now, that's under the advanced stage, they also listed weight loss, and I've lost weight this last month, about maybe 5-8lbs...but that's been because I was so damn scared about my veins, and the leg throbbing, plus I didn't feel to good at all.....so I really didn't eat much.


Like I said, my only hope here is to thnk that this LEG PAIN I am now dealing with came from that situation that night, when I got up for water, adn felt that weird pressure on the top of my foot, and since then, for the entire month of JANUARY, I have been in hell.....with insane foot, leg, and other symptoms! I'm hoping that THAT'S waht THIS leg pain is from, not from cervical cancer.
The dr. doesn't seem to know yet, what that little swelling was on my foot, he says "it could have been anything", gee, whiz.
but, then when I said ever since then, which was Jan. 2nd...my life has been horrible, in that, I have experienced insane symptoms of foot, leg, aching and pain....pins and needles, hot/cold.....and then MY PERIOD WAY TO EARLY....I just am trying to sit here and realize that this leg pain ISN'T from cervical cancer.......I am trying to figure it's from whateve that was that made that swelling that night, and then all the symptoms taht followed, AND NOT FROM CERVICAL CANCER....

If anyone here has any info . on this....PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell me.......I am going for a PAP smear on wed, but I'm a nervous wreck! He also gave me Lexapro to calm me down......how is that stuff?

My Darling: I went through a few months where I had terrible leg pain like what you're describing. It moved around -- sometimes thigh, sometimes calf, and at the same time I was having crazy bleeding. Like you, I googled up all those symptoms and had myself dying of ovarian cancer. I went to the doctor, full of trepidation, and learned, after numerous tests (pap, ultrasound, d&c), that there was nothing wrong and all must be attributable to peri hormonal fluctuation. All of those things -- the weird cycles, the leg pain, and the hot flashes -- started up right around the same time, sort of like what you were describing, all within a couple months of one another. I also had the ibs-type symptoms, but not the varicose veins.

Now, I know the anxiety must be through the roof because of what happened to your poor mother -- that is truly horrible. But you have done the right thing and it's all you can do for the moment; you have seen the doctor, and you're getting all the necessary tests to put your mind at ease. In the meantime, I hope that you realize that peri could be causing your symptoms, and not any dread disease, and do yourself a favor by staying away from the medical sites on the internet. It's hard to stop yourself, I know; been there, done that. The symptoms we get at this stage of life are associated with so many different conditions that you might as well be trying to diagnose yourself by reading tea leaves. I know you're concerned about weight loss, too, but they always say something to the effect of "unexplained" weight loss being suspicious, and yours is not "unexplained" because you said that you have been upset and not eating well.

I hope everything turns out well for you, and that you get the answers that you need soon.

Mydarling, My advice to you would be to skip the Lexapro unless you have long-running anxiety (i.e., for many years) which cannot be improved by other means. Lexapro is an SSRI anti-depressant and many people find that they ultimately create more problems than they solve. The most notable nasty side effect is loss of sexual desire and even loss of ability to have an orgams, which can last a year or more after you stop taking the drug ! Also, stopping SSRI ADs is tricky, you shouldn't stop abruptly, you should taper, and even then you are likely to esperience some nasty side effets like sever fogginess, dizziness, and what I call "brain snaps".

Since you have your pap smear coming up very soon, try to get yourself to relax. There are many causes of leg pain that have nothing to do with cervial cancer, you'll be best off just waiting until you get your pap smear results. I hope the results are normal and you can be free of this worry !

thank you ladies, thank you so much! you really did put my mind at ease!!!!!! OK, I'll stay away from teh Lexapro, doesn't sound to good! thank you again ladies!

Hi Mydarling,

I also get severe leg pain off and on, but usually only for one night. But it aches so bad sometimes and it freaks me out. I usually take some Advil or 8 hour tylenol and that helps then I can sleep. When I wake up in the morning the pain is gone, (but will usually have any number of other wierd symptoms). It never ends, one thing or another. Just try and distract yourself if you can until you get your pap and your mind is put at ease. Last night and today I was convinced that I have stomach cancer because of pain in my left side, and slight constipation, but pain finally went away early this evening. My Aunt died at age 50 of ovarian cancer and my grandmother at age 46 of breast cancer and her sister at age 40 something, so I know that fear of getting it too because of family history. Thank God my mother so far has been good and she just turned 60 in August. But that fear is always just below the surface of my mind and when I don't feel good (which is all the time haha) it takes over. It really is no fun at all. We all just have to keep each other in prayer and keep supporting each other. It's so nice to have others out there who know what you're going through and who really care. I will keep you in my prayers.
God Bless.

Ladies - there are hormone receptors in every part of your body...including your muscles. (for muscles it's estrogen) - when there is a dip or spike, it can result in muscle spasms, aches or just a general feeling of tightness. As for the gut 'issue'...here's some other facts about menopause -

Gastrointestinal Distress and Nausea -- gas, indigestion, heartburn and a green feeling that comes and goes -- and often seems to have no relation to what you've eaten.

Bloatedness -- a puffy bloated feeling that seems to come out of nowhere; usually you'll notice bouts of this -- you'll be fine for a while, then bloated, then okay again. Unlike PMS bloating, this bloating often doesn't diminish after a period.

Over the last few years, it has become quite apparent that a very common symptom of menopause is bloating in the intestinal tract due to the production of gas. While gas and bloating are very common symptoms during menopause, it is unclear if this is related to the actual hormonal adjustments of menopause but some doctor’s have suggested that decreasing hormone production may play a role in this process.

Nearly two-thirds (69 percent) of women recently surveyed reported that they experience stomach gas during menopause, ranking gas higher than more commonly known symptoms, such as hot flashes (66 percent), sleep disturbance (65 percent), mood swings (64 percent) and night sweats (55 percent).

In addition, approximately one-half of menopausal women suffer from bothersome stomach gas at least several times a week and nearly one-fourth (24 percent) stated their gas has become worse during menopause.

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Now...stop worrying MyDarling, because in all probability your pap will come back fine...and what peace of mind you'll have...

Sorry...it took a while to 'relocate' this, but this is what I was talking about when I referred to the estrogen receptors...

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Many women experience an increase in muscle aches and pains during menopause. This is because many of the muscles in the body contain estrogen receptors. This is also responsible for weakening and loss of muscle tone, leg and foot cramps, an increase in tendonitis and also back, neck and shoulder pain as a result of the weakening of the back muscles.
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Hope this eases your minds somewhat...

Don'tcha just love hormones? What else can they do to us...

MyDarling,

I am experiencing very bad thigh pain right now and my period is just around the corner. Last November it was my right thigh and now it is my left thigh. It is soooo painful that I can barely put on pants ... the pain is primarily on the inner and bad of the thigh and it started yesterday. Last November when I had the right thigh pain it took almost a week to get rid of it; it also occurred right after my period. I've had foot, toe, etc pain throughtout this journey and one time by big toe swelled up and was so painful; just woke up one morning and there is was; got better after 2 days.

Anyway, I just had a pap smear last month and all is well, so I really thin the leg and foot pain, etc is
hormonal.

For me, it is always something, my head pressure is gone but now I have this awful muscle ache and the pain is just awful. My husband knows the pain is bad because he remember the woman who didn't anything when our daughter was born.

Do take care and please don't worry so much.

Plumeria

This is so interesting to read this today! My leg has been aching something fierce since last night. It started in my upper leg while I was sitting last night and by the time I went to bed had gone into my whole lower body. I couldn't wait to go to bed and take my pants off and put on comfy pj's!

This morning I got up and it's now just in my left leg. The whole thing even hurts to touch it! Very strange. I've never had this before. Advil helped a lot this morning and I can tell that it's wearing off. My leg is starting to ache again.

I hope this one doesn't last long! The symptoms just never end!