I hope I haven't posted on this already--my memory is so bad that if I just think about doing something, I don't remember if I actually did it.

Anyway, for about a week or so I have had slight breast tenderness, especially a needle-like sensation in the nipple of one of them, and I have somehow lost my vaginal dryness and have an occasional slight clear discharge, just like I used to have for most of pre-menopause. Also, the night sweats and hot flashes continue, but not that bad.

I do not use any estrogen other than I was using Vagifem but have not needed it for several weeks so stopped it. My doctor says it is not systemic and you don't even need to use progesterone with it because it is non spreading. I see the gyn next week for my annual, but I also saw her a few months ago and had a trans-vaginal ultrasound that was normal (if not being able to find one of the ovaries is normal, which she thinks it is because they shrink).

I always think the worst and think I could have a hormone producing tumor. I never think anything can just be a normal fluctuation, because basically I am a crazy person!

Anyone have anything similar happen or feel especially hormonal this far into post?

Thanks for any replies.

P.S. Could stress cause increased hormonal activity? My husband has been unemployed for over 10 months and now his ulcerative colitis is really bad and I had to take him to urgent care on Monday.

Hello,
the same thing happened to my friend two years ago. She was post meno for few years and started to have shooting pains in her breast and developped breast tenderness, which she never had had before. She ended up having a period. She called me about it as she knew that breast pains had always been my worse pms symptom. I told her to check with her doctor and they ran some tests and told her that, in effect, it was due to hormonal fluctuation and that she was not menopausal. SHe never quite understood it as she had been post meno for 6-7 years at the time. She has had since some light bleeding (apparently period) not for long and was checked again and everything came back normal. Go figure! I am no doctor, of course, but there is no reason to think hormone producing tumor from that. I think it would be good to ask your doctor about it. I have myself been now 11 months without a period and my breast pains had stopped and noticed few days ago that I started to have clear discharge again and the breast pain like you describe right under the nipple and some other sharp pains came back. I know my doctor told me it was due to hormonal fluctuations and also stress, of course!. I just had my mammogram and except for begnin micro-calcifications I am fine.
I hope it will bring you some comfort. I know I am not fully menopausal yet and that my story might not make you feel better. Get it check but it does not sound serious.
take care
MrsBuff

I'm sorry to hear about your husband. We have gone through the unemployment and it is very difficult, especially the emotional side of it. Our self-esteem is so tied in with our achievments and our uncertainty over financial security. Makes for a very stressful time. I'll keep you and your husband in my prayers.

I'm on hormonal replacement so have no knowledge of your symptoms but I don't think you are a crazy woman.

Mrsbuff, your story did help me, even though you were not sure it would. Wow, and your poor friend who had thought she was post for so long. I am wondering (and I have said this many times) if doctors know anything at all about menopause, because so many say the whole thing only lasts for a few years total (I even read where a prominent doctor said "typically six months"). And here I have been thinking I am the crazy person when quite possibly it is the entire medical community, lol.

Thank you for your help, mrsbuff.

CarolH, you are absolutely right on target--I think our jobs, especially for men, are so tied up with our self-esteem. I have done a lot of "inner" work and know that outer accomplishments do not increase our worth, nor does a perceived lack of them decrease it.

Thank you for your prayers. We really need them!

hi,
Stress as we know is the number 1 problem in this crazy world and causes so many problems.....but you can rest easy about your missing ovary.
I had the same kind of ultrasound and I had a missing ovary too. Menopause does in fact cause them to shrink since in essence they are not longer
needed by the body...also I am 5yrs into post and most days feel like I've been run over by a tandem truck...so take heart everything is "normal"...lol

be well and be normal

Missing ovary very common post menopause...no cause for worry and as for the stress issue I personally feel and believe it has been documented it affects nearly everything in life most importantly our health. I just had a bit of a scare and I am committed to finding some stress reduction methods that work for me. The other important variable here is diet...eating balanced meals. That is about all we can do and keep up on all screening tests and report anything unusual to our doctors. Good luck.

Soul Surviver, I think I can even relate to the feeling of being run over by a truck most days. That is probably a good description of my life, ha!

Kathy, that makes three of us now with the "missing" ovary, so it must not be uncommon. Ditto on what you said about stress. I just can't seem to get it under control, even though I was in cognitive therapy when younger for many (many!) years.

Thanks, ladies.