A while back, I discussed a trend of weird, random health issues with my aunt (she’s my age), who is a very smart cardiac nurse. She’s probably smarter than most general practitioners. She felt that the problems I’d been developing over the last three or four years could be summed up as one collective reaction to PCOS: Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. This is just what it sounds like, many cysts on the ovaries. It causes hormonal imbalance, either too much estrogen or too much progesterone (it varies), and that in turn can cause any number of odd side-effects.

My primary doctor sent me to my gynecologist (whom I had not seen in years, bad me) for an endometrial biopsy, rather coincidentally. So when I finally got in to see the gyn, I tried to talk to her about my random health issues and my aunt’s theories. Dr. Gyn (a woman) wasn’t at all receptive to the old “My uncle’s brother’s girlfriend’s veterinarian’s sister said” routine and rode right over me. She over-explained things to the point that I wanted to scream at her for patronizing me, but I knew she’d be great for most people so I swallowed my frustration. She simply was not going to hear me. She said the PCOS only causes two issues: infertility (not an issue at my age of 47) or bleeding problems (which can also be caused by nature, aging, and peri-menopause). Anything else couldn’t possibly be bothersome enough to warrant concern.

She performed the biopsy, and when the results came in, they called me and told me that she wanted me to come in to talk to her in the office. They reassured me that I didn’t have cancer, but they rattled off the unfamiliar diagnosis so fast that I didn’t catch it. Then they postponed on me, twice. I finally got in to see her on Thursday morning.

She told me that I have simple endometrial hyperplasia with no atypia. I ’membered. She wrote me a scrip for progesterone for 3 mos, and I’m supposed to get an ultrasound to check for fibroids. After the three months, I can either keep taking the progesterone, stop taking it and see how it goes, or, if no fibroids, I can have that procedure that burns away the uterine wall or whatever it is. If the progesterone agrees with me (and since my aunt and I suspect I have too much estrogen in my system, I think it will), I’ll probably just stay on it – definitely, if it fixes issues I’ve discussed with my aunt. I don’t see any reason at all to have the procedure done. I’m too old for it to matter, and I’m more worried about hormonal imbalance.

Endometrial hyperplasia is an unusually thick uterine wall that can result in prolonged heavy bleeding. I would go 7 or 8 months with no period, then have one that lasted 2 weeks. My last one lasted almost two months. This is all new, in the last four years. I have hair loss (almost no eyebrows, for instance) and various other weirdnesses, ranging from diabetes to random nausea and digestive issues like lactose intolerance to severe nocturnal leg pain. All in that time period. It’s bizarre.

No atypia means that my chance of developing uterine cancer is around 1%, so that’s good.

I don’t have the prescription filled yet because my sleep schedule is fubar, but I’ll get it by Monday and start taking it. Hopefully, it’ll be just what the doctor ordered.