Anna-Li asks: I'm 49 and dealing with heavy bleeding. Every woman in my family has either had an ablation or a hysterectomy so I guess this will be my bad luck too? Any suggestions?
My reply:
I'm sorry to hear you are dealing with heavy bleeding. It's common. And, you are not meant to suffer!
First, let me make sure you have this important information on heavy bleeding…and a past issue of “Dear Menopause Chicks” here….then let's have an important conversation about LUCK 🍀…
Now, imagine with me for a second that it is NOT luck.
BTW--You'd be surprised how frequently "luck" 🍀 gets mentioned in the MenopauseChicksCommunity.com!
For example: “My mom was always on antibiotics for reoccurring UTIs and now it's my turn. I guess we are just unLUCKY that way."
OR, like you:
“Every woman in my family has had an uterine ablation (a procedure that removes a thin layer of tissue that lines the uterus; done to stop or reduce heavy bleeding) or hysterectomy (surgical removal of the uterus) so I guess this will be my bad LUCK too!"
So the question is:
Does luck play a role in our health? SURE!
Quality information, options and the opportunity to prevent disruption to our quality of life ALSO play key roles!
Therefore, I invite all of us: before we assume “just bad luck," let's make sure we are well informed of all our options for finding and treating the root cause!
Two examples that come up frequently: heavy bleeding in perimenopause and re-occurring UTIs in postmenopausal.
ANTIBIOTICS for a UTI? I get it! Get the prescription and get rid of the infection.
What I want you to know:
🌀Antibiotics, over time, will lose their effectiveness. Although UTIs can happen to any gender at any age, re-occurring UTIs postmenopause are linked to declining estrogen which causes the urethra to get shorter/smaller and makes it more susceptible to infection (urinary tract infection is the most common.)
➡️ Have a conversation with your health team about the benefits of vaginal estrogen therapy and PACs (Proanthocyanidins: the most concentrated part of the cranberry; helps prevent certain harmful bacteria from adhering onto cell walls.)
HEAVY BLEEDING and deciding to get an ablation or hysterectomy? I understand! Many of my members tell me it was the best decision they ever made.
What I want you to know:
🌀 An ablation or hysterectomy will fix the heavy bleeding; it will NOT address what caused the heavy bleeding in the first place (declining progesterone or fibroids or something else.)
➡️ Have a conversation with your health care provider about treating the root cause of the heavy bleeding (with an IUD or oral micronized bioidentical progesterone, or an ablation or hysterectomy are also choices; you get to weigh the pros vs. cons and decide) and your best course of action for iron supplementation because anyone who has experienced heavy bleeding is most likely low in ferritin (measure of iron stores in our blood) too.
p.s. before you decide on a hysterectomy make sure you are connected with a pelvic floor physiotherapist (when body parts are removed, it can impact our pelvic health for the next 3-5 decades!)
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