suspicous bleeding...

sls

Okay so I am going to try to get through this without bursting into tears while I sit here at work...

I will try to make this as brief as possible.

2007, 39 years old, no family history of breast cancer, felt lump on self exam, 1.4 cm mass removed, her-2 positive, estrogen receptor positive, A/C and Paxitaxol, Herceptin (10 out of 12 months as ejection fracture dropped significantly), double mastectomy with reconstructive surgery.Tamoxifen 2 years then Femara for 5 months but I am on a break from it and may be put on something else as it was causing inflamation,weakness and pain in my elbows and hands. I have stopped the Femara since early July.

Perminent heart damage now due to the Herception. I am now on Lisinopril to stabilize my ejection fracture which is now 40 %.

I have completed menopause (determined by a blood test)

Thinks have been great. I started jogging about 3 weeks ago. Friday, 9-10-10 I ran the farthest that I have gone without stopping. 2.3 miles. This is quite and accomplishment for me. My workout routine has really increased and is now very regular.

Two nights ago I started spotting vaginally and am now having slight cramping along with regular bright red bleeding which is getting heavier by the minute.

I am have always been concerned after taking Tamoxifen that I would get Endrometrial (lining of the uterus) or uterine sarcoma (uterine muscle wall). I urged my Oncologist to remove my uterus to reduce my metastatic risk. I have always had normal Pap smears until last winter when one came back abnormal.  When I had it redone 3 months later it was normal.  My primary care doctor told me that I should watch for any type of vaginal bleeding as this would be a sign of the cancer possibly spreading to the uterus.

My husband thinks that because I am working out hard that this could be the reason for the bleeding.

I intend on calling my Oncologist on Monday but am just out of my mind with worry. I am not the type of person that looks for health problems and I consider myself a optimistic person.

Does anyone have any comments or suggestions? I feel so alone and don't want to worry my husband more that he already is.

Sherri

Jelson

You were screwing around with your hormones ie tamoxifen and femara, you are not taking either now. Maybe the blood test which was interpreted as you had completed menopause was right at the time, but maybe if you had it again, the reading would be different. Maybe stopping the hormonal drugs and getting back to exercise has triggered your ovaries to get back into business. I am with your husband on this, I think there are non-cancer reasons for your bleeding.

being on tamoxifen myself, I am alert for any sign of bleeding and like you are doing, would call my doctor to get it checked out ASAP. I just think there is a high probability that it is not an indication of anything serious.

I know it is easier said than done, try to stay calm. we are here with ya.

Julie E

JacquiAL

Hi Sherri,

I am on a break from Tamoxifen but have the same worry that you do.  Just want you to know that you are not alone. I don't know if this will help but it's a very small percentage of women that get endometrial or uterine cancer from Tamoxifen.  Also, there are other possible reasons for the bleeding such as a bladder infection or kidney stones - not that we would want either of these but they are generally easy to treat. (I have kidney stones.)

I wish I had more information to give you.  Maybe others will respond that have more knowledge than I do.

If "talking" will help get you through until Monday, you can PM me.

Just wanted you to know my thoughts are with you. 

Jacqui

chrishat

i wonder if you are really in menopause, or just chemo-induced menopause, and now are starting to menstruate again? sometimes chemo shuts things down permanently, sometimes temporarily. i think you are 42 years old? that's pretty young to be naturally and completely in menopause. so maybe things are just kicking back into gear? and if you are not truly and totally in menopause, and then you take an aromatase inhibitor, it can stimulate your ovaries into action.

when my onc was explaining the risks of tamoxifen to me, he explained the very small percentage of risk of uterine cancer, but also reassured me that even if it DOES cause uterine cancer, it is almost always detectable early and doesn't spread to other organs. of course, who wants uterine cancer? but evidently it takes years to become a 'dangerous' cancer.

hang in there....the fear and the worrying are so hard....i'm thinking of you.

christine

leaf

I had a ~ 50 day long 'period' (I was peri-menopausal) on Tamoxifen, and it turned out to be benign polyps. I've had about 6 different polyps removed at different times, 2 of them before I had any breast issues.  They've all been benign.

carcharm

I use to run in my younger years and my periods were whacky because of it. If it happened only when you ran it sounds highly likely that it is related to that. Your body has taken a beating from the chemo/herceptin. If herceptin can damage your heart who's to say your uterus didn't suffer some sort of benign damage that when running would cause you to bleed. Keep us posted.

Cydz

My period stopped for one solid year after I started chemo. When it did come back, out of the blue, it was as heavy as ever. I am not on Tamoxifen, but I am 52 and it would stand to reason that if mine could come back, yours could too. I would agree that maybe the timing of the blood test influenced its outcome. Of course you are wise to have it checked out.