Ladies please, polyp!

[jessieblue]

Hello, i am hoping some ladies of a certain age, who may have experience of irregular bleeding. I am 47 and just had an ultrasound scan for irregular bleeding. I am perimenopausal and the scan showed i have a thickened endometrium and a polyp!! This has terrified me, could this be cancerous, does this mean i wil have to have a hysterectomy?? I am so terrified, i have to wait to see my doc and then wait for a referral to gyn anf subsequent procedure. Anyone have any experience, i am so worried.

[suzy-sue]

Hi Jessie .Polyps are very common in women as they reach the Menopause .Many women have them without realizing as they do not all cause bleeding .Hysterectomy is the last resort and isnt the only treatment .The good news is you only have one ,so it will usually be removed in a painless procedure .Thickening of the Endometrium is caused by hormones (oestrogen ) ,This can be treated if you still have bleeding after the polyp has been removed .There is a procedure which removes the lining of the womb which has a long lasting effect .(Endometriel abalation )This is also painless and is done under anaesthetic .The chances of your polyp being cancerous is very very slight .But once removed will be sent for analysis as is per norm .I have known of many women having these polyps and one of them had several .She was told she could have them removed ,but she opted to have a Hysterectomy ,her personal choice .It wasnt forced on her .Please try not to worry .I hope this helps you in some small way .Your Gynaecologist will be able to advise you and give the best treatment suitable .T/c Sue x:hugs:

[jessieblue]

Thank for your reply sue. I am totally terrified as i have had 2 years of hell with anxiety and have just come out of the darkness and now this has sent me spiralling back down. I have had so many cancer scares, i don't know if i can go through it all again. I wish i had never gone to the doctors. Lots of women must just leave bleeding and never go, i wish i had. Even if this is all ok, i don't know if i csn survive the anxiety again, i was so low before. Its so hard dealing with health problems shen you feel like this. Thanks again. x

[Megan73]

The probability of this being cancerous is very very slim. If you see my previous post re bleeding you will see my gp thinks I have an endometrial polyp. I have decided to leave it as I am terrified of hospitals and also like you I have just been recovering from a very bad spell and then this hit me.

On a positive note my Mum did have this treated with a very simple op (simple for her anyway) and hormone treatment to stop lining regrowing. She said it was over quickly, about 3hrs in hosp and recovered quickly. However when you don't think rationally like us anxiety suffers it is easier said than done.

I hope you get this sorted and good luck.

[trish1955]

i to had this back 2006 like you i was so afraid i had the polyps removed under anthestic wich i am so afaid of as well but i was home before i could blink as i suffer agraphobia as well but i had medication for the thickning thing went back went bk in march 2007 and had a full check with the cam and asked if i could stay awake as dont like being put to sleep they let me i got the all clear been ok since i was said to ave been post meno in march 2006 so u see u will be fine take care

[angstsoup]

HI Jessie

Please do not fret.
I was in the same situation approx 2-3 years ago
I was in my 50's and noticed staining out of the blue one day.
I had my last period at the age of 43.
I have had anxiety disorder most of my life combined with health anxiety and hypochondria so you can imagine my level of panic.
I went to the gyn and he said to me as well that my endometrium was thicker then it should be for a woman my age and that i had a polyp.
Yes, my anxiety went up a zillion notches.
He said it was not unusal for this to occur but he suggested I get it out.
It was an out patient procedure.
They did give me anesthesia which I was terrified of but I did it.
In fact there was little to no pain afterwards and had I wanted to I could have gone out to dinner that night. I went to work the next day.
Truly, Jessie, I have had toothaches that were worse then this.
As is the case with a lot of anxiety, the anticipatory anxiety is worse then the actual thing.
I am not terribly brave and as I said besieged by anxiety most of the time about many things.
I did not need a hysterectomy just had the polyp out. So many women I know had the same thing.
Feel free to PM if you like.
You will be absolutely fine, I guarantee it.
Let me know how it goes.

[jessieblue]

Thank you so much everyone for your kind replies. i am so desperare to get some perspective on this. I saw my Gp yesterday and she absolutely terrified me by insisting on urgently referring me and examining me for any masses!! The radiographer that did the scan said i would be referred but it was not urgent and was very common findings, nothing bad had been seen! My gp is trying to do her job well, but by not understanding my anxiety issues has sent me spiralling into complete hysteria. I can't eat or even get out of bed today my panic attacks are back and all i can think of is death. I have so many phobias one being of cancer and another or vomiting so the thought of chemo is out of the question. I know i would have to refuse this treatment and so have a short life expectancy. The bleeding has been irregular for a couple of years and i had no idea it was so sinister, i thought this was just what perimeno was about as i had had blood tests confirming i ws peri. I think it is the thickened endometrium which is sinister, this can mean cancerous cells i understand. Anyway the doctor emntioned ruling out cancer nd thats really the only word i heard.

Thanks again, it is so good to have some support as i am not altogether sure i will get through this.

x

[Megan73]

I'm sorry to hear you are feeling so bad after your GP appointment. Sometimes docs just don't get anxiety sufferers at all, they think they are being helpful but........

Once I had a bad bout of IBS and she said if it didn't start to calm down after 3 weeks I'd need a barium enema, you bet it didn't clear in 3 weeks after that news :scared15: as someone who has a medical procedure phobia.

All I can say to you is hopefully you will get seen soon as then you can get some "proper" advice from a gyn, who sees this stuff every day and will reassure you and put you on the appropriate treatment.

I know how you feel and to put it lightly it is the pits but we always do come out the other side if a little battered from the experience!!!!!

Take care and keep us informed.:D

[jessieblue]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply everyone. I saw my gyn who said he was sure this is a polyp and that they are usually benign, well i know all this anyway, but he did try to reassure me. He was keen to do the procedure to remove it because he sid it would only get bigger and continue to cause me problems. I do feel a little better, but still anxious. I wish i had the nerv to ask him if i could just wait and see as i am so anxious at the moment and the anxiety is causing me a lot of problems. However, i havn't received an appointment yet, which i guess is goodnews. The longer the better i'd say. I am tempted not to have it done tho and just see what else happens. Thanks again. x