thickness of uterus lining?

I had a vaginal ultral sound yesterday and was told that my lining was thicker than the dr. wanted to see. I am a pre-menopausal woman. Is there anywhere I can find out what is considered normal. I had a measurement of 13mm and am about 1 week away from getting my period. In doing research it is my understanding that this measuement may be normal for where I am at in my cycle. My dr. has recommeneded a D&C to scrape out some of the lining to thin it out. I am a little concerned about all of this. I have just finished with a 5 year run of Tamoxifin and uterine cancer is a risk with this med. My periodshave been pretty regular but the bleeding as been a little heavier and more clots. Any isight on this would be gratly appreciated.

Hi Debst,

Sounds like your doctor is just being especially careful - a good thing. You are correct that the lining is thicker at that part of your cycle, but the irregular spotting may be concerning him too. You may want to see if they are planning a hysteroscopy too, as that allows them to get a good look inside the uterus, rather than just blind samples of tissue.

I had a thickened uterine lining and very heavy and irregular bleeding and my doc wanted to do a hysteroscopy/D and C/biopsy before the hyster just to be sure we were not dealing with cancer. I wanted to keep cervix and ovaries, which would have meant 2 surgeries if they found cancer in the first one. I was really glad of his cautious approach - I think he is especailly careful about cancer becuase he almost lost his wife to breast cancer a few years ago. I knew it was most likely that all was OK, but better to be sure with that sort of thing.

Hope all goes well for you

Debbie

Just wanted to tell you that I also once had a uterine lining that was thicker than it should have been. I had been bleeding for 40 days straight. The doc did a biopsy right away, and nothing was found. I think it was due to some BCP that weren't agreeing with me. A previous doc had put me on them because my cycles were becoming longer and longer.

Wishing you good results!



Margot

Thanks! For your responses. Like I said I had been on Tomaxifin for the last 5 years and went off of it last Nov. I did not have any problems on the med. My periods were normal..very light and on time. After I went off I began having heavier periods and more clotting. I just went in for my yearly and mentioned this to my Dr. and she thought that just as a precaution that we should do a vaginal ultrasound. Like I said the resulsts came back with a cyst on the overy (no concern to her) and a thicker lining of the uterus. The D & C is to just thin the lining and hopfully help witht he heavy flow. I know that a thicker lining is also an indicator of uterine cancer. My mother had may issues with fibroids and also breast cancer (hence the Tomaxifin...maily a prevetnive measure) she also had uterine cancer believed to have been caused by a rare form of cancer due to the firboids. Like I said with tomoxifin predisposing me to uterine cacer I was just wonder if any one has any info on what a healty unterine cancer lining can measure in a pre-menopausal woman. Thanks again everyone. I'm thrilled to have found this sight. Very imformative!!

Hi Debst - I was 54 when I started having problems with endometrial thickness. I had skipped 4 months of periods and then bled for an entire month. When I started passing huge clots and flooding I went to the gyn. An ultrasound showed a thickness of 14mm and an endometrial biopsy came back with "simple hyperplasia". I was advised to have a hyst but said "no" so I had a D&C which came back with no hyperplasia but 8-10 polyps which were removed. I was on and off progesterone for a year and then another ultrasound showed an 8mm lining and a biopsy came back with "complex hyperplasia". I then switched gyns and had another D&C in March 05. Now I am being watched for further problems but so far I'm okay. In some of the research I have done I think a normal endometrial thickness in a normal cycle gets to 7-8mm anticipating a pregnancy and then "sheds". My doctor told me because I am perimenopausal that any thickness over 5mm should be biopsied.

When are you scheduled for your D&C? Please keep us posted on your progress.

Good luck.

Mary

Thank you for your response. It was very informative for me. My results from my vaginal ultrasound of 13mm thickness was surprising. I had been having slighty heavier periods with clotting but I have still be pretty regular. I had been on BCP for such a long time prior to being on tomoxifin that I really have no idea of what a NORMAL period is for me so the different cycle changes surprised me. If my Dr. and my results come back with a recommendation for a hyster I am pretty sure I'd go ahead with due to my family history of breast cancer and uterine cancer. I have had genetic counceling and they had recommended that I had the blood work done for BRCA1 and 11 but to tell you the truth that is scary. Even if it came back that I was carrier, s hyster has been strongly recommeded because of the family history. Thanks for all of you advice. I haven't scheduled my D & C yet but I'm sure it will be soon. The Dr. I go to is great and I really trust her decisions. She is very highly thought of in the community and is for the patient. Thanks again for yur support.

Hi Again - I forgot to ask you if your gyn was an oncol/gyn. You know they are the experts when it comes to female cancer and surgery. I actually consulted with two of them. One said I needed the surgery and the other one said I didn't which I found comforting since most surgeons are more than willing to "cut". You might feel comfortable getting a second opinion just to be sure but ultimately the decision is up to you. Please keep us informed on how you are doing.

Mary

I have always been dealing with an ob/gyn. This Dr. is very involved in womens issues in our area. She is not afraid to refer out if there is an issue that she does not feel comfortable with. She has refered me to a gentic counsler for further evaulation At this point in what I'm going through I feel comfortable with her decisions. I know that if I need to see someone else she will see to it that I will get the best care. She is so good. The last time I had an issue was not to long after my mother had died of a uterine cancer. (Age 54) I was having a unterine ultrasound and she noticed an abnormal cyst on one of my overies. She wanted to wait it out but I told her that there was no way I could. She just wanted to do a biopsyThrough laproscopy) but I know that that if and a big if that if cancer was involed that I would be totally exposed sooo.... I made her take it out. (the overy that is) It was something she didn't want to do but did as I wished. She actually cancelled or postponed her vacation to do this procedure for me. She is a very sought out Dr. and highly thought of. I feel so lucky. I really trust her and I feel that she is very careful.. If she recommends a hster than I Feel that I would be the best for me. There is no way that she is just out to do it because she wants to. She is a wonens Dr. and only does what she needs to. It's been such a long time since I've been to a male Dr. They don't seem to 100% understand what we go through. Thanks again for everything. I can only hope my posts help other women also. I will let you all know what happens over the next few weeks/months.

i ma 34 and also had a thick endometrium, no matter what date they performed the vaginal ultasound, even 2 days after period. i have always had very painful and heavy periods, but no break through bleeding. i had lap. which showed multiple adhesions. i did the lupron, which obviously made my lining go back to normal, but i had to stop them due to my lupus. i am now scheduled for a consult with my ob/gyn for an ablation, which to be quite frank, i think i may skip and go right for the hyster. he told me that he would have to do a total. i had asked if i can keep my ovaries and he said no. i have to say that he is wonderful, very understanding and really listens to me. i guess i am lucky to have found him.