Question about mini-periods

I was hoping some of you ladies who have experienced mini-periods can give me your thoughts.

I had my LSH on 6/25/04 and began bleeding two and half weeks later. An ultrasound revealed a thick endometrium above my cervix, despite the fact that my surgeon cored out the cervix and cauterized all remaining tissue. I guess I'm one of the unlucky 3% or so of sisters who keep their cervix that get mini-periods. When the bleeding continued for more than 8 days, my surgeon put me on Norethindrone (progesterone) pills to suppress my one remaining ovary and stop the bleeding. I am now debating whether or not to have the cervix removed.

I had many reasons for wanting to keep my cervix at the time of my hysterectomy, so I'm really NOT happy about the prospect of having it removed -- especially so soon after the original surgery. I knew mini-periods were a possibility (albeit remote), but I guess I thought it would never happen to me.

I had my hysterectomy due to endo, adeno, chronic pelvic pain and dysfunctional uterine bleeding. The severity of the bleeding following the surgery was such that my surgeon thinks there must be adenomyosis present in the cervical stump. It certainly was NOT what I would consider a mini-period! I just don't want to continue to bleed every 15 - 19 days like I did prior to my surgery. I had really hoped to have it all behind me when I had my hyst.

Anyway, for those of you who have experienced cervical bleeding following your hysts, is it a monthly thing - as regular as your cycles were before surgery? I guess I'm hoping against hope that the bleeding might not be as regular (and dysfunctional) as my cycles were pre-hyst! And is the flow similar to what you experienced pre-hyst, or is it different?

It's difficult to find info about mini-periods, and even more difficult to find info about removal of the cervix that is NOT cancer related.

Have any of you actually had the cervix removed after your hyst? If so, how was the surgery? My surgeon tells me he will do it vaginally and I'll only be out of work two weeks, but I've had other complications following my hyst (bladder issues) that make me very hesitant to go through yet another surgery. I really feel as though I might be pressing my luck a bit!

Any info would be much appreciated!

Susan,

I have no experience in your situation, but any time I see a bit of doubt or hesitation, I think : 2nd opinion. What I am reading in your post is that you would like to avoid surgical removal of your cervix if that is possible.

Wanted to encourage you to seek out a 2nd opinion if you have not already. Perhaps there is an option that your current doctor is not aware of or is not trained in that is available, other than complete removal of your cervix.

Please keep us posted!

Thanks for your response, Michelle. Unfortunately, I've already spoken to three doctors, all of which agree that without the hormones I'm currently taking, my cervix will continue to bleed every month.

What I'm really hoping to find out from the ladies here is whether their "flow" with the mini-periods got lighter as time went on or if it stayed similar to what they experienced prior to their surgery.

No one can really tell me what the future may hold, but if I knew that the bleeding got a little better as time went on for others who've "been there done that" it might help me to decide to wait before having the surgery.

Thanks again!

Hi Susan I've moved your post over here to the Post Op forum, which is the forum for questions during the initial recovery period (six months or so) from your hyst surgery.

I do remember seeing a couple of posts in the past by women who have had to go back after an LSH and have a trachelectomy (removal of the cervix) because of bleeding problems. Here's a link to one of their threads:

http://www.hystersisters.com/vb2/sho...hreadid=153320

Here are also links to a couple of articles that discuss monthly bleeding from the cervical stump after an LSH:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...&dopt=Abstract

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...&dopt=Abstract

Unfortunately, it sounds like you are one of the unlucky minority who continue to have this monthly bleeding due to buildup and shedding of endometrial tissue after an LSH.

Has your DR put any time limitation on how long you can use the norethindrone? What about other alternatives besides the trachelectomy? Is this something you can deal with using either norethindrone or other HRT until you reach natural menopause?

s,
-Linda

I am nearly three years post SAH and I have mini periods.

Mine are extremely regular, while my before hyst periods never were ( bled all the time before my hyst). I do not have pain or cramping with the mini periods but I do have significant pms that lets me know in no uncertain terms that a mini is on its way. Generally speaking, my bleeding tends to be very light (pantiliner) and lasts maybe a day or two. However, I have indeed had cycles where the bleeding was a little heavier with small clots and has lasted up to a week. I had one of those "heavier" cycles just last month, and I started today and it seems like it will be my typical one day of spotting again. My first "mini" after my surgery was one of the more heavier ones, maybe because the tissue was still trying to heal. We (the dr and I) weren't really 100% positive what was going on back then until I went thru another cycle or two.

I would not jump back into surgery right away. Try to give it another few months to see how your body behaves once it is better healed.

Feel free to email or pm me if you would like more specific info about my experience with this topic.