I was wondering if post-surgery anyone has experienced a worsening of any mm related symptoms (tias, word loss, memory issues, fatigue, headaches) during the time of their menstrual cycle?  Also is there anyone who had surgery who has since gone through menopause? and if so, did it make any changes in your symptoms?

Hi
I noticed your from Illinois. Iam too.  Im going to be having surgery in Chicago at Loyola July 1st.  How about you??

I am from Illinois.  I had some of my preliminary testing at  Loyola, but went to Stanford in Dec of 06 for my surgery.  Who is doing your surgery (Dr. Origitano?) and what kind of surgery are they doing for you?

also wanted to let you know that myself and another MMer are close by if you want to talk or have any questions please feel free to send me personal message or e-mail me at traceyuher at hotmail.com

Hi

You asked about menstral cycles and mm symptoms.  I have not gone through menopause yet but am pre menapausal.  I do have some symptoms that I think occur because of my cycle.  I also get very fatiqued during my cycle.  I also know that I am anemic and it gets worse during my cycle.  I do not know if the symptoms are truely related but I think there could be a connection.  I just had my surgeries in April, so it has only been a short time for me.  My headaches have been worse since my surgeries, not just during my cycle but all the time.
I am also in Illinois and if any one would like to get together just let me know.  
You can e-mail me at t.oneill467@comcast.net

Tracie

I have not had surgery for my mm.  I was diagnosed in 1980 following a major bleed and had a second bleed during my pregnancy in 2002 and the docs think they are hormonal surge related.  I don't have problems during my cycle other than a little more tiredness.  How long ago was the surgery as it may be hard for your body to cope with everything else that it has going on.  If you can ask your specialist the next time you talk to him.

I have not gone through Metopause. But I am Post-Op about 5 years. I do get tiered easly during that time of the month. I also have a harder time controling my tempor around that time. Only when i an exauseted do i have word loss and motor skills are more difficult. All of theses i keep recrord when i go in for my anual Neurological check up with my MoyaMoya specialest. My Neurologest is my lifeline!! I got strep and i am allergic to penycillin so I asked my family practice to call my Neurologest to see if the medication they wanted to put me on would have any bad effects with my MM.

Bev i am shocked that you have not had a surgry. MM is progressive and there are other surgerys becides the STA-MCA direct bypass. Are you seeing a MM specialest?
I hope this helps
Becky

I don't think there are all that many of us old gals out here with MM. Within a month of my surgeries (at 54) I went into full-blown menopause. It's been 18 months of hot flashes and night sweats. I don't think the change in hormones has caused any problems for me - other than the usual discomfort. For me, the most important thing is to not become overtired or stressed. That's when I feel weakness in the hand slightly damaged by stroke, tingling over my left shoulder blade, and become less eloquent. The stress, I'm learning to avoid, but I still tend to be a workaholic who hates to leave a task unfinished - I'm working on that.

Just thought I would put my experiences on here because I know eventually someone might come a hunting. I am almost 30, well I will be in 11 days. Since I have increased my ASA to 325mg daily I have heavy prolonged periods. I am moodier and do tend to get more fatigued around this time because of the prolonged bleeding. When I say prolonged I am talking approx 18 to 20 days. It has taken quite a while to pin to to the increase in the dosage of ASA but finally at last we know the cause. Just thought I would share. I hope this helps someone someday for sharing these lovely details.

Reagan

Thats very interseting info. Amy has had terrible periods since being on ASA 325mg. I have spoke with her Neurologist and 2 other drs and was told that ASA would not cause her to bleed excessively. I even made her an appt for next week just to check her hemoglobin since she was looking so pale lately. She would love to have that darned uterus taken out but I can't even find an oral surgeon to remove her wisdom teeth, so pretty sure i wouldnt get anyone to do a hysterectomy.

I'm wondering if these extremely heavy/prolonged cycles are one more thing that women MMers share. Though mine stopped entirely one month after surgeries, they were so bad that two weeks before surgries I was given a blood transfusion. My iron had been extremely low for many years and I had been taking SloFe daily. Bad case of Fibroids, which I've learned many others MMers have had too. Is there a link to MM? I doubt it's something that most neurologists would consider, but I wonder...  

Kim,

That is interesting...Since fibroids run in the family I will have to remember to ask next time I see the doctor.

Reagan

I had my surgeries in 200 and 2001 and i was in my 30s.  I went throught pre-menipause  in my 20s .  I had 1 child through invitro fertilization in 1994 of course i wasnt diagnosed then.  When I was diagnosed the doctor told me that i shouldnt give birth to any more kids becuase of the chace of stroke.  I havent had a period since my surgeries

amy stewart

Just some info i also had heavy periods for the last several years for weeks at a time before i was diagnosed with moyamoya they put me on prednisone which made me bleed from dec-march so i barely was functioning anyway so in march i had a ablation of the uterus where they burn the uterus and since then i barely bleed at all any more i had it done at KUMED center best surgery beside my moyamoya surgery that i ever had and i am also on 325 asprin which dosent make me bleed anymore

It's been interesting reading this thread....My daughter is 12 and will most certainly be starting her period soon.I was afraid that it would be heavier since she takes asprin.She also ahs Down syndrome and has no use of her left hand and arm.these things will effect her understanding, and her ability to be independant when it comes to the hygiene care she will need. Darci I heard of another mom of a young girl with down syndrome who was considering ablstion of the uterus.Could you expand upon any information you have on this procedure.
Mary Grace

Mary Grace
There are serveral different ablations that they do the one i had was HTA hydrothermalbtor its were they circulate hot water for 10min in the endometrial cavity and the doctor can actually watch while it is happening and a machine controls temp of water so if the machine dectects a leak or water to hot the machine shuts off i had some complitaions with mine but had a wonderful doctor who new everything i had been thur evidently i have a larger uterus so this is th e reason my doctor did this procedure on me the only downfall is you have to get a biospy before they can do these procedure on you  which mine was pretty painful!!!! my sister had the novasure ablation done its were they insert this mesh bag and then they blow it up and the bag is what burns the cavity we both had it done and were both back to work in 3 days you have mild to severe cramping that will last for 3-4 days but it was worth it not to have the heavy bleeding for weeks at a time there is a lot of information on the internet that explains it a lot better than im sure i did hope this helps some!!!
Darci

Thanks everyone for your input on this topic.  My periods have always been painful.  From early on, my ob/gyn thought that I had endometriosis, but I never had laperscopy to confirm, they just treated me as if I did.  I began to see a reproductive endocrinologist as I got older because the pain was worse.  I got pregnant with my first child so I discontinued seeing the r.e.  Fast forward to MM and post-op.  After surgery and ASA my periods starting getting longer and longer and I have noticed that my MM symptoms get worse during that time (headaches, fatigue, transient aphasia).   My ob/gyn and I discussed hysterectomy vs. endometrial ablation and I decided to have the novasure abalation procedure.  I had it done in November.  This was supposed to address the issue of the pain and excessive bleeding.  The procedure did not work for me and I still have both issues.  I haven't decided what to do yet about a hysterectomy because it means taking a lot of time off from work which I really can't afford to do.  For me the bleeding and pain is a problem, but my bigger concern is the MM stuff that gets worse.  The headaches are a nightmare and nothing seems to help them and the transient aphasia is really problematic.  I was really just wondering if it was something that only affected me or if others experience the same thing and it seems that we have some similarity in our experiences.  I don't know if it is a hormonal issue and if it is, what happens once you go through menopause.  Just something to think about.

My daughter also has Down Syndrome, she started her period at ll and did well with it.  She is now 17 and had surgery in April of 2008.  Her periods are much heavier now that she is on ASA.  Her endocrinologist says it because of the asperin and the only thing would be to put her on birth control.  However, I will not do that per Dr Stienberg, its not that bad yet.

Margaret