I am 53 year old female who is in last stages of menopause. I have not had a period in 9 months. I recently started taking herbal black cohosh and soy for relief of hot flash not sleeping problems. I had taken them before without any side effects, noticeable problems. Recently I spring cleaned my garage and pulled on some heavy items and picked up/pulled on some things. My back hurt down low which is usually not where I experience back pain. After a couple of weeks, I now have low back pain that won't let me sleep because it pushes out when I get in bed, and I have pain in my lower left side of my abdomen. I read all the symptoms of ovarian cancer, and now I am worried, but I am still wondering if this could be a hernia or something, since I overextended myself cleaning. Over the past year, I have had constipation, but just started eating alot of salads, since I don't drink very much water, etc. The pain in my abdomen feels like the dull pain or pinching pain I used to have when I would ovulate. I don't have any bleeding or wierd looking stool. Now I am thinking the hormones have cranked up my ovaries again and they are aggravating me! I try to follow the Atkins diet and don't eat very much in the morning and try to stay away from the carbs or other foods which cause my stomach to swell. I had been eating cherios and I am wondering if the cereal is causing this. Overall since I started the menopause, my stomach looks like I am pregnant, and I used to be so slim my father said I looked like a "gutted fish". Now I look like I am pregnant, and I realize I could lose a few pounds, but I am concerned now because of this wierd stomach pain. Anyhow I am wondering if this fullness is appendicitis, IBS or some wierd reaction to the hormones, or the worse ovarian cancer. How much does the CA125 test cost - My doctor knows me and I am currently an unemployed paralegal, I think he would work with me on the cost of the test. This pain isn't unbearable, but it is noticeable and definitely something that used to come and go when I ovulated and only lasted a few days. Thanks for your time.
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You are what you eat so eat something rich!!
I am 53 year old female who is in last stages of menopause. I have not had a period in 9 months. I recently started taking herbal black cohosh and soy for relief of hot flash not sleeping problems. I had taken them before without any side effects, noticeable problems. Recently I spring cleaned my garage and pulled on some heavy items and picked up/pulled on some things. My back hurt down low which is usually not where I experience back pain. After a couple of weeks, I now have low back pain that won't let me sleep because it pushes out when I get in bed, and I have pain in my lower left side of my abdomen. I read all the symptoms of ovarian cancer, and now I am worried, but I am still wondering if this could be a hernia or something, since I overextended myself cleaning. Over the past year, I have had constipation, but just started eating alot of salads, since I don't drink very much water, etc. The pain in my abdomen feels like the dull pain or pinching pain I used to have when I would ovulate. I don't have any bleeding or wierd looking stool. Now I am thinking the hormones have cranked up my ovaries again and they are aggravating me! I try to follow the Atkins diet and don't eat very much in the morning and try to stay away from the carbs or other foods which cause my stomach to swell. I had been eating cherios and I am wondering if the cereal is causing this. Overall since I started the menopause, my stomach looks like I am pregnant, and I used to be so slim my father said I looked like a "gutted fish". Now I look like I am pregnant, and I realize I could lose a few pounds, but I am concerned now because of this wierd stomach pain. Anyhow I am wondering if this fullness is appendicitis, IBS or some wierd reaction to the hormones, or the worse ovarian cancer. How much does the CA125 test cost - My doctor knows me and I am currently an unemployed paralegal, I think he would work with me on the cost of the test. This pain isn't unbearable, but it is noticeable and definitely something that used to come and go when I ovulated and only lasted a few days. Thanks for your time.
I will be 53 in July I have not had my period in one year next month. I think we can relate to each other quite well. I have the low pain on the left side as well. I do not take anything for the hot flashes or nightsweats. I just have a paper plate that I fan with at night until it passes. I have interrupted sleep but at this point am determined to make it through this without any type of pill or herb. I also have a condition known as diverticulosis and I also eat cherios for breakfast. I do not use milk as I am allergic to the milk sugars etc. I don't think the cherios by themselves are any problem. As far as the pain goes, I am told that we continue to ovulate for many years after a viable egg is not available. However, if you are truly concerned you do need to have this checked out. If it is a hernia it needs to be repaired possibly. If it is a blockage of some kind, that needs to be addressed as well. Have you had a colonoscopy? A CA125 is not a good screening tool and is only good for measuring treatment results after there is an identifiable tumor that is being actively treated. There truly is no good screening tool available for ovarian cancer. There are a few things that are undergoing trials to see if they work. You might want to purchase a test call AMSA. I don't know where you get it but you can look it up in your browser. It is supposed to test for any kind of cancer anywhere in your body. That is all I know about it. I don't even know how much it costs. But, I hear that it is FDA approved. Good luck.
Hi and thanks for your timely response to my post. Ain't life fun at menopause!!!! If I knew I was going to have this many problems at 50 I would have had a whole lot more fun at 40, and 30, and 20 ....!!!! I really appreciate the info re the CA 125 TEST, sometimes these buzzwords get passed around and result in information overload and folks get headed in the wrong direction. A little information is truly a dangerous thing!!! It is nice to talk with someone else here regarding health issues because I believe it better prepares you to have an intelligent informative visit with the doctor. Thank God my doc spends alot of time with his patients and I think I have a good rapport/dialogue with him which is essential to successful treatment. He really listens to his patients.
Does your pain on your left side radiate around to your lower back? What was your diagnosis? I lately have been taking laxatives and am wondering if I haven't irritated the lining of my colon or something in addition to the "female issues". I am really fearful of that colonoscopy test -- my mother had it done some years ago and they injured her in the process, so it is not altogether a "breeze" as some people claim. I am sure of course, that was an isolated incident/accident. She sat on a donut for a year and had a time with healing. On the other note of pills, herbs, etc., I was wondering if you had heard about Suzanne Somers new book "The Sexy Years" -- she claims to have mastered the hormonal imbalance situation with her doctor(s) and monitoring levels of estrogen through blood work, etc. Much in the same way diabetics monitor blood sugar. This makes sense to me on some level, because I think giving hoards of women estrogen in the same strength across the board isn't and could never be any healthy solution. My boobs would be so painful when I took those pills and headaches along with bloating, tearfulness - a definite case of cure being worse than the problem. Have you had the colonoscopy? I am not sexually active, so I have ruled out STD's also, so I am going to assume this is either Gas and constipation, ovaries, or IBS.
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You are what you eat so eat something rich!!
I have had the colonoscopy in the last two years. It is not fun but the doctor I had was ok. They put you in a twilight sleep and you really do not remember a lot. I was a bit sore for the first week afterward because I do have diverticulosis which is the little pouches in the gut get a little irritated from certain foods. Black pepper is one of the major culprits because of the granules. When I have an attack or infection from the diverticulosis it is called diverticulitis and it does cause pain from from front radiating to back and can feel like a kidney infection, vomiting, really painful. So I avoid infections, by doing my best to not become constipated. Since everything such as ovaries, kidney, bladder, and gut are all using the same pain pathways, it is important that you get your situation checked out. To save any fear of embarassment if you have any, just describe the pain, monitor your temperature and tell your doctor what makes it worse and what makes it better and let the doctor figure out what is causing it. I fell a few months ago when I twisted my ankle and really pulled a tendon hard on my left leg so now that gets into the battle as well when trying to determine symptoms. So just get the doctor to help you figure this one out, unless the distress goes away in the next 2 or 3 weeks. Good luck
Before you go in for all these other tests and waste your money, PLEASE go and schedule a transvaginal ultrasound. It is the best diagnostic tool to look for cysts and such on your ovaries. If that is normal, then super, you can check into the colon problems, ect., but as a person who just went through a huge scare, I would truly hope you take my advice. It will relieve your mind #1, and in the slight chance that it were something serious, you could catch it early, before it becomes more problematic. Please don't just wait to see if it will go away. More than likely, you strained something during the lifting, but I'd rather be on the safe side and get on this with some force.
Abdomen Swollen Dull Pain On Left Side 
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