WOMENS-HEALTH Messages for February, 2009: MENOPAUSE: LEEP and Post-Menopausal Women

MENOPAUSE: LEEP and Post-Menopausal Women

From: CLS (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Sun, 8 Feb 2009 18:29:04 -0600 (CST)

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I had a LEEP done in late fall, 2007. I have been in chronic pain, since then, and my pudendal nerve was recently diagnosed as inflamed. In addition, the area on the right vaginal side was irritated and pulled, although, thankfully, it's mostly healed, now. I was recently told my lower estrogen level is the reason I did not recover from the LEEP, as I am post-menopausal. If this is true, why aren't post-menopausal women warned about this before LEEP is recommended? I just tried Estrace to see if it would help and had a bad reaction. Now, the throbbing is even worse.

I went through early menopause in 2002 and have never had any trouble. No atrophy, and no dryness, burning, or pain during sex. But the PAP smear a year after the LEEP showed my cervix is now partially atrophied. I never had this problem, before. I checked studies on the causes of atrophy in post-menopausal women, and surgical trauma from LEEP was repeatedly mentioned.

I realize this does not excuse the actions of the doctor who botched the LEEP. When the loop bent, rather than remove it, get a new loop, and start again from the opposite direction, he continued hacking out my cervix in pieces with the same damaged loop. He only got a new loop when he decided to make a final pass on the right side to finish the job. It took three months to heal from the LEEP.

I also realize my metal allergies added to my initial bad reaction. (Nobody told me LEEP involved a piece of hot metal.) But if lower estrogen levels can cause complications from LEEP, please caution women, who are 40 and over, about this so that they can at least be prepared.

I feel I was deceived in order to be coerced into the LEEP, especially since the doctor who recommended it did not educate me about the alternatives. As I had LGSIL with focal HGSIL in less than two quadrants, with no dysplasia in the endocervical canal or endocervical glands, I qualified for anything. I would rather have had something less invasive, with fewer potential complications.

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