A 64-year old woman came to see me. She was on HRT, taking monthly dosages of oestrogen and progesterone, mimicking the menstrual cycle, with withdrawal bleed every 28 days. Three months before, she had a steroid injection for a severe musculoskeletal pain, and after the injection she began to have continuous uterine bleeding for half the month. She used to get a menstrual bleed every 25-28 days, but it was now, on the day of the first consultation, down to starting on day 14 of her cycle, meaning that the progesterone wasn’t doing anything to hold the endometrial lining in place.
Her gynaecologist had said that the steroid injection had damaged the oestrogen and progesterone receptors in her uterus, making her less receptive to medicated oestrogen and progesterone, hence the functional uterine bleeding. He tried increasing the dosages but it didn’t work, so she telephoned me to see if I could help. I wasn’t sure if Chinese medicine could help if indeed receptors had been damaged, so I said I had to see her and examine her before I say more. As soon as I saw her tongue (tongue diagnosis is part of a Chinese medicine diagnosis) I knew I could help her: it was red with a yellow coat, indicating blood heat unsettling the uterus, which is a relatively easy pathology to treat with Chinese Medicine. After one month on the herbs she stopped having the bleeding and was generally feeling much better. All in all this patient was on a Chinese herbal prescription for five months, and was then well again.