Re: Digest Number 277

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>Message: 1> Date: Sat, 30 Dec 2000 07:21:11 -0800 (PST)> >Subject: Re: Digest Number 276>I'm new to this subject having just been diagnosed with at 20-22 wk. size fibroid tumor a couple of weeks ago.

nutycr8zy1@... asked " Is this one or many fibroids???? "

I've wondered too when people say they have " a 20 week fibroid " etc, because usually the gestational week analogy refers to the overall uterine size and/or height of the uterus rather than to the size of the individual fibroids.

>I would love to be able to treat this fibroid naturally, so if anyone here has any homeopathic treatment options that work please let me know.

I>also don't have medical insurance so that is>another obstacle. I know it might be a little>unrealistic to want to treat the fibroid>non-surgically considering the size of it but I>don't have the debilitating symptoms that alot of>women seem to have with their fibroids.

I don't know of homeopathic treatments for fibroids, but there are other complimentary and alternative therapies available. None are proven to work for fibroids, but some people say such treatments have helped them or their patients. By all means do use treatments such as reflexology, acupuncture, visualisation/relaxation and make some improvements in your diet. They will be good for your overall health and won't do any harm. The question of herbal medicines and natural progesterone is more difficult; there could possibly be adverse effects, especially for the latter. Medical herbalists and Chinese herbalists generally say that their treatments are effective with small fibroids, up to about 3.5 cm. Of course, some of these small fibroids never grow larger anyway. But the hormonal balancing properties of certain herbs do seem to be effective for treating bleeding symptoms.

In my own case, my fibroids were also already large before I discovered them. I tried a prescribed herbal treatment for almost 5 months, but discontinued it as I thought my fibroids were still growing. I think they have grown more in the 6 months since I stopped the herbs, so I can't blame the herbs for the growth. I do not bleed heavily, but over the past two years or so, I have had very light intermittent bleeding (1 thin pad all day does me) for a few days beyond when my period would have normally ended. While I was taking the herbs, my periods really ended on day 5. since I stopped they have gotten longer again.

The problem with trying these long-term and unproven methods when your fibroids are already large is that the larger the fibroids are, the more difficult surgery becomes and the less effective/more risky UAE becomes. Yes, you should make insurance a priority and you should monitor your fibroids and not wait too long to take action. But if you absolutely can't afford to get treatment, I suppose you can live with your fibroids as long as no crisis situation such as severe anaemia or kidney blockage develops. For most of us, fibroids are uncomfortable and restricting but not life-threatening. Do be warned that your symptoms are likely to gradually get worse as the fibroids grow. And you have a long time until your menopausal years.

My own feeling about the limitations of complementary medicine in treating fibroids is that fibroids are in a sense healthy tissue. They thrive on a good supply and a proper dose of female hormones. The healthier you live, the better you can cope with your fibroids, but I don't think they'll go away.

>Hysterectomy is not an option for me since I have>put off having children until my life is more>stable (I'm 31 years old and single). Myo>doesn't seem to last any more than a couple of>years from the women whose comments I've read so>far so I'm wondering if there is a myo/UAE option>where the two can be used in combination to keep>the myo from returning rather than choosing one>of the other. I would love to have the fibroid>gone but I want to be sure it is going to stay>gone. Has anyone heard of the two treatments>being used together?

Yes I have. UAE was originally used for fibroids in order to reduce bleeding during myomectomy. But it was found that fibroids don't grow again after UAE, so that myomectomy was unnecessary. Since the technique is relatively new, we can't be sure what will happen with younger women in the long term. But you should expect to remain fibroid free for at over 5 years, which cannot be guaranteed with myomectomy. On the other hand, although women have had successful pregnancies after UAE, myo is usually advised for women who want children - especially if their particular fibroids are easily accessible by surgery. If the fibroids return and cause any problems, the woman can have embolisation later on.

Back to combining myo and embo: the IR I'm consulting says that because I have a very large fibroid which may cause complications, the optimal treatment would be embo (for all my fibroids) and myo (for large subserosal fibroid) on the same day. He says that Dr McLucas and team have done this in California and that some doctors are doing the combined procedure in France.

I've had correspondence with a woman who recently had combined myo and embo in France. The doctor said she should have myo because she wanted children. Usually when doctors say this, they are saying they don't advise UAE in case it might adversely affect your ovaries. But this doesn't seem to be the rationale in her case. She wanted to have children quite soon (biological clock ticking). Perhaps the location of her fibroids was preventing conception, implantation, etc and it was important to clear them completely rather than to let them gradually shrink?

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>Message: 11> Date: Sun, 31 Dec 2000 00:12:19 -0000> >Subject: New Here

Lynda wrote " I'm 31(as of last May), single, haven't had any children. ...During a yearly >check up in June 1998, I had asked about some changes in my period >that didn't seem right, the nurse practioner (who I saw instead of>the gyno for my yearly exams) didn't seem to think it was anything to >worry about. My period seemed to start a little earlier and the >quality of the flow was changing...becoming more congealed and>clotty, but not necessarily noticably heavier at this point. She just>thought that since I was getting older that my progesterone levels >were changing. I also started gaining weight after the first of the >year (1999) and brought that concern up to my family doctor... " Well, " >he said, " you are getting older. That just happens. Start exercising >more. "

In my late 40s, it seemed reasonable to think that the little changes in my menstrual flow, the frequent urination, and the increase in my girth were due to the hormonal changes of aging. I am apparently not perimenopausal yet. If I had taken these minor symptoms more seriously, I might well have discovered my fibroids a year or two earlier and perhaps have had UAE at an earlier and better time. Thirty-one seems to me an early age to dismiss symtoms as being due to changing hormones.

Given that your fibroid has grown from 3.5cm to 5.2 cm within a year (possibly under influence of BC pills), and is symptomatic, you are probably as well having it removed.