Debating

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I'm debating on what to do about my fibroids. I

thought I had had it all figured out and then I start

reading your stories and think I don't have it so bad

....I'm about to be 35 yrs old, I have 2 kids, my

husband is fixed, and I'm happily married. So having

more kids is not a concern. What is a concern is two

weeks out of every month is wasted with what I would

call extreme bleeding, tiredness, yuckville, etc. and

no sex! (had to throw that in there!) What drives me

crazy is my bleeding is unpredictable, one day or hour

even hardly anything and than suddenly I'm soaking

Super Plus and pads! (which by the way I discovered

O.B. makes an Ultra Super Plus, that was a sad day

when I was in the middle of the store so excited about

a higher absorbancy rating!) Anyhow, I think I should

have bought stock in feminine protection. (Do you

think the manufactors put something int heir stuff to

give us fibroids? Paranoid thought) So for at least 2

years now I have these awful periods, accidents,

embarrasement, etc. I think I have heavy bleeding-a

super in under an hour plus HUGE clots 6 inches long

....sorry to gross you out, but to me this is a lot and

from some of you it sounds like nothing so i'm

thinking I might be wussing out here. So I go to Dr.

#1 two years ago, the 1st response after I describe my

symptoms is do I want more kids? no. Then get a

hysterectomy. That whole scenerio shocked the heck out

of me and totally freaked me out. She suggested the

Pill. I hated it, plus the idea of being on it for

over 20 years until menopause did not sound appealing

or very healthy. I said no. Consequently, I did

nothing. It seemed manageable, even better for awhile,

but than worse again. I knew I needed a different dr.

I did a ton of research. Decided UAE sounded the best.

Finally I went to a new dr. I instantly liked her. She

referred me to a specialist. WHo spent over an hour

and half with me and my husband reviewing options.But

as it turns out, via ultrasound, the problem with me

is location not size so I am not a good candidate for

UAE. Plus she said I have a higher rate of ovarian

failure, one of my biggest fears, than hysterectomy.

By the end of our consultation-entirely on my own

without dr pressure-I started thinking hysterectomy. I

even voiced this and she told me not to decide right

away and to call her in a few days. (I could have

hugged her right there, esp compared to my knife

wielding previous dr. )The other option is the myo,

but I'm worried about them suckers growing back. I

don't want to go thru another operation! I'm starting

to think if I have to have an operation let's just

take it all out. I'm shocked at myself for feeling

this way...6 months ago I preached the evils of

hysterectomy and the conspiracy against women...and

now here I am ....

ANY ONE WHO CAN RELATE? OR HAS HAD A HYSTERECTOMY AND

IS HAPPY?

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Dear Philese

I am going through the same thing except that I am 47 years old.

Post to the group what you find out!

good luck

Barbara

[Guest guest]

My mother had a complete hysterectomy in 1982 due to fibroids on her ovaries

and severe endometriosis. Some of the fibroids on her ovaries were

cancerous. She went through the same things you are going through, only then

there was no ultra absorbancy anything. I had to go into the store for her

several times to get her more pads because she had soaked the one she had on

on the way to the store to get more. In her case hysterectomy was the only

option as she had sarcoma as well as fibroids. She has been on hrt since her

hysterectomy. She has had a bone density test and has lost no bone mass.

She has a mamogram every year, and she does self breast exams. She is 67

now, and was 47 at the time of her hysterectomy. She is very happy with it.

I am not suggesting a hysterectomy at your age, and would research in depth

all of the options that you have to treat your fibroids. If you don't

already have one, find a good doctor who is knowledgable and willing to

listen to you and your concerns. For my mother hysterectomy was the only

option, but in yours you have so many others. I opted for myomectomy, but

I want to have children and don't have any and have had two miscarriages.

For me this was my only option so that I could carry a pregnancy. I also had

a polyp along with a fibroid, so they were both removed. I would explore all

of the options, and research them all extensively before having a

hysterectomy at 35. Good luck in your decision.

Dana

[Guest guest]

Philese, I know exactly how you are feeling. I have all the same symptoms

(long periods, clots, feeling tired, anemia, no sex, etc). I too thought I

was on the right track--had a D & C, new b/c pills, fibroids are small so I

thought I'd do the wait & see approach. But now I'm tired of this. I am

deciding what to do with my fibroids also. The doc said maybe we can get you

to menopause, but I'm only 43 and that could be 10 years away. I got so

frustrated the other night during a long period that I told my husband this

is why some women opt for the big H. This whole ordeal is physically and

mentally exhausting. This group really helps to know that there a lot of

other women going through the same thing we are. Good luck.

[Guest guest]

Where did your doctor get the " statistics " that show UAE to have a

higher ovarian failure than hysterectomy? From what I've read as

many as 50% of hysterectomy patients experience premature ovarian

failure. The failure rate from UAE is somewhere in the single digit

range, at least for women under 45. It seems to be higher for

perimenopausal women over 45.

Who told you that you were not a good candidate for UAE? Your

gynecologist or an IR?

Where are your fibroids? With your heavy bleeding it sounds as if

you may have submucousal fibroids. Many of these can be removed

through hysterocopy, an outpatient procedure that requires NO

incision, and virtually no recovery time (other than abstinence from

sex, tampons, etc.) Even the tiniest submucousal fibroid can cause

extremely heavy bleeding.

The first doctor I saw was ready to take out my uterus before I

found out that I could have hysteroscopic resection done to remove

my 3cm submucousal fibroid. I had the procedure in January, and my

periods have been much lighter since. And of course he made

hysterectomy sound like the most reasonable thing to do. I am so

glad I found this group and started doing some research on my own.

And yes I have a new doctor now.

I think that you have a lot of questions to ask and research before

making a final decision.

> Hi,

> I'm debating on what to do about my fibroids. I

> thought I had had it all figured out and then I start

> reading your stories and think I don't have it so bad

> ...I'm about to be 35 yrs old, I have 2 kids, my

> husband is fixed, and I'm happily married. So having

> more kids is not a concern. What is a concern is two

> weeks out of every month is wasted with what I would

> call extreme bleeding, tiredness, yuckville, etc. and

> no sex! (had to throw that in there!) What drives me

> crazy is my bleeding is unpredictable, one day or hour

> even hardly anything and than suddenly I'm soaking

> Super Plus and pads! (which by the way I discovered

> O.B. makes an Ultra Super Plus, that was a sad day

> when I was in the middle of the store so excited about

> a higher absorbancy rating!) Anyhow, I think I should

> have bought stock in feminine protection. (Do you

> think the manufactors put something int heir stuff to

> give us fibroids? Paranoid thought) So for at least 2

> years now I have these awful periods, accidents,

> embarrasement, etc. I think I have heavy bleeding-a

> super in under an hour plus HUGE clots 6 inches long

> ...sorry to gross you out, but to me this is a lot and

> from some of you it sounds like nothing so i'm

> thinking I might be wussing out here. So I go to Dr.

> #1 two years ago, the 1st response after I describe my

> symptoms is do I want more kids? no. Then get a

> hysterectomy. That whole scenerio shocked the heck out

> of me and totally freaked me out. She suggested the

> Pill. I hated it, plus the idea of being on it for

> over 20 years until menopause did not sound appealing

> or very healthy. I said no. Consequently, I did

> nothing. It seemed manageable, even better for awhile,

> but than worse again. I knew I needed a different dr.

> I did a ton of research. Decided UAE sounded the best.

> Finally I went to a new dr. I instantly liked her. She

> referred me to a specialist. WHo spent over an hour

> and half with me and my husband reviewing options.But

> as it turns out, via ultrasound, the problem with me

> is location not size so I am not a good candidate for

> UAE. Plus she said I have a higher rate of ovarian

> failure, one of my biggest fears, than hysterectomy.

> By the end of our consultation-entirely on my own

> without dr pressure-I started thinking hysterectomy. I

> even voiced this and she told me not to decide right

> away and to call her in a few days. (I could have

> hugged her right there, esp compared to my knife

> wielding previous dr. )The other option is the myo,

> but I'm worried about them suckers growing back. I

> don't want to go thru another operation! I'm starting

> to think if I have to have an operation let's just

> take it all out. I'm shocked at myself for feeling

> this way...6 months ago I preached the evils of

> hysterectomy and the conspiracy against women...and

> now here I am ....

> ANY ONE WHO CAN RELATE? OR HAS HAD A HYSTERECTOMY AND

> IS HAPPY?

>

> __________________________________________________

>

[Guest guest]

You state " she referred me to a specialist " . Was that specialist an

interventional radiologist? If not, you should consult with an IR before you

reject the idea of UAE. From what I can tell, there are very few physicians,

other than IR's, that truely understand the ins and outs of UAE. Also, there is

no harm in having the consultation.

Ann

[Guest guest]

> have bought stock in feminine protection. (Do you

> think the manufactors put something int heir stuff to

> give us fibroids? Paranoid thought)

Seriously, we all are exposed to a lot of xenoestrogens in the things

we eat/drink/use. Xeno's are environmental compounds usually derived

from petrochemicals that have potent estrogen-like activity in the

body and have increasingly been linked to reproductive

abnormalities. Think of all the petrochem products --plastics

(pacifiers!), things such as plastic wrap (some say not to let

plastic wrap touch your food), microwave food in plastic trays,

herbicides, pesticides, (cattle eat grain sprayed with it), etc etc.

I've seen some reports about the increasing numbers of young girls

developing breasts as preschoolers, menstruating by age 8, etc. So

just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get you.

I was in a similar familial situation and with similar symptoms to

yours starting at about age 35 -- not dibilitating (and pales in

comparison to some in this group) but certainly inconvenient and

annoying. Just lived with it for a number of years because like you,

symptoms weren't necessarily constant or consistent and docs were

knife-happy. Avoided intercourse when too messy, but never miss out

on having sex (give oral, receive manual).

I'm 52 now and two years ago reduced heavy bleeding and intermittent

spotting symptoms by using

natural progesterone cream, which supposedly " balances out "

estrogens. It's not the " synthetic " progestins used in BC pills, so

you may want to look into it. Wish I had discovered it years

earlier! Now that I'm close to menopause, and although bleeding

occurs irregularly and I still get some clots but not as bad as

before, I feel I can wait it out. Get Dr. Lee's book -- " what

your doc may not tell you about pre-menopause " if you want to learn

more about environmental and synthetic hormones and the nat

progesterone therapy. If you get the cream, don't expect immediate

results -- use it for several months (about $100 for 6-month

supply). In my opinion and experience, it's at least worth a try

before agreeing to undergo more invasive or surgical options, the

effects or complications of which could affect sexual function

(orgasms) permanently. Some women, though, experience greater sexual

pleasure after hysterectomy, but to me, the risk just wasn't worth

it. There is no easy answer. Best of luck.

Bev

>

> __________________________________________________

>

[Guest guest]

Well.. I can certainly relate. I first discovered I had fibroids when I was

pregnant with my son nearly 14 years ago. I had a c-section, and since then

I've had two myomectomies. The fibroids have come back again, though, and

just as I joined this group last week, I began to seriously look into UAE.

It was my experience that, although it is unlikely that the fibroids they

removed grew back, others certainly grew after the myos. They could have

been fibroids that were microscopic at the time of the myos, or new ones.

Either way, I have them again.

The twist is - just as I was about to make an appointment for with an

IR to look into UAE, I discovered I was pregnant. Amazing but true -

particularly since I was told by several gynecologists that it would be just

about impossible for me to become pregnant, especially now, due to the

fibroids, the scar tissue and my age (44). So here I am... it CAN happen.

I, too, am interested in women who've had hysterectomies, because if I am

fortunate enough to be able to carry this baby to term or something close to

it, I will most certainly have to have another c-section, and I am seriously

considering a hysterectomy afterward.

Miriam

-

[Guest guest]

> Hi,

> I'm debating on what to do about my fibroids.

> By the end of our consultation-entirely on my own

> without dr pressure-I started thinking hysterectomy. I

> even voiced this and she told me not to decide right

> away and to call her in a few days. (I could have

> hugged her right there, esp compared to my knife

> wielding previous dr. )The other option is the myo,

> but I'm worried about them suckers growing back. I

> don't want to go thru another operation! I'm starting

> to think if I have to have an operation let's just

> take it all out. I'm shocked at myself for feeling

> this way...6 months ago I preached the evils of

> hysterectomy and the conspiracy against women...and

> now here I am ....

> ANY ONE WHO CAN RELATE? OR HAS HAD A HYSTERECTOMY AND

> IS HAPPY?

>

I can completely relate. I had a myomectomy just over a year ago and

now just discovered I have more tiny fibroids. A friend of mine who

is a doctor (female oncologist) tried convincing me that hysterectomy

was my best option. By the time I got into see my doctor I began to

think maybe she was right. After all, who wants a myomectomy every

few years? My doctor, bless him, talked me out of it.

He pointed out that hysterectomy is irreversable, my symptoms are

haven't yet returned (that I was experiencing before my myo), my

fibroids are not even palpable at this point and by the time they are

big enough to cause me problems, there may be better options. Or,

they may grow slowly enough not to cause any more problems and

menopause will take care of them.

Plus he told me about lots of new studies showing more and more

negative consequences of hysterectomy.

I'm not suggesting hysterectomy isn't the best option for some

people. I know several women who have had one and are happy.

But after talking to my doctor, I thought to myself - what was I

thinking?

DeAnn