Re: Pregnancy and Degeneration

[Guest guest]

,

I'm sure others will respond further, but pregnancy increases estrogen which

would not decrease fibroid size and I don't recall anyone on this list saying

fibroids that degenerated were painful.

Robin

[Guest guest]

I have not experienced " natural " degeneration of fibroids, but I have

had UFE and the pain for the first six hours or so (while my fibroids

" medically " degenerated) was pretty intense. Of course I was in the

hospital and had morphine on demand so the pain was eased. I have

heard that when a fibroid denerates on it's own it can be pretty

painful. My former gynecologist tried to scare me into a hysterectomy

by telling me that if one of mine started to die on it's own I would

require an emergency hysterectomy. I sought a second (and third and

fourth opinion) and found that is not true at all.

Carol W.

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

I despise scare tactics! Perhaps that approach is used in order to create

movement and to impress

upon the patient the importance of taking action? I can remember as a young

woman, being told (at the

time I was without without family or even a boy friend, or support), that I was

" rotting from the

inside out " and would have to go on hemodialysis if I didn't get my kidney

removed very soon. After,

I had a nervous breakdown right there in the doctors waiting room and all the

doctor could do was

refer me to a psychiatrist as I sat in his outside room and wailed. It wasn't

as time sensitive as

he indicated but I went ahead and had a kidney removed. Yes, there were

complications....big

ones....I still KNOW that if the opinion were posited in a different way to me

that I would have had

different results because it is important to have a good mind set and be

prepared, barring

emergency....I would have had a second or third opinion and sought out someone I

was comfortable with

and prepared myself better with better results, guaranteed. gg

Carol wrote:

> I have not experienced " natural " degeneration of fibroids, but I have

> had UFE and the pain for the first six hours or so (while my fibroids

> " medically " degenerated) was pretty intense. Of course I was in the

> hospital and had morphine on demand so the pain was eased. I have

> heard that when a fibroid denerates on it's own it can be pretty

> painful. My former gynecologist tried to scare me into a hysterectomy

> by telling me that if one of mine started to die on it's own I would

> require an emergency hysterectomy. I sought a second (and third and

> fourth opinion) and found that is not true at all.

> Carol W.

>

> __________________________________________________

>

[Guest guest]

My doctor said that it

> was likely that if I were to conceive with my multiple fibroids that

> degeneration of the fibroids would occur.

> My understanding is that the blood supply is cut off and fibroids

degenerate

> which is very painful.

I have gone through two pregnancies with multiple and two large

fibroids. During pregancy, the blood supply to the uterus, and thus

the fibroids, increases. So do the levels of estrogen in your body.

So if anything, your fibroids would probably tend to grow, not

degenerate.

Both my pregnancies were relatively trouble free, except that I was

quite large by the end due to being already 12-14 week size to begin

with. Even though my largest (10cm) fibroid appeared to be blocking

the cervix, and my OB's (different ones) on both occasions expected

to deliver by c-section, in the end I was able to deliver both

children vaginally with no special help or difficulties.

I would encourage anyone with asymptomatic fibroids desiring children

to at least attempt to concieve before worrying about treatments for

the fibroids which might compromise fertility (UFE, myo, etc.).

According to every OB/GYN I've seen, many (perhaps even most) women

with fibroids are able to concieve and deliver normally.

Degeneration can be painful. My fibroid near my cervix has been

degenerating on it's own off and on over the last couple years, so I

know. But I happily take the pain, because it means that sucker is

shrinking!!! (Unfortunately, one of my other fibroids has been

growing at the same time, sigh!)

Suzanne

[Guest guest]

, I am a woman who has gone through a tremendous

amount of pain. I have osteoarthritis in my neck, and I tore my

rotator cuff in my shoulder once. Nothing and I emphasize

NOTHING comes even close to the pain of a degenerating

fibroid. I eventually miscarried at fourteen weeks, but I spent

days on the sofa popping Darvocet like it was Pez (the only

painkiller I could have while pg). I absolutely refuse to even think

about getting pregnant again with these fibroids inside me.

Apparently, the one fibroid did die, but I am left with three

additional ones.

Apparently some women have gone through a complete

pregnancy with fibroids in place, and my doctor has told me that

it's possible now that the one is dead the others may not give

me any trouble, but then again, it might. I'm not willing to take

that chance.

Roslyn

[Guest guest]

Hi ...

I had first found out about my fibroids during my pregnancy in 2001.

Due to the increase in estrogen during pregnancy they increased

significantly in size. Unfortunately I had a stillbirth @ 31wks

which they (all the pathologists, genticists, other docs) feel was

due to genetic problems, but I also wonder if the fibroids may have

played some part in making the situation worse. However, with that

being said, I've heard of many women that are able to conceive and

carry healthy babies with fibroids present - really depends on the

type/location and size of the fibroids. After pregnancy the estrogen

levels go down, and in my case (and from my understanding, in

general) my big fibroids did shrink. I'm not sure if they had

outgrown their blood supply and started degenerating during the last

2-3 weeks of my pregnancy (when they seemed to stop getting any

bigger as seen on u/s) or after... since I had painful cramping, etc.

throughout the pregnancy and a lot of pain after the delivery last

August... up until the point when I got my fibroids removed this

June. The pathology report of my fibroids which were removed

indicated that several of them were significantly degnerated and

calcified (which I understand happens when they degenerate and really

just signifies a change in the fibroid tissue structure following the

*death* of a fibroid). So, with all that being said - in my personal

experience my fibroids did degenerate following pregnancy (or perhaps

started to in the last few weeks of the pregnancy) and the degeration

was indeed painful, VERY painful. Oh, and the ones that seemed to be

causing me the most symptoms in the last months leading up to my

abdominal myomectomy were the ones that were identified by pathology

as being the most significantly degenerated/calcifed... but that may

also been related to that combined with where they were located as

well.

Hope this helps... but again, every woman's experience is very

different. IMHO, best thing you can do is to learn as much as you

can about fibroids and pregnancy and get some good and very well

informed/skilled docs on your side before making a decision whether

to try to conceive with fibroids present.

~ P. :-)

>

> Hi everyone,

>

> I had a question about pregnancy and degeneration. My doctor said

that it

> was likely that if I were to conceive with my multiple fibroids that

> degeneration of the fibroids would occur.

> My understanding is that the blood supply is cut off and fibroids

degenerate

> which is very painful.

> Has anyone experienced this?

>

>

[Guest guest]

Dear :

You mentioned that you experienced discomfort from degenerating

fibroids and had procedures to address them. In your opinion, were

the degenerated fibroids that were removed completely degenerated or

in the process of becoming completely " inert " ? I know that

the " transition stage " is a painful process. I was hoping that

embolized fibroids would eventually cause no more pain. Thanks for

listening.

[Guest guest]

Hi ...

Hmmmm... good question. I think that based on what my doc has said

and the pathology reports that it is quite likely that I was

experiencing painful symptoms by the ongoing degeneration of some of

the fibroids as well as due to where some of them were located. Side

note - I had my fibroids removed not only because of all the

pain/symptoms I had, but also for concern of their location (a couple

very close to a ureter, another is thought to have caused the

torsion of one of my ovaries). As well as a concern for how they

might affect future fertility/pregnancy loss risks. It was not

mentioned on the pathology report if any were *completely* degnerated

(or as you termed it, *inert*). But even if any of them had become

*inert*, the others may have still been adding to my pain/symptoms.

So, I doubt this answer helps you much - perhaps there are some women

on this or other boards who have had an embolization procedure that

would be willing to share their experiences.

Hope you might find more helpful info...

P. :-)

> Dear :

>

> You mentioned that you experienced discomfort from degenerating

> fibroids and had procedures to address them. In your opinion, were

> the degenerated fibroids that were removed completely degenerated

or

> in the process of becoming completely " inert " ? I know that

> the " transition stage " is a painful process. I was hoping that

> embolized fibroids would eventually cause no more pain. Thanks for

> listening.

>

>