Re: is there a connection ...fibroid causes...my story (long)

[Guest guest]

I think for some women environmental endocrine disrupters such as

pesticides in their food and homes/yeard might be an influencing

factor. But in my families case I've come to believe it is not the

case.

My sister is 30, I'm 33. Neither of us has ever been pregnant. I have

a 6cm fibroid, my sister had 6 or 7 that were the equivalent mass of

a grapefruit. Our mother, great aunt and great grandmother all had

fibroids -- but it was when they were in their 40s when they found

them as they started causing problems, after they had children. My

mother, sister and I also all have fairly heavy and lenthy periods.

My mother had low progesterone when she was having her first baby,

she also had bad PMS. I have fairly bad PMS and my sister as well,

when she hasn't been on the pill. We are all of normal body weight,

but I can't vouch for my great-grandmother since I never met her. I

think in our immediate family there is a tendency of our bodies to

not produce enough progesterone leading to a state of estrogen

dominance. My mother was on thyroid medication when pregnant with us

both since she is hypo-thyroid, it was the late 60s/early 70s and the

dosage was super high compared to doses given today.

My sister and I both grew up eating a lot of meat, red meat in

particular several times a week. When we left home we both shifted

our diets to have almost no red meat and greatly increased our intake

of vegetables. I've been eating mostly organic food for the past 7

years.

I had a lot of exposure to solvents in college as an art major, my

sister did not. Our neighborhood when we were growing up was in the

suburbs of NYC. My parents had the trees sprayed to control the

caterpillers (there was an infestation in the early 80s) and we also

had pesticides used in the house due to a carpenter ant problem. No

one had any trouble with their health during this time (some 20-24

years ago now)

My sister was on birth control pills for years including depro

provera that made her feel like she was going through menopause,

norplant, one with lots of progestins that made her breasts so sore

that she was in a lot of pain, and then later continuous cycling

where she didn't get her period since she had a lot of pelvic pain. I

never used birth control pills only condoms. I think we both used

tampons but I used them conservatively since there was so much press

when I reached menarche about toxic shock syndrome and the link to

tampons.

We both have been through a lot of stress due to financial issues my

parents had when we were in school and college (and into our 20s). I

think that the stress we were under might have contributed to our

early development of fibroids.

We are going to participate in the Brigham & Women's Hospital study

since I think we represent some genetic risk.

With my naturopath's approval I started using natural progesterone

cream halfway through my luteal phase last cycle, I'm just finishing

my second cycle. I was pleased to see that it helped improve my

moodiness (I felt great mentally and emotionally), decreased my

fibrocystic tissue in my breasts by a bit, and helped dry up my

cervical fluid the way it is supposed to be in the luteal phase. My

breasts still did get a little sore and I had other normal PMS

symptoms such as flaky scalp and some acne. I'm hoping that

progesterone will help decrease my period a bit due to it's affect on

the endometrium during the luteal phase but I'll let you know when I

find out.

I don't think progesterone supplementation will work for everyone but

in my case I did have the blood work confirming low progesterone. Why

my body wouldn't produce enough progesterone is a stumper for me

though and I am going to see an acupuncturist next week to see if

there is any way to balance my hormones that way. I would love it if

accupuncture helped shrink my fibroid, but if it just helps balance

my hormones and helping get rid of my PMS would be enough. I continue

to work with a naturopath and it was that treatment course which

actually suspended my PMS symptoms for just about 6 months making me

realize how much it was affecting me.

--Ann