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Post by iamkristinl16 on Jun 4, 2016 23:59:28 GMT
I am wondering if anyone has had experiences with fibroids. For the last few years my periods have gotten much worse but it sounds like that is common with age. I have clots that seem to be getting bigger and bigger each month. My doctor has suggested an ultrasound and I'll get that scheduled soon. I am worried about getting a hysterectomy, since after my last (4th) c-section he told me that hopefully I would never need one due to the amount of scar tissue I have from my surgeries and endometriosis and how it is attached to my bladder and other organs.
Does this sound like fibroids (the clots)? It so, is there a treatment besides hysterectomy?
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Post by mom on Jun 5, 2016 0:18:19 GMT
melissa is the Pea I would go to for questions like this. She rocks!
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leeny
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Post by leeny on Jun 5, 2016 0:19:07 GMT
Yep, had them, one as big as a grapefruit and the others were growing on top of each other. Had the hysterectomy (left the ovaries) and don't miss that body part at all or the mess I had with my hormones and periods. But then, I was done with having kids, so I didn't think a minute about it.
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gsquaredmom
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Post by gsquaredmom on Jun 5, 2016 0:22:43 GMT
I have huge clots. My periods also started to stretch to 14 days. Had an ultrasound and endometrial biopsy. Very small fibroids inside uterine walls not causing the clots. Negative biopsy. Basically, for me it's part of aging. The blood pools at the cervix and lets loose as a clot. My cramps are not as bad as they used to be, so I suspect my uterus does not contract as well, hence the clots. My gyne said to monitor. No mention of hysterectomy.
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Post by 950nancy on Jun 5, 2016 0:24:53 GMT
Yep, had them, one as big as a grapefruit and the others were growing on top of each other. Had the hysterectomy (left the ovaries) and don't miss that body part at all or the mess I had with my hormones and periods. But then, I was done with having kids, so I didn't think a minute about it. This is my story also. Mine was about the size of a grapefruit and my clots (at their largest) turned out to be the size of lemons. It was too much to deal with. My doctor put me on three birth control pills a day to stop the bleeding and a few weeks later I had the surgery. I don't know of alternatives that work when the bleeding was this bad. |
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melissa
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Post by melissa on Jun 5, 2016 1:30:22 GMT
You are jumping sooo many steps ahead. First, you need to see if there is any evidence of fibroids. Hysterectomy would be the last step. First step, fibroids or not, would be medical therapy.. Second, IF they are causing the bleeding, they would be submucusal, meaning near or involving the lining. Those are treated surgically from a vaginal approach. So many other options- ablations, embolization and more.
Clots do not mean fibroids either. It is just as likely that you are having heavier bleeding. It is not unusual and there are, once again, many ways to treat that, if necessary, without a hysterectomy. If you do need one, I'd advise using a gyn who is known for handling more complicated cases.
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Post by iamkristinl16 on Jun 5, 2016 1:46:42 GMT
You are jumping sooo many steps ahead. First, you need to see if there is any evidence of fibroids. Hysterectomy would be the last step. First step, fibroids or not, would be medical therapy.. Second, IF they are causing the bleeding, they would be submucusal, meaning near or involving the lining. Those are treated surgically from a vaginal approach. So many other options- ablations, embolization and more. Clots do not mean fibroids either. It is just as likely that you are having heavier bleeding. It is not unusual and there are, once again, many ways to treat that, if necessary, without a hysterectomy. If you do need one, I'd advise using a gyn who is known for handling more complicated cases. Thanks! I was put on BC pills for a few months but my blood pressure went up so they took me off. I asked if an ablation was an option and he said hysterectomy might be better. I reminded him of what he had said previously and he just said, "we would just use the robot." |
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Deleted
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Jun 2, 2024 13:20:07 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 5, 2016 2:47:02 GMT
You are jumping sooo many steps ahead. First, you need to see if there is any evidence of fibroids. Hysterectomy would be the last step. First step, fibroids or not, would be medical therapy.. Second, IF they are causing the bleeding, they would be submucusal, meaning near or involving the lining. Those are treated surgically from a vaginal approach. So many other options- ablations, embolization and more. Clots do not mean fibroids either. It is just as likely that you are having heavier bleeding. It is not unusual and there are, once again, many ways to treat that, if necessary, without a hysterectomy. If you do need one, I'd advise using a gyn who is known for handling more complicated cases. Thanks! I was put on BC pills for a few months but my blood pressure went up so they took me off. I asked if an ablation was an option and he said hysterectomy might be better. I reminded him of what he had said previously and he just said, "we would just use the robot." ***I am not a doctor/surgeon*** but I have scrubbed many, many, many robotic hysterectomies. If you have a lot of adhesions due to prior surgeries (and the doctor cannot tell how many or severe they are until they physically look inside with the scope or directly view through an open incision) using the robot does NOT mean it's going to be a walk in the park to take down those adhesions. I have seen many robotic surgeries go open for this very reason (that means we start robotically, but due to the amount or location of adhesions or the way they're attached to the bladder, bowel, etc. we have to take out the robot and perform open belly surgery because the uterus is so "stuck" to other organs that separating them cannot help but compromise the other organs) This sounds scary, and I don't mean to scare you, I just mean to give you a heads-up that while you can definitely have a successful hyster, probably even robotically, you need a surgeon who is very experienced in dealing with adhesions and their potential complications. |
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Post by iamkristinl16 on Jun 5, 2016 3:03:21 GMT
Thanks! I was put on BC pills for a few months but my blood pressure went up so they took me off. I asked if an ablation was an option and he said hysterectomy might be better. I reminded him of what he had said previously and he just said, "we would just use the robot." ***I am not a doctor/surgeon*** but I have scrubbed many, many, many robotic hysterectomies. If you have a lot of adhesions due to prior surgeries (and the doctor cannot tell how many or severe they are until they physically look inside with the scope or directly view through an open incision) using the robot does NOT mean it's going to be a walk in the park to take down those adhesions. I have seen many robotic surgeries go open for this very reason (that means we start robotically, but due to the amount or location of adhesions or the way they're attached to the bladder, bowel, etc. we have to take out the robot and perform open belly surgery because the uterus is so "stuck" to other organs that separating them cannot help but compromise the other organs) This sounds scary, and I don't mean to scare you, I just mean to give you a heads-up that while you can definitely have a successful hyster, probably even robotically, you need a surgeon who is very experienced in dealing with adhesions and their potential complications. That is what I am afraid of. I don't want to jump the gun and go into surgery (if that is what is recommended) and then end up worse off because of something happening during the surgery. I'll make the appt for the ultrasound and go from there. Was just wondering what else could be the problem or other options for treatment. The first few days of my periods are pretty heavy but then usually slow down and are manageable. I was just getting a little worried about the size of the clots and am not sure what is "normal". There are many that are much bigger than a quarter. Actually, now I would say that the smallest ones are the size of a quarter. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 5, 2016 3:16:15 GMT
You wouldn't necessarily be worse off after surgery at all even if your uterus is really stuck to something else. Say, for instance, it's really adhesed to the bowel and to remove it, the doctor has to perforate the bowel. Before that happens, the team gets all the stuff ready to fix the bowel, so that gets repaired right away, same surgery. It makes for longer surgery, of course, and more healing time, but doesn't automatically mean you'd be worse off at all. Usually, though, this happens because someone's uterus must come out due to cancer, adhesions be damned. Since your condition isn't life-threatening, I think you're on the right track to stay conservative in treatment. I hope you find relief soon!  |
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Post by iamkristinl16 on Jun 5, 2016 4:02:56 GMT
You wouldn't necessarily be worse off after surgery at all even if your uterus is really stuck to something else. Say, for instance, it's really adhesed to the bowel and to remove it, the doctor has to perforate the bowel. Before that happens, the team gets all the stuff ready to fix the bowel, so that gets repaired right away, same surgery. It makes for longer surgery, of course, and more healing time, but doesn't automatically mean you'd be worse off at all. Usually, though, this happens because someone's uterus must come out due to cancer, adhesions be damned. Since your condition isn't life-threatening, I think you're on the right track to stay conservative in treatment. I hope you find relief soon! Thanks, that helps me feel better (although I hope it doesn't come to that). I'm in the first few days of my period now so of course feel Worse and it is on my mind right now n |
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gsquaredmom
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Post by gsquaredmom on Jun 5, 2016 4:09:26 GMT
Re the size of your clots. Mine range from small to bigger than my hand and my doc was not worried. And I have big hands for a woman. Ask your doc.
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zookeeper
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Post by zookeeper on Jun 5, 2016 4:24:27 GMT
I had large clots as well. Think thumb size. I had a sonogram and ultrasound and my doctor confirmed a few small fibroids but determined that an ablation would be good for me. You will really not know anything until a sono and U/S are complete and you get a better picture of your uterus.
Good luck to you. I had my ablation two weeks ago and I am crossing my fingers that crime scene in my undies never appears again!
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Post by M~ on Jun 5, 2016 4:35:56 GMT
Think clots so big that they looked like large balls. I would soak through the heavy hospital pads, underwear and clothing several times per day. I was severely anemic.
Fibroids and I had a long and painful history. Until my hysterectomy almost 3 years ago, which was the best thing I could have done for myself.
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zookeeper
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Post by zookeeper on Jun 5, 2016 4:37:37 GMT
The things our bodies put us through! I had a friend who had a hysterectomy and it was absolutely the right decision of her. It changed her life!
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Post by crimsoncat05 on Jun 5, 2016 5:35:13 GMT
I had fibroids that caused fullness in my abdomen and horrible cramps; I had a uterine artery embolization quite a few years ago... it entailed injecting micro-beads of some sort into the uterine artery, because since a fibroid has a rich blood supply, the particles would block the blood supply and help shrink the fibroids. It did help for a number of years. I know a few people who have also had ablations that very much lessened the amount of bleeding they would have.
I did end up having a hysterectomy a few years ago-- my largest fibroid was pressing on my bladder but they weren't sure whether it was attached to the bladder or not. I know they had a urology specialist on standby just in case they needed to repair my bladder during the actual hysterectomy surgery.
I agree with Melissa that there are probably a lot of things they can do for you, though, before having to do hysterectomy surgery. (it sure is nice to never have to worry about it again, though!!)
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Post by anniefb on Jun 5, 2016 6:31:41 GMT
I had fibroids and didn't have any symptoms from them at all. I think it depends what sort they are though.
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Post by digirlwiz on Jun 5, 2016 9:04:46 GMT
Agree that you may be jumping ahead- but I also understand your concern and desire for a resolution. I had several submucosal fibroids. I suffered with heavy, frequent bleeding with clots ranging in size from a grape to a slice of bread (seriously I had 2 that were shaped exactly like a slice of bread!). At one point I required blood tranfusions. My doc was wonderful and tried several things over the years-most with temporary relief. Both of us were reluctant to jump to a hysterectomy (despite the issues- I am fond of my uterus!). Like crimsonat05, I had a uterine artery embolization about 6 years ago. The UAE was wonderfully life transforming for me.
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