Fibroids

[MrsWildermac]

Hello all,

I've just been told I have at least one whopper of a fibroid (at least 10cm), am aware of it, feel 'heavy', awful periods etc etc.

Has anyone got any positive stories of either ways I can help shrink it or treatment stories where they have gone on to conceive?

I found out I had a large fibroid while having tests to see why I wasn’t conceiving. At the time I had just found out I was pregnant. Went on to have lovely DS, as fibroid grow during pregnancy due to the hormones I had to have mine removed (too big for keyhole) a year after ds was born.

6years on a I think I have another one I have heavy periods but not painful but due to other things I haven’t seen a Gp about it yet.

Good luck op

I had a huge one which was giving me problems with periods etc. I had it removed 6 years ago and no problems since. I'm so glad I had it done. However I had already had DC so not an issue.

So glad to hear surgery worked for you @EmmaGrundyForPM - do you mind me asking what kind of procedure you had done? We already have a DC but have been trying for another for five years. Feels like this is the last straw.

I’ve had two abdominal myomectomies ( surgery to remove fibroids) and had 2 children after the second one. Conceived naturally - to my surprise. They’ve come back again and I’ve been advised to look at uterine artery embolisation. All the best.

Tranexamic acid works very well for me for heavy periods. I take it 4 times a day for the first 2 days.

Thanks @plinkyplonkyploo -- that's really helpful! Have taken TE for the past two periods and it's made a massive difference!

@MrsWildermac

So glad to hear surgery worked for you *@EmmaGrundyForPM* - do you mind me asking what kind of procedure you had done? We already have a DC but have been trying for another for five years. Feels like this is the last straw.

I had a straightforward surgical removal. It was helped by the fact tha the fibroid was attached to the uterine wall by a stalk. I spent one night in hospital and had a couple of days at home recovering but that was more because of the GA than the surgery. No problems since.

How old are you op? Sounds like my whopper, I too could feel it's heaviness and I'm very slim so it was visible too
I had a full hysterectomy but I was early 40s. It was growing rapidly and because of where it was, there wasn't any other options really.

Sorry op, have just noticed that you are trying to conceive
Does it affect your life in any other way? Mine caused such painful, heavy periods that my quality of life was really affected by it.

I conceived whilst having 2 large fibroids.
Thought I was having bowel issues but the big one was low down at the back.

Had to have an extra couple of scans as they were worried it was blocking the exit or weight baby pressing on it would cause problems. They stretched as my womb expanded and disappeared.

Came back though and waiting to get the lot taken out now.

I had a shit ton. Went away for a while travelling which massively upped my vitamin d. Upped my fitness. Conceived on first try. When I went for scan they asked me where my fibroids had gone and kept asking at every scan as it was noted on my records! Still have no idea what happened but baby was born healthy and well no issues. Also heavy periods are gone.

Dietary wise I think giving up dairy/gluten made a massive difference. Good luck op.

I had one massive one too that took over my entire womb. Bleeding was horrendous and only controllable with norethisterone and tranexamic. I think it had its own blood supply or something 😂. After initial nhs appointment I was sent away with the pill I went private. They wanted to do abdominal surgery but I couldn't afford it at the time. There is embolisation - there's a centre for it somewhere in england, it wasn't an option for me but the lead doctor kindly looked at my mri's to make that decision. I had keyhole surgery to remove it two years ago. Had no issues, recovery was fine & back on my feet within a week. Worse thing was the pain from the gas they pump into you (totally harmless though) Periods came back to normal within a month. I'm currently 21 weeks pregnant so had no issues conceiving either. Natural & unplanned. I think I still have a tiny fibroid somewhere but that's normal for most women and it's not doing any harm. Only thing is the doctors will need to make a decision later on in my pregnancy wherever the scar tissue from the operation means I need a section or not. I'm willing to leave that up to them! In my experience anyway, I felt I got very little support from gp, little in the way of referrals etc. I was literally bleeding to death at times & getting repeat prescriptions for norethisterone and tranexamic. I had my surgery abroad on my health insurance when I was working abroad & they couldn't believe it had been allowed to go on for years when it wasn't manageable & if I had wanted to I would have been in no state to conceive either! Personally I would recommend the keyhole as recovery is so quick, but it will be really up to the particular surgeon on the nhs. Definitely look into the embolisation too! Good luck

I got pregnant naturally and at my 1st scan they discovered I had a rapidly growing fibroid. Luckily it was pendiculated on the outside of my womb, unluckyily, it was quite painful during pregnancy.

I had my son and forgot all about it. Then had an xray 12 years later for a back problem where they found a mass in my stomach. A scan revealed that my fibroid was about 12 cm in diameter and had calcified. It doesn't cause any real issues other than sometimes I can feel it move and sometimes it lands on my bladder which does cause me a few issues. They won't remove it, so just something I live with.

I had a 15cm fibroid and had a uterine fibroid embolisation at my local hospital in June. I have a further scan in sep to check see if it has shrunk. All I can say is my 3 periods since having it ..The first one was incredibly light..but the following 2 were heavier. .i don't know yet if it has really worked.

I had some fibroids removed a couple of years ago. I'm not sure of the exact size but they said they took out one grapefruit, two oranges and several grapes! I had to have an incision like a Caesarian as they were too big to do keyhole, but it was fine. I was in hospital for 3 nights and had 6 weeks off work to recover, by which time I was completely ready to go back to my job as a Reception teacher.

I feel so much more comfortable now and my periods are a bit lighter, but I never had problems with my periods really. I used to get a lot of pains all through the month which I don't get at all now.

Had one removed with a lap and dye, conceived 2 months later. Went private, cost 2k, knock you out, suck it out. No pain.

Yes I had a large one removed surgically. Had it when pregnant with eldest DS and it grew with pregnancy hormones. Sadly went on to have a late miscarriage at 20 weeks which was possibly caused by the fibroid. Had it removed and went on to have a successful pregnancy. Had to have CS because of the risk of rupturing, and was told no more babies because of the medical risk.

I had a couple of small ones and one that was around 6cm and the bleeding was horrendous. I had mine treated with uterine artery embolisation and 6 months in the bleeding is a lot less heavy and I’m bleeding for fewer days. Treatment options will depend on where your fibroids are located (mine were within the wall of the womb so weren’t suitable for ablation and removing them surgically would apparently have been quite tricky. If you want to conceive then you need to make your gynae consultant aware of this as some of the treatments are suitable for people who still want to have children.

@allhappeningatonce

I had one massive one too that took over my entire womb. Bleeding was horrendous and only controllable with norethisterone and tranexamic. I think it had its own blood supply or something 😂. After initial nhs appointment I was sent away with the pill I went private. They wanted to do abdominal surgery but I couldn't afford it at the time. There is embolisation - there's a centre for it somewhere in england, it wasn't an option for me but the lead doctor kindly looked at my mri's to make that decision. I had keyhole surgery to remove it two years ago. Had no issues, recovery was fine & back on my feet within a week. Worse thing was the pain from the gas they pump into you (totally harmless though) Periods came back to normal within a month. I'm currently 21 weeks pregnant so had no issues conceiving either. Natural & unplanned. I think I still have a tiny fibroid somewhere but that's normal for most women and it's not doing any harm. Only thing is the doctors will need to make a decision later on in my pregnancy wherever the scar tissue from the operation means I need a section or not. I'm willing to leave that up to them! In my experience anyway, I felt I got very little support from gp, little in the way of referrals etc. I was literally bleeding to death at times & getting repeat prescriptions for norethisterone and tranexamic. I had my surgery abroad on my health insurance when I was working abroad & they couldn't believe it had been allowed to go on for years when it wasn't manageable & if I had wanted to I would have been in no state to conceive either! Personally I would recommend the keyhole as recovery is so quick, but it will be really up to the particular surgeon on the nhs. Definitely look into the embolisation too! Good luck

This was the exact same for me. My (female) GP was useless. The bleeding was horrendous, I was anaemic and breathless all the time. I eventually saw a different GP and insisted on a gynae referral. After that it was great, gynae consultant was fabulous and took me seriously. But I put up with 4 years of my GP telling me I'd just have to put up with it

I’m not trying to conceive, but I had multiple fibroids removed with emobolisation and they grew back. Last time I had a scan one was 7cm but they said no to taking them out as they are in the muscles now. I know they are even larger now as I am struggling so badly with periods but apparently just have to put up with it!

Thank you everyone. Have a telephone appt with GP on Friday so will stand my ground and fight my corner!

Good luck. ..can you update to say how it went?

Thanks @toomanyspiderplants - I spoke to a lovely GP on the phone and got referred straight to gynae. It's 10.6cm apparently and GP wasn't sure of exact location so will see what happens next! Thanks for caring

@MrsWildermac well thats good progress. In my earlier post I said I had had a ufe. I am on my period now. .It's weirdly extremely light. I cannot in all honesty say the ufe has worked or not because I am 51 so clearly approaching menopause so maybe it's that. I have a scan on the 26th September.