Periods and fibroids

[roundbackwiththerestoftheoids]

Hoping for someone to tell me this is completely fine…
Pre kids I used to have the most unbearable pain with my periods, I would be almost crying with it and unable to move for a few hours every month. Fortunately after having kids there is virtually no pain at all however it feels like it’s getting heavier and heavier each time. Last period I had to keep changing my trousers, this time, when I went to get out of bed, so much blood came gushing out by the time I made it to the bathroom it was running down my legs. I had never had that before. When pregnant it was found I had a few fibroids but I know that most women have them. Should I be worried about how heavy the periods are or is it ok? I am fine in myself, usual energy etc..

Gushing is normally a sign of fibroids. I highly recommend getting them
removed if you can. The surgery is a game changer and you feel like you get normal back.

Thank you for replying!

I don’t fancy an operation if I’m honest, I can live with it if that’s all it is I think. Unless it is imperative that they be removed?

A mirena coil is another option. A life changer for me.

There's other options. I had an embolisation.

Yep, definitely sounds like fibroids. The mirena made mine worse! The pill is also an option but doesn't always help IME.
I eventually had an embolisation too but you can also get tranexamic acid tablets (there's another optin too that I can't remember the name of) to help reduce the bleeding. I would definitely speak to your GP.

Thank you everyone. Is it just for comfort reasons that you’d get it treated or are there other consequences if you don’t?

comfort, practicality (I literally couldn't make it through meetings at work without 2 forms of sanitary protection for fear of flooding through my clothes), risk of anaemia, if they grow big enough they can make you look overweight, put pressure on your bladder and make you need to pee more.....

@emmathedilemma that all sounds very reasonable. It is becoming a huge problem for me. The first two days I just spend bleeding through my clothes and it’s so embarrassing and annoying. Does it mean you’re losing a lot more blood than usual?

Please do go and see and GP. You need to be referred for an ultrasound, possibly an MRI and to a gynae consultation.

There are lots of options to treat fibroids, some of the surgical options are not as bad as you might think. Don't keep on suffering!

I went for an ultrasound as I could feel something large protruding around my uterus. Turned out it’s a 10cm round fibroid. (Like a grapefruit). Just had a consultant appt and options are

1. ignore - not advised as any growth will inspect other organs potentially -already have to pee constantly as it pushes on bladder
2. hysterectomy as size is too big to take out without removing uterus
3. embolism/ they cut off blood supply and it kills and shrinks fibroid gradually. Scheduled for option 3 procedure which is just overnight max. My period always v heavy and had lead to iron deficiency recently. Also i use moon cups if that helps; they can take larger volumes (ime). Oh I’m 44. Hope you’re okay!

if it's impacting your life to that extent 2 days a month why wouldn't you do something about it??

I had the embolisation. In for one night. It is quite painful though!!

@roundbackwiththerestoftheoids every woman’s story is different, but I wish I’d sorted mine sooner as they got worse and worse and my bleeding became a danger. That doesn’t happen to everyone, but it can. My recommendation would be to start the journey because it’s a long one, gynae waits are huge and the GP will want to try treatments first. It’s like an 18m-2y trip to a solution, so plenty of time to decide you want to stop, but an awful wait if you wait till you’re at your wits’ end to start. That would be my two pence worth 💜

Thank you everyone so much for your input. You motivated me to call the GP who was very sympathetic. She offered a blood test for anaemia which I declined (definitely not anaemic) and an ultrasound to check that everything is ok in there.

She said a common treatment are some tablets that you would take at the beginning of every period which just reduce the amount of blood somehow (non hormonal) and apparently these are quite effective and hardly have any side effects. Other than that there are the usual normal birth control options as you’ve said.

That'll be tranexamic acid she's referring to. Definitely worth a try and combined with ibuprofen can be very effective.

I also had the embolism. They basically blocked off the main artery leading to the fibroid with plastic beads. They went in via my groin. I also had one grapefruit-sized fibroid that was pressing on my other organs. I always had to be near a loo.
The procedure was life changing. I wish I’d had it done earlier. There are different options depending on what sort of fibroids you have. I just had the one big one fed by one main artery.
I had been warned about the pain after the op, but just assumed people had low pain thresholds. Wrong! The pain was horrendous, but only lasted about half a day, so we’ll worth the pain.

@TheNinjaWife i agree about the pain, it was like nothing I've experienced before. It felt like contractions but not having been through labour I can't compare it. And then the constipation that followed as a result of the pain killers was almost as sore 😅

Is the embolisation done under general anaesthetic?

so glad it worked so well for you both!

no, just sedation although it involved an overnight stay in hospital (think that's standard and not just because i didn't have mine done until the afternoon)

For me, it has caused me to become anaemic and need three lots of iron infusions over three years, and one blood transfusion of two units of blood. I felt so ill and tired and had zero energy to do anything. Long term affects of being anaemic can be heart damage amongst other things.
I am currently on the waiting list for a hysterectomy, but as you are much younger than me then I would have the fibroids treated.

I had the same, periods with blood suddenly gushing out, very heavy flooding etc I was fortunate in that I worked from home and could go and have a lie down or spend ages on the toilet if I needed to. I know everyone is not so lucky. It wasn't every period, so I put off going to the GP. This was around 2015, then in 2021 I had some digestive problems and had to have an ultrasound. I'd never had one before as never been pregnant, I became a mum through adoption. They found 2 very large fibroids. By this time I was 54 and my periods had almost stopped. I was terrified I'd have to have a hysterectomy but the GP said that at this time of my life, they hoped the fibroids would shrink naturally, something to do with lack of hormones I think? However, she did say there was some medication that I could take to try and shrink them if they became a problem. She said they would always try that before removing them. I often felt a "dragging" sensation in my lower abdomen, so did some research myself and read that vitamin D could help with fibroids. I've been taking it daily for the last couple of years and I no longer get the dragging, heavy sensation. I did check with my GP first and she was all for it. Hope things improve for you.

Sorry, I haven't read full thread and realise you might be a lot younger than me. Also, as a previous poster said, its best to check your iron levels with the GP as anaemia can be serious.

Another agreement for anaemia testing here. I’d been anaemic for years without realising it and put all the symptoms down to perimenopause. Was very low haemoglobin by the time I was tested and it was a long haul back.

Do you think it’s worth getting tested even if I have no symptoms at all? Full of energy etc?

Thank you for this. I’m 37. Really interesting about the vitamin D thing!