Putting it out there- Girl troubles...

[ChilliPepper]

OK, so if you are a man or otherwise squeamish, don't feel like you need to read this one.
I am facing a very difficult decision- the end result of both is supposed to be that A) I will never have a baby and B0 I will never again bleed and experience this much pain again.
I have had progressively worse cycles, and despite several pill changes, I still have 10 day marathons. I also pass large clots, and I am not exaggerating when I say large. This month has been super bad and I am very frustrated that I am having this problem again. Over a year ago, I noticed a correlation of when I would bend down, soon after I would start cramping and start bleeding, no matter what time of the month it was. Then we switched my meds and I was doing pretty well except for the 10 day thing, until this month. I spent three days in bed, taking Tylenol 3 and still in pain and afraid to move. Yesterday I was hardly bleeding at all, and so I was looking for something that involved lots of bending over. Well, at about 1 in the morning I woke up to severe pain and a bout of fast bleeding.
So my choices in procedures goes like this
1) most conservative, remove the fibroids, which due to their location may scar the birth canal making a natural birth impossible and may control the pain and bleeding
2) Middle road, an endometrial ablation and tubal ligation to ensure pregnancy prevention
3) Just get that crap out and do a hysterectomy.
Has anyone else been down this road, tried one, tried all 3? I should be seeing a specialist next week who does the ablation procedure, as wwell as everything else.

 

[smhufflepuff]

Ah... good times. I was playing the 10 day long game too... always with a hint of mystery when it would occur. Then the cramps, nausea, and other such fun that people *think* they know what you're talking about because they once had a cramp that went away with ibuprofen... clearly no clue what "bad" is like. Like the folks who talk about how their horrible migraine went away with 2 Tylenol gel caps and refuse to understand why you're on the floor vomiting... Good times... I'm fortunate enough not to have to deal with fibroids though. I know that makes everything multiple times more difficult.

Anyhow given my particular situation, I was also looking at the ablation and/or GnRHa's (if you haven't heard of them, GnRHa's sort of induce a menopausal state; ie, no period), but went with a more conservative approach I figured it's best to do the least invasive/most easily reversible and ratchet things up as needed. More specifially, I went with the Mirena IUD - it's releases progesterone precisely where it's helpful, rather than more systemically like oral contraceptives. In the long run, it's worked wonderfully (though initial few months were, uh, special).

I don't know how your fibroids play into the picture. I know there are some papers on GnRHa's and fibroids, but haven't read anything about fibroids and IUD's. I'd ask your gyn or your specialist about those options so you have a wider range of possibilites to consider.

My gyn once noted that, fortunately, there are a lot of different options; unfortunately, it's hard to know ahead of time which is the best one for each person. It's a lot of trial and error until you strike upon the right thing for your body.

 

[3CsMommy]

I have PCOS and PPD, with a long family history of all kinds of "fun in the lady garden". (And worse yet, Tylenol makes me puke, so it's often put up with the cramps/throw up from the pain, or take Tylenol 3 and sleep through throwing up because of the medication.) Thus far I've been lucky enough that a hormonal birth control has gotten it under control, so it's from that background that I'd say don't do an invasive/surgical procedure without trying the less invasive stuff first. If an IUD is an option, I'd definitely think about it. If you have to have the fibroids out, will a C-section still be an option? There are worse fates than surgical delivery if you decide to have kids, but tubal ligation has a low success rate after reversal, so it really depends on whether or not you think you may want children. Considering the after effects of a full hysterectomy (menopause symptoms, greater possibility of hernias and prolapse) though, I would really only consider it if nothing else works.

I'm sorry that you're faced with such a decision, especially since every option is so bloody expensive!

 

[Lynn & The Chins]

I put up with years of heavy periods, constant bleeding, passing clots so large that I called it "losing body parts", cramps, etc. I had very large fibroids as well as endometriosis -- "everything but cancer" is how my female OB put it when she finally performed my hysterectomy.

I had had a male gyno for years, who had wanted to do a hysterectomy, but I was scared and didn't want to do it. He said that I would know when the time was right -- it was all about how it affected my quality of life.

The deciding factor for me was when my cervix prolapsed and was (at times) coming out of my vagina. Luckily, by then, the male Dr. had retired and I had switched to a female gyno.

Long story short, I celebrate the day I had my hysterectomy as "the happiest day of my life" -- if that tells you anything.

Granted, I was 50 years old and not worried about trying to have a family, so my decision was easy. I would suggest that you explore the ablation option -- I would have done that if it had been an option and I had been younger and wanting to have children.

It is, of course, a very personal decision, but in my case, a hysterectomy was the beginning of a new life for me -- one that didn't involve knowing where every bathroom was, packing an entire tote bag full of pads and tampons most of the time, and so on.

Good luck to you, whatever your decision.

 

[Laurie]

Chili,
I nearly died 3 years ago from my menses and this is no exaggeration. I have always had very heavy flow--using more than one or even tampons at the same time. I would wake up in the middle of the night like a scene out of The Godfather. It got to the point it was so bad my hemtocrit as a single digit. They do not know how I continued to function. I do, as I had a sister going through a recurrence of breast cancer--who was I to complain over a period. I had to have a blood tranfusion with 2 units of blood--2 UNITS! The next day I had emergency ablation and of course tubal. I was 44 years old and had just been dumped by my boyfriend for a girl half my age so holy crap was this an emotional roller coaster for me. My little sister also had the ablation and she never had a period after the procedure. I continued to have periods. Last year they again got so bad I thought I was hysterectomy bound. I told my doctor last May my sister was dying from her breast cancer and I was caring for her along with my family and could not have surgery. No way could my family care for me and Lisa--he put me on the pill--Jolessa which is seasonal and for the first few months yes I did get a period once every 3 months, but since December now I have not had one at all. I have no idea if I will ever have one again--I only know I had to have this surgery in order to live.

I would hear the blood rushing to my head when I laid down and the doctor told me that was my body fighting to get blood to all my organs to keep me alive. I thought--dang I didn't know you could actually die from menses--but yes you surely can.

I'm sorry you are facing this dilemna--at my age I wasn't going to have more children--but I can also tell you I have had periods like the heavy bleeding and huge clotting since I was 16 years old back then my cramps were very severe--I cannot really begin to fathom I lived this way for nearly 30 years. I don't care what anyone says about menopause--as far as I'm concerned it freaking rocks!

 

[ChilliPepper]

Thank you all for your thoughts. I am only 33, so this is very difficult, and yet not at the same time. I am so sick of the impact on my life that I am ready for something. I will ask the Dr. about seasonal. Right now I am on a progesterone only pill and for 7 months it was working well with the exception of 2 days that were painful. But this last weekend scared me so much because I ended up in the ER last Feb and they gave me 2 different shots to stop the bleeding. It started very much like how I felt Friday, but never escalated to that heavy, thank God.
My last bloodwork showed that my B12 has been coming up with the shots I have been taking and I will have my iron tested again to see if the supplements are helping. When I last had it, I know that my iron saturation level was at 3%, but I don't remember what the raw numbers were. Normal levels for the saturation are 15-50%. I am also thinking the fibroids may have grown and that is why they caused such a problem, so I will be getting another ultrasound.

 

[Brea]

I am having somewhat similar problems. I have heavy bleeding and severe cramping for 8 days. And the fact I cant eat or basicly move for at least 3 of them never helps. I tried birth control but I had bad reactions to it, and the doctors could only advise me to try different kinds. The only problem with that is that every single woman in my family that has used any kind of birth control has had serious and life threatening complications and I am terrified to try any of them. Good luck.

 

[CommonYak]

When my mother was younger, she had fibroids, had them removed, and later in her life, she got pregnant and had me. I was born normal, healthy, and so far have lived to age 35.

I don't know if this is useful info, but I thought I'd let you know that having fibroids removed does not necessarily make it impossible to have a child.

I hope whatever treatment you chose is effective, and your recovery is quick.

 

[ChilliPepper]

Well, Wednesday I have a pelvic ultrasound and Thursday I have a hysteroscopy. I will know more then, I am super scared about how much the procedures are going to hurt. I really like this specialist. He listened to the entire history so he would understand how much it has been escalating.

 

[AZChins]

I will be keeping you in my thoughts. I am hoping so much that everything works out for you with this...I'm just sorry about all the anxiety and pain you have had to go through.

 

[ChilliPepper]

Thank you. I know it is called our curse, but I truly believe no woman should have to suffer like this. I did talk the doctor into prescribing vicoprofen, which is helping a lot this time, along with self ordered confinement to the sofa since Thursday. Usually my heaviest flow and worst pains are over the weekend, so I am making myself do nothing and it is paying off. For those who have heavy bleeding, the doc did say to take ibuprofen because it reduces swelling and will also reduce the blood flow. I did have to bump it up to the stronger stuff, but it is making a huge difference in how I feel.

 

[3CsMommy]

Glad the vicoprophen is helping. Good luck with the procedures, and please let us know how it goes when you feel up to it. We'll be keeping our fingers crossed for you, and I'll light a candle as well.