Are you healing your spirit and mind as well as your body after your fibroid procedure?

The idea for this entry sprouted from thoughts on total healing (mind/body/spirit) left in the post-Abdominal Myomectomy forum. I thank the ladies there, particularly Sunday and Gab. This is a fascinating topic as I’ve always felt that to have total health, the mind, body, and spirit must work together. I’ll start with my experience and then open the floor to others.

My body, mind, and spirit became disjointed years ago. I decided to seek medical assistance because my periods were becoming bad and blamed fibroids. There are women in my family who had surgery for fibroids and I just knew it was my turn. Yeah, too bad the first ultrasound didn’t detect the dang things. Had a heck of a time trying to convince the doctor and grew tired of doing so. Ended up dealing with my symptoms on my own (with mind fighting body) for YEARS…

How are you preparing for your fibroid treatment?

Your preparation can be spiritual, or funny, or just ways you are pampering yourself. Name your treatment option and tell what you are doing to prepare.

How are you preparing for your fibroid treatment?

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Related Posts:
What should I carry with me to the hospital before my fibroid surgery?
What’s involved with pre-op testing before a fibroid procedure?

Tell me about Lupron, Synarel, and Zoladex (gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists)

One upon a time (months ago), I wrote a post on gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists but I don’t think anyone really saw it. I guess it’s the name. Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist does sound kind of strange.

How about Lupron, Synarel, and Zoladex? Yeah, still a little funny sounding but better. Lupron, Synarel, and Zoladex all belong to the class of drugs known as (everybody chime in)… gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists (GnRH agonists).

Is anyone having problems with uterine fibroid pain during pregnancy?

One of my visitors here is having a problem with extreme pain from her fibroids during her pregnancy.

Anna: Are there any women out there who can tell me how to endure pregnancy fibroid pain?

I’m 7.5+ months pregnant with at least 8 fibroids, 3 of which are just over 5.7 cm each and growing. They were all discovered when I became pregnant. Most of them don’t bother me but two are crammed down at the bottom of my uterus just over the birth canal. The pain from those two is so bad I haven’t slept more than 3.5 hours in weeks.

The Dr. says I am experiencing ‘degridation’ as the fibroids grow which sends a chemical into the body causing this unbelievable, constant pain. For the pain, I take frequent warmish baths, stay in bed and take Tylenol which does very little (if anything) but I’m told that Tylenol is the only pain killer that’s safe for the baby.

First – Have any of you experienced this kind of extreme pain during pregnancy?
Second – What can I do about it ?

I’m sure I’ll survive this … women are tough. But, I’d like to be able to get out of bed and enjoy a little bit of sunshine in the next two months. Heck, just having a short break from the horrible pain would be a blessing. Frankly … at this moment 8 hours of labor sounds like a cakewalk compared to months of this. =)

Your input is quite welcome.

If you have an experience or thoughts to share about uterine fibroid pain and pregnancy, please leave a comment.

Just what are your uterine fibroid tumor treatment options?

Been blogging here for a number of months on the medical decisions I made to finally address my uterine fibroid tumor problem. I consider myself fortunate because a number of women have decided to share their choices as well. It’s now time to string some of the Forum “threads” together and assemble a post that lists fibroid treatment options.

I’ll start with some general information from the MayoClinic.com Uterine Fibroids Decision Guide. Visit the site for treatment details including what to expect, common concerns, and pros and cons. I’ll also include links to related posts on this site for each of the options.

Anyone using birth control pills to control the bleeding from fibroids?

Here’s an excerpt from the original question on using birth control pills to control fibroid bleeding:

malexmom: My question is about using birth control pills to try and control the bleeding. …am very hesitant to go on the progesterone only pill my Dr. has suggested. She’s not pushing it…Any experiences with altered mood during your experience?

I found some information on Wikipedia under birth control pill:

Other possible side effects are: breakthrough bleeding, unusual build-up of the uterine lining, nausea, headaches, depression, vaginitis, urinary tract infection, changes in the breasts, changes in blood pressure, skin problems, skin improvements, and gum inflammation.

and also under progesterone only pill:

May cause mood swings

This information is general. More details can be obtained from the web site (or package insert) of the formulation (brand). Wikipedia has a page of oral contraceptive formulations. Look there to find the brand. Post the name here and we can track down the specific side effects for that brand.

If you are already using birth control pills to control fibroid bleeding or have questions, thoughts, or concerns, please leave a comment.

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Related Posts:
Uterine fibroid symptoms (not my idea of fun)
Uterine fibroid tumors and anemia?
How are you managing your heavy menstrual bleeding?

How are you feeling after your Lupron injections? Any side effects?

(Monday, February 05, 2007) Editing this post a bit to include my experience because I’m noticing that people aren’t really reading my Related Posts at the end. Let me make a couple of points first.

Note: Please realize that you are online. By its nature, the Internet will draw women having problems with fibroids and looking for answers. Women with great Lupron treatment experiences probably aren’t posting about it online. I discovered this when looking for information several months ago. I was alarmed by the disproportionate number of negative Lupron experiences and decided to start a blog with a more balanced perspective. Hopefully, I’ve come close to that.

Quick. Grab a cup. I feel nauseated.

Addition (June 8, 2007): By this point, I was no longer on morphine. I was switched to oral pain medication once I indicated a decreased level of pain.

Original Post:

Around 1:00 AM, I got some Tylenol for the pain after my Uterine Fibroid Embolization. I was feeling hot so one of the nurses pulled back the top blanket and sheet leaving me covered by just one blanket. I took the Tylenol with the tea left from my liquid diet dinner, stretched out, and tried to get comfortable. Not 10 minutes later, I sat straight up and thought:

Hmmm. Perhaps it wasn’t wise to gulp down that whole cup of tea with the Tylenol. I don’t think it’s going to stay in your body. I think it will be departing soon and you should probably start looking for some type of receptacle right about now.

Receptacle? Grabbed a paper cup from the hospital tray just in time to catch Round One. Started to celebrate my quick thinking but soon realized there would be a Round Two. The cup was not quite large enough to stop the overflow. Ick. Fortunately, it only got on that one blanket. Hats off to the nursing staff. Bless you all for putting up with me.

I only vomited once. (I added Round One and Round Two together.) I did feel much better afterwards and was actually able to sleep for a few hours.

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Related Posts:
How are you feeling after your Uterine Fibroid Embolization?
How are you feeling after your Abdominal Myomectomy?
How are you feeling after your Abdominal Myomectomy? (part 2)
How are you feeling after your Abdominal Myomectomy? (part 3)
How are you feeling after your Laparoscopic Myomectomy?
How are you feeling after your Hysteroscopic Myomectomy?
How are you feeling after your Laparoscopic Hysterectomy?
How are you feeling after your Abdominal Hysterectomy?

My first several hours post-Uterine Fibroid Embolization

Required to stay in bed and lie flat for about 6 hours after the Uterine Fibroid Embolization. The Foley catheter to my bladder was essential. Although the thought of having one originally bothered me, I was now happy to have it. My incision was located on the right side and I was told to keep that leg straight for several hours. Didn’t feel any pain from the incision.

The nurses checked on me quite a bit. Asked me to rate my pain on a scale from 1-10. I don’t remember it being any higher than a 6 or 7. I think I’ve actually experienced worse pain with the monster cramps from my previous periods. It was the nausea that made me feel horrible. Dizzy and queasy and Ick.

Around 7:00 PM, it was time for catheter removal and dinner. Until the nurses heard digestive noises from my stomach, I was limited to a liquid diet (broth, jello, juice, tea). I slowly consumed what I could and then continued my game of pain relief/nausea management. The pain decreased to about a 4 and remained there for awhile.

My first trip to the bathroom required assistance. I felt weak and lightheaded. It progressively improved after that and I was soon able to travel on my own.

Blood and clots and cramps… oh my

Do you know not even 24 hours after I talked to my Interventional Radiologist, my period started? Had just told him I was doing surprisingly well. No bleeding. No clots. No cramps. At 3:00 AM (why did my period have to wake me up?), there it was.

The good news: My period was bad but not horrible. Lots of blood, pretty large clots, and painful cramps but I had experienced worse.

I calculated the approximate amount of time between my last Lupron injection for the fibroids and the start of my period. It was 10 weeks. Note: Keep in mind I spotted until about the end of May.

Iron pills, Lupron injections, and the return of little Miss Perky

When I hear the word perky, I am reminded of a former coworker. He once told me that he initially disliked me because I was too perky and found it impossible to believe that anyone could come to work and be that happy every single day. Of course, he mentioned this after we became good friends.

The severe anemia from my fibroids put a huge dent in my “perkiness factor”. Hard to be happy when you feel weak and faint all of the time. Fortunately, the combination of iron pills and Lupron shots helped to raise my original Dec 2005 hemoglobin level of 6.7 g/dL to 11.2 by May 2006. A normal hemoglobin level is >12. Wow. Almost normal. I like the way that sounds. Almost normal. Think I’ll put it on a T-shirt. Yep, the perkiness has returned.

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Related Posts:
How are you feeling after your Lupron injections? Any side effects?
Uterine fibroid tumors and anemia?
How are you managing your heavy menstrual bleeding?

Lupron is neither heaven nor hell

Neither heaven nor hell. That’s a good way to sum up my personal Lupron experience. Neither a condition of “great happiness, delight, or pleasure” nor a situation of “evil, misery, discord, or destruction”. Definitely, somewhere in between under the bell curve.

Receiving Lupron injections for 3 months was not easy. There were a few days along the way when I wanted to discontinue the treatment. I truly believe there should be a balance between your mind, body, and spirit but there were times when one had to pick up the slack left by the others. On the days when my body wanted to quit, my mind jumped in with logical thoughts: