Provera/Bleeding Question

Has anyone out there taken cyclic Provera to control heavy bleeding due to fibroids? I take generic Provera days 16 through 25 and finally, on the third month, it seems to be slowing things down a bit. Any ideas on how long this can last? Does this mean maybe I should re-think getting the hyster & just do Provera? My PMS, which usually makes me an unbearable, raging b**** also has improved to the point where my family no longer thinks I should be locked in the basement & feed scraps during that time of the month. Any thoughts on this? Thanks so much!

Hi Churchlady...
Yes, I did take Depro-Provera via injection..my experience (everyone is different) was a nightmare!!! The bleeding never stopped!!!! I had to go on hormones to stop bleeding. Then I had to wait for it to clear my system.

good luck--

Heather
TVH & BSO 5-17-02, heavy bleeding & adenmyosis

during my cycle starting on day 12 for 10 days. I took it for almost a year and my bleeding was no different than before.

I wish there was an alternative for me, but at almost age 47, hysterectomy seems to be becoming my only hope.

Thank you! I was hoping this might help because it seemed to slow things down a bit, but it's still much too heavy for a normal cycle. It's just that my cycle is normal, the fibroids don't cause too much pain--part of me just wants to ignore them & hope that they just will stay as they are and not get any bigger or cause more problems. Some of you ladies have been through so much that I feel my problems pale in comparison. I've caught myself asking, "Is it really that bad? Do you really want to do this (have a hyst)?" Does anyone know how long you can bury your head in the sand & get away with it? Sorry--in a strange mood today.

for several years now. I have been telling myself that I'm just complaining too much about the monthly period that all women have. I don't have bleeding all month, just when I'm supposed to, but it's always a doozy each month.

Thing is, sometimes the bleeding is so bad that I'm not able to travel far or be gone for more than an hour or so without running to the ladies room. I'd rather stay home than have to bring all my supplies and hope their isn't any accidents. Luckily, I'm not working right now, but when I was, I was running home on my breaks to take care of myself because it was so bad. Now to me, that just isn't normal. I'm feeling that my period is controlling me for at least 4 days every month.

Lately I've had horrible menstrual cramps during the night especially. It's easier in the daytime when that happens because I've found the more I move, the less cramping I have. In fact, laying down makes it worse for me. Thing is, at 2am, I'm not likely to get up and start the housework in the middle of the night so I pop my prescription of Motrin and it helps somewhat. I've found if I take the Motrin before bed, it helps to ward off the severe cramping that wakes me up in the night.

I've got an appointment with my doctor on July 2 and he's going to go over all my latest tests I've had and we'll see what happens.

I'm not crazy about getting a hysterectomy, but the thought of putting up with this for another five years seems like an eternity. It's a difficult decision for me to make. I've had a c-section so I know the pain involved and know what to expect so it won't be any surprise to me. I just don't know what to do, but there's no sense in me worrying about it right now until I see my doctor.

Some of the things I am looking forward to is no more awful PMS. Horrid horrid horrid PMS; no more painfully swollen breasts; running to the bathroom every hour, on the hour (I work with a bunch of guys, so it's real fun trying to discreetly get my supplies out of my purse and into my suit jacket pocket); sleeping on a bath towel and then ending up washing all of my bedding anyway; planning vacations around that time of the month. Why the hell am I hanging onto this organ that is causing so much trouble? I'm gonna have a few beers this weekend & mull that one over....I, too, had a "C" when my kids were born.

Diane99, I hope everything goes well for you at your dr's appt. Have you tried a hot water bottle or heating pad for your cramps? There's some company that makes these little heating pad thingies you can slip inside of your undies--they have sticky strips on the back like pads do so they stay in place. You can wear them for up to 8 hours. I haven't tried them yet, but I have a sample one I got when I bought some Kotex a while back. Wal-Mart has them if you are interested.

Take care--I'm outta here for the weekend! Have a good one!

I bought those too and found it helpful. Why didn't someone think of that before? LOL!

Luckily, PMS doesn't seem to bother me like it did years ago when I felt like I wanted to run away from home! I would turn into a witch of a woman and now I seem to have mellowed. Maybe because my kids are older now, one just turned 20 and a 15 year old. They actually get along now, too, instead of arguing all the time.

I told my husband last night that it's too bad I didn't have the hysterectomy when my last son was born seeing as I was never able to get pregnant again after that anyway. Yep, been down the infertility route also. But that's a whole 'nother story. But, such is life!

Have a good weekend!

I too am on provera for 10 day's a month. My problem is long and heavy periods (last one lasted 6 weeks and ended up with an emergency D&C) - I was told I do not make enough progesterone and that's why the bleeding. The progesterone sure has helped the bleeding but has made other sypmtoms worse - I have more cramping and pms now then I ever did. My Dr. says that the cramping is probably gastric, not ob/gyn and that I should have it looked into (which I am) and that they can give me more medicine to combate the PMS. The Dr. says I can go be on this provera until menopause - which is over 10 years away. Has anyone had their Dr. bring up a progesterone IUD instead of the pill form?

Alex

I took the provera about 2 years ago for a 10 day prescription and it really helped. I was having very heavy periods that would last for about two weeks at a time and I would only have about a week inbetween periods so my Dr. did a d&c which did help me but now I have prolapsed uterus so now the Dr told me I need a hysterectomy. I guess I was just one of the lucky few that a D&C helped.

I took provera on the same schedule as you are for three years and it did help until last fall, then I started bleeding and even taking the provera continuously that period lasted for 46 days. My uterus had gone from a six week size to a sixteen week size over those three years.

My main complaint with the provera was what I referred to as "drug enhanced PMS". It was awful and got worse every month, mood swings, bad temper, crying over nothing, it was really horrible. It got so bad last summer that I asked if the insurance company would prefer homicide to approving surgery. That's how bad my moods had gotten.

I am now 5 months post and have been taking Estrace 1mg/day since two weeks post op and my dh has mentioned several times how even tempered I've become, even people at work have said I'm like a different person this summer.

The provera may not have been to blame for all the bad moods, but it contributed to them!