I would like your input!!!

I'm 45....have been fighting anemia.....

have a ferritin iron storage of 4....trying to build it back up.....

I have been wiped for well over a year....I have realized.....I have many symptoms of perimenopause......and have for 6 years now....

Since getting on iron supplements.....I have had two AWFUL cycles...very heavy.....large cots quaters to double half dollar size....back pain....yucky stomach....

I was put on Progestrium.....and the second cycle was actually worse.....

I go for an ultrasound tommorrow.....my guess is it's fibroids....I have heard mixed things on hysterectomy's....

And most say keep your ovaries....however.....my mother died at 69 of ovarian cancer....

I feel everytime i get to feeling better with the iron...i get one of these periods and am back exhausted again....the Progestrium has helped wioth the other symptoms....

My first instinct is....take it all out.... I would appreciate Everyones input....Thank You!!!

Well, the take it all out thing would definitely ged rid of your bleeding etc, however, you can end up with new things in its place.

Weigh up your fors and against, when I say agains I mean all the things that can happen to after a hyst. It is not use saying oh that won't happen to me because you don't know.

I would definitely get a second opinion and perhaps see an endocrinologist.

Good luck

You might consider checking out a new procedure called HALT. You can kep your uterus, treat all of your fibroids and bounce back rather quickly. It can treat all fibroids and doesn't use radiation (like UFE/UAE), doesn't cut off the blood supply to your uterus, no overnight hospital stay (it's an outpatient procedure), little or no pain management and as little as a 3 day recovery.

Two very small incisions are made. One for a laparoscope, another for a narrow needle that deploys ultrasound to shrink the fibroid. The fibroids don't come back.

For more info about the procedure, check out www.haltfibroids.com. I'm seriously considering this as my option and have been looking for solutions for a long time.

Take care!

Please let us know how your ultrasound went.

Many women, especially ones close to menopause are helped by less drastic procedures for heavy bleeding, like a D&C or ablation. I hope your doctor mentions those as options. UFE is also a possibility for fibroids.

You could also consult a genetic oncologist and be screened for the genetic markers for breast/ovarian cancer (there are two) which may put your mind at ease when you are making your decision about whether or not to have your ovaries removed.

Your first priority is to get your anemia under control - and if you can do that without a hyster, you're in a much better position overall. Surgery itself is a huge trauma to the body, and though the operation is one of the safest and most commonly performed, there are risks and it should be regarded as the last option.

Take care.

These are such hard choices and hardest because we have to make it ourselves in the end. I am sorry about your anemia.I have it too and it's been almost a year. You start to feel better and then whamo, heavy bleeding again. What is your hemoglabin? With a family history of ovarian cancer you really are at a higher risk so that is something to consider. I say read all you can. Get a second and third opinion. I love the books by Dr. Christiane Northrup. In the meantime, take your iron, eat well, rest. I hope you feel better and good luck on whatever you decide.