controlling bleeding & playing the "waiting" game

I am scheduled for a total vaginal hysterectomy on Jan. 9th. I decided to put off the surgery until after my crunch time at work (I do accounting and November/December is my busiest time) and the holidays. But, my heavy bleeding from my fibroids is getting worse. Ibuprofen seems to help and I'm on birth control pills every day (no breaks). Have any of you had luck with other options. More birth control pills? Anything else?

I just posted my experience in another thread. Hold on... I'll see if I can paste in the pertinent part.

Here we go:
"...when I tried a 3-day break from the pills on doctor's orders, I ended up in the ER on 7/11 in hemorrhagic shock and required 4 units of blood just to barely bring my hematrocrit to an acceptable (still very anemic) level. I finally scheduled LSH for Sept 29 but in getting to the date it took higher and higher doses to keep from hemorrhaging. I required two more transfusions before my surgery, which included one more time going into shock 9/5, and had to stay on the BC pills 4/day right up until the day of surgery, which increases your risk of blood clots, not to mention all those hormones can't be good for you but there was really no alternative for me at that point..."

It was as if it was my uterus' final revenge! On 9/5 out of desperation, they gave me a shot of Lupron in the hospital but it was really too soon before my surgery to have any effect. Apparently Lupron takes a few weeks to kick in. But if you were to start Lupron NOW for your January surgery, it might be effective.

As Jandybee said, Lupron may be an option for you with surgery not until January. Ask your doctor.

Sorry to be dense, but I'm not familiar with Lupron. Could you give me more details? Is it just one of the drugs that shrinks the fibroids?

My understanding is
It's a shot in the butt, one monthly. It shuts down your ovaries while you are on it. Yes if you are on it for some months it shrinks the fibroids, and that makes the surgery a little easier for the doc.

I didn't notice anything from the one shot (still bled heavily). I have heard others say they didn't notice anything till the 2nd or 3rd shot. It is supposed to throw you into menopause, complete with hot flashes, bone loss, dry skin, but those effects stop as soon as you stop the Lupron (if you keep your ovaries).

your posts sound like something I need to read. My bleeding is pretty heavy, and I'm at 115lbs. so I don't imagine I can take much more of this, meaning the heavy bleeding and anemia. Thank goodness my doctor gave me the option of hysterectomy. Birth control pills had worked well for several years. I'm now off of them, at 46 and getting badly anemic, but my doc has me scheduled for Oct. 31. I'm feeling relieved! This afternoon started with cramping and exhaustion, so not feeling as well as I had previously. Guess that's life

I have huge fibroids, plus I'm low in iron (although I'm in nowhere near as bad a shape as some of you). I had my first injection of Lupron now about a week and a half ago. The purpose is to shut down my estrogen production, so that the fibroids will hopefully shrink so I can have a lap. hyst, and also so that my periods will stop.

However, the first effect is to cause your estrogen to surge. I haven't had as much estrogen as I had late last week since I was pregnant, although I think it's starting to moderate some. My dr. started me on Aygestin on Monday (1 week from the shot), which is a synthetic progestin. It's supposed to ammeliorate the effects of the Lupron without blocking its effects. My period (which was supposed to be last week) never came, although some ladies told me that I'll get it quite heavily later in the month, after which it will stop.

This drug is injected in the hip, and I nearly fainted when I found out the cost. Fortunately, insurance covers most of it. You can read about it on www.lupron.com