Fibroids - how fast do they grow?

First, I wanted to say hello to everybody.
I have been lurking around for the past 4 weeks, since my diagnosis, trying to make sense of what is happening to me.
During initial my visit, my doctor discovered 2 fibroids, one of them size of a golf ball. That was a really an unpleasant surprise for me, because 4 months earlier I had my physical, including a pelvic exam, and my family physician didn't find anything. Is the growth rate of fibroids so fast?
Yesterday I had a hysterosonography - looks like my poor uterus has become even more populated.
I will have a TVH on January 15 - hopefully ovaries will stay, but it will be bye, bye to my cervix. The doc said that he will attempt the surgery vaginally (my uterus is a size of 10 weeks old pregnancy at this point), but reserves the option of a switch to abdominal if needed.

Thanks to all of you, I went to my appointment really well prepared, and had a good understanding of what he was talking about.
It's so comforting to know that this wonderful place exists!

i had a fibroid that stayed 5 cm for years. this year it jumped to almost 11cm. but sorry no idea why- good question though. i wondered same thing myself. my thoughts -caffine, but i only drink 3 cups of coffee a day and maybe one diet soda.
im scheduled for TAH because uterus is size of 20 week preg. and to big to do vag.

Fibroids can grow AND they can shrink.... And the changes can be rather quick.

I had several fibroids when my dd was born in 1988, the largest being golf ball sized. By 2000 when my ds was born, I had all sorts of fibroids, the largest being the size of a softball. By the time I had my hyst in 2004, I had over 30 fibroids, the largest of which was 3.5 cm.... in other words, much smaller than in 2000.

As the other (((siter))) said, many times fibroids don't change over the years. It's not size that determines the severity, either. Sometimes women have huge fibroids without symptoms, and another woman could have one small fibroid which causes extreme pain and other difficulty.

Also, be aware that ultrasound is not an exact science. Three months before my hysterectomy, an ultrasound showed two fibroids which were 5 cm. and 7 cm.... but three months later, I had over 30 fibroids, none of which was over 3.5 cm. They won't really know what is there until the day of surgery.

Hope this helps.

Thank you for your replies.
MJ, what you said about not the size being the main factor actually coincides with what I've heard from my doc. In my case, the smallest of fibroids seems to be the culprit, mainly because of its location. Go figure.....

Do they grow fast? Yeah, in my case they do. A year and a half ago, I had no fibroids, at least not according to my annual exam. Then about 2 months ago, I noticed a slight protruding below my belly button. I could feel the mass as well as see it popping up under my skin. Scary! So off to the Gyni I go, expecting that there will be some sort of magic remedy that will just make this thing go away. After more pelvic exams then I want to ever have again and a lovely ultrasound with the metal thing (you know what I'm talking about) I find that I have 3 huge fibroids and my uterus is enlarged to the size of being 5 months pregnant. Yay! I knew there was a reason why I felt so fat! And since they are all propped up against my bladder, there was finally an explanation for why I had to pee every 5 minutes! To top it all off, my Gyni says that yep, I have to have a hysterectomy. And at first, I was devistated. But now, a few months later, with my surgery a month off, I simply cannot wait. My 'roids have grown so much in such a short time - I was laying flat in the bed tonight even, and showed DH and he was kind of freaked out at how much the left side of my lower belly was popped out.

I haven't done the research to find out what's behind the growth of these things. But I think I will start looking around. Not sure if there's much out there or not. Is it caffeine? I hadn't heard that before, but I'm not a huge coffee drinker. I tend to think it's because I'm a redhead, and I get all the weird afflictions. Atleast that's what my mom says. :-)

too funny loriannemalone, im a redhead too.
over the past few years i have lost like 35 lbs and i started to notice lumps and bumps i couldnt feel before. but when i felt that mass in my stomach a few months back kind of freaked too. I actually was (kinda) glad when dr. told me it was my uterus- could have been much worse had it been something else.
my dh husband keeps telling me, just think how flat my tummy will be when that thing is out of there! (dont worry im realistic- hes just humoring me)

Our conversation about fibroid growth rate made me think of something else - since they basically feed on estrogen, does it mean that our bodies are being robbed of that hormone?