New, a little curious.

Hello,

I'm new today. I would like to tell you how I arrived here and ask a few questions if you wouldn't mind.

On tuesday August 10th I had my yearly pap and physical and the Doc. said my uterus was very enlarged. He scheduled a
ultra sound for the following week.

The day after my internal exam( August 11), I started spotting..light pink for 1 day, bleeding for 2 days then light for a day. ( my period wasn't due until the following wed. Aug 18th).
I am always on time never had a problem before.

The following tues. Aug 17th I had the ultra sound both internal and external. They said I had a few fibroids the largest being 10.5 cm (what is that in inches..lol ?).
They also had to dig around a little because my right ovary was very close to my uterus.
The right ovary started to twinge after that and continue thru today, and I am bleeding again as of this morning.

Doctors office called yesterday and read the doctors notes to me over the phone stating that a hyster. would be suggested if heavy bleeding during periods occured.

OK, here are my questions.

Everything I have read states that bleeding between periods does not usually occur with fibroids, it is usually during the period and can be very heavy. Is that correct? Has it happened to you?

I just find it very strange that I had no problems and no discomfort before they started poking around in there.

Does the poking around aggravate the fibroids?

Thank You,
Cheryl aka (mrsmup)

i really can't answer you questions, but just wanted to say hi, welcome and good luck to you! i know someone on here will have answers for you, they always do!

Hi Cheryl!

Let me start by saying I'm not a doctor and this is just MY experience.

I have always spotted a little after my exams.....whether they were rough or not. I also tend to have light bleeding around the time of ovulation (mid-cycle). I do have some small fibroids and my periods are very, very, very heavy.

If this is new for you, keep reporting it to the doctor. You know yourself best and trust your instincts.

Hang in there and welcome to this site! You'll find lots and lots of wonderful support here.

MS

Welcome to the site Cheryl. I hope you can find some good advice here.

I found that after my last two pelvics and my vaginal ultrasound I did have a little light bleeding. I never had that trouble before my fibroids started growing so much. I'd always had a little cervical bleeding at the time of my pap (but maybe that's just because some doctors are a little rough).

I don't know if the cause of my recent bleeding was fibroids or the fact that we found a previously undiagnosed polyp in the pathology report. My doctor said either one could have caused spotting.

As for your recent difficulties - if your only discomfort is the bulk of the uterus and your doctor rules out other causes, you might want to discuss myomectomy (removal of the fibroids only) instead of a hysterectomy. Do you have very heavy periods? Any anemia? Pain or pressure on other organs?

Take care!

Welcome to the site. I am also new here. I wanted to reply to your post becauase of my personal experiences.

I have had spotting during exams, after exams, no matter how much probing the doc does. That's just me. But, what recently changed my mind about the hysterectomy is that I'm miserable. I mean I'm miserable in pain like 24/7. My doc has prescribed pain medication within the last 2 months, and well----my body is getting tolerant and the medication does not even work a full 8 hours anymore. Whether my period is on or off, I'm in pain. The fibroids have grown terribly and I'm just tired of the pain and the big stomach (20 weeks). I'm a promo model and actress and these fibroids are really causing lot of grief to my public career.

I really want my life back as it was before all this pain and flooding----I really do.

So, basically what I"m saying is well----if you're not miserable or ready or sure about having a hysterectomy as I was years ago-----just tell your doctor and that you want to watch the fibroids and see what occurs and most of all-----SEE HOW YOU FEEL. .

I wish you the best in your decision.

Hi, I am older but since my 20's I have had fibroids and never spotted after exam because of them, cant help you but your doctor will help you with any decisions, they usually are not that anxious to do the surgery unless they feel it will give you a better quality of life now days....Hugs, Denna

I just had ultrasound Tues. vaginal and abdominal. I had assumed that there would be some spotting after this procedure. When procedure was over the Wendy (woman who performed procedure) told me not to be alarmed if there was some spotting. She was very imformative about every aspect of the test. I was very pleased with the professionalism showed by everyone that I have dealt with so far......Good luck to you

Hello Again,

Thank You all for your replies!

I forgot to let you know that my age is 47.

I really am not having pain, just a lot of pressure in my rectum area.

I also don't have any surgery scheduled, it was just in the doctors notes , his suggesting if heavy bleeding did occur.

I have a appt Monday Aug.30th, I plan to talk to him in person then.

I have never- ever had any Gyno problems, my periods have always arrived right on time since I was 12. Sure I have had bad cramps, but after a day or two nothing.

I am just very surprised that all of a sudden he feels an enlarged uterus and things are popping up out of the blue! Can things move that fast?

Oh, how big is 10.5 cm ? I am just awful when it comes to conversions..LOL

Thank You again,
Cheryl aka (mrsmup)

10.5 cm is about 4 1/8th inches.

Yes, fibroids do come on quickly for some of us. Mine didn't give me any trouble until suddenly three years ago I just felt the pressure. Do they run in your family? Do you know your family's history of menopause? It should help you decide whether to wait out the fibroids if your family history indicates that it's coming closer to fifty than sixty.

You should also know that ultrasound is a good diagnostic tool, but it doesn't always tell the whole story. Either that or my fibroid doubled in size in the five weeks between the time I had my ultrasound and when I had my operation. The ultrasound said that my largest fibroid was 6 cms - it turned out that it was 18 cms!

I'm glad you're trying to find out as much as possible before making any decisions. There are lots more options available if you don't have a pressing medical problem. Not only is there hysterectomy (and whether or not to keep ovaries and cervix), but also myomectomy, uterine embolization and lupron (with and without myomectomy)

Sometimes fibroids shrink after menopause, but there are plenty of women on these boards that can attest that it doesn't always happen.

Take care.

Everybody's different, but I have to also say that things can change pretty quickly "down there". At least that's what happened for me.

I had heavy periods (5-7 days) that came like clockwork too, for going on 6 years. Then "out of the blue" (probably not really) it seemed that I was NOW irregular, bleeding for 20-30 days straight, passing huge clots (some were size of baseballs), and exhausted and depressed and constantly PMSing. (This was Jan 04). From then on, it just got worse to where I bled all through March, June, and July and not at all in May (now THAT was a great month! LOL).

Still, through this, a part of me kept telling myself that "oh, this was normal, I'm must now be entering menopause for sure (age 49). Well, I probably was, but other stuff was also going on within that was not typical to menopause, as I learned this past month.

The proverbial straw was an incident of pain so intense that I took myself to the ER one evening mid-July. I thought something had ruptured within...not sure what, but the pain was blinding. (BTW, ER did nothing...sent me home and told me I just had cramps and to take some Advil and rest)

Long story short, next day I was able to be scheduled by my gyn within days. She did an exam and scheduled me for an ultrasound within days. They found a cyst and fibroids (small ones) and some mysterious formations. Also said my uterine wall was already 3x the thickness it ought to be only ONE week after a month long bleed. Something was not right, so doc scheduled a D&C and endometrial biopsy. No cancer, thank goodness, but obviously some "out of the ordinary" growths of endometrium, enlarged uterus, ovarian cyst and a recommendation for a TAH. These "things" were actually bleeding the most, among the bleeding from my uterus shedding it's lining. This was not usual bleeding, that's for sure.

Since January, never in a zillion years would I have imagined that all this was going to happen, but it did. My doc was adamant about getting that biopsy done asap...later I learned that from visual inspection, she truly feared cancer.

Guess I am trying to say, don't put anything off. Don't assume anything is just ordinary. Irregular bleeding could be a lot of things, but it could be some things happening that are developing quickly, just like mine did. Let them do whatever it takes to find out what is going on, especially a biopsy, if suggested.

Interestingly, I never had pain while bleeding heavily...in fact, never had any other symptoms of discomfort like you do when you're having a period. I just bled and bled LOTS. The pain part in July got my attention though. I guess I'd compensated for so long that I took too many things for granted, like endless periods, being exhausted, being in constant PMS moods, severe cramping. I'd forgotten what "normal" was. (one thing I am hoping to regain after my TAH, though it will be a while...)

Hope this helps a bit...do whatever it takes to get to the source of the problem...hang in there!

(Sorry to ramble...BTW, my sister has huge fibroids (inoperable) and bled constantly for 2 years before she stopped having any period 3 years ago.)