Has Lupron made anyone's bleeding WORSE in the first week or two?

Hi everyone,

I am battling a grapefruit sized submucosal fibroid that is wreaking havoc on my period. This week it got to the point of flooding constantly, to where I have to change my super plus tampon and overnight pad every 20-40 minutes. Not workable!! So I called and asked what I could do... I have been on 20mg of progesterone, and it is clearly not stopping it. So my doctor recommended a shot of Lupron.

I went today and got the shot, and the nurse told me that at first, it makes your estrogen levels go way up. Which can cause even HEAVIER bleeding (how is that even possible, I wonder?) for the first 1-2 weeks.

Can anyone who has been on Lupron share what the first 1-2 weeks after the shot were like? I have a very packed work schedule in the next 2 weeks and don't want to embarrass myself by bleeding through!! Very worried.

Thanks for any advice or information!

i am also on lupron and to be honest it did not help at all with my bleeding i go into surgery on thur march 27 and i am scared to death my doc told me that it would stop the bleeding and it has not. when is your surgery?

Oh no, I'm so sorry to hear about your situation! I'm glad you have surgery soon though. Mine is not scheduled yet, because the gyno I chose does not do surgeries any longer, so she had to find someone who would take my referral. I have a consult with the new gyno on Monday afternoon to discuss my surgery options.

What choice did you make for your surgery? I am not sure if I want to give a myomectomy a shot, or just get the whole hysterectomy. Because if the bleeding may not stop, I just don't know how I can go on like this. I guess I have to give it a try.

Anyway, good luck to you! Sending you good thoughts!

i was going to have a myomectomy but after alot of thinking i decided to go for the hysterectomy i dont ever want to go through this ever again, the pain the bleeding and the sleepless nights. have you gone through any physical changes since the shots?

i hope that everything goes well in whatever you decide and good luck with you.

I just got the shot today, and so far I am not noticing any physical changes. But she said I might not notice anything at all for the first 1-2 weeks.

I can definitely relate to the pain, bleeding and sleepless nights. The other night I had to get up every 2 hours on average to change my products! Not at all fun. I'm so glad you will have it taken care of and behind you soon.

How do you feel about the hysterectomy choice? I am 35, married and with no kids. I have never been sure if I want them, and I'm definitely sure I don't want them in the next 2 years. So my fertility chances are looking lower, and I just don't know what to do. I guess I have my own hard thinking to do as well.

Good luck with your surgery!!

HI Lucille,
Reading your posts is like a flashback for me to spring 2005. I had a lupron shot in preparation for my procedures scheduled on May 31, 2005 ( myomectomy for submucosal fibroids and laser laparoscopy for ovarian cysts) but ended up on Cyclokapron cause of increased bleeding afterwards (spelling might be off there on the drug name). I remember going into the OR wondering if I should just ask them to do a hysterectomy instead since I was still bleeding that day .... but in the end I didn't. I had 24 months of relief and then things started to get bad again...and now I'm 17 days post surgery of from the LAVH hysterectomy.
It is a very personal decision and I don't regret my choices cause I know that I did a lot of research and soul searching to get where I am. I have a 15 year old son from my first marriage but was really hoping to have a child with my 2nd husband (we married in 2002 when I was 37). I'm spending some of my recovery time thinking of new goals for my life other than another child.
Good luck with your pursuit of what's right for you.

Cheers

I think somewhere between a week and 2 weeks I got a period on the Lupron that was very heavy (like what you described). And then it stopped and I had no more bleeding. I had Lupron a couple of different times over the past few years and the same thing happened. It was bad for a few days and then it stopped. Hooray.

slmd (Sandra),

Thanks for sharing your story. I hope your recovery is going well! What size and how many submucosal fibroids did you have removed the first time? I have concerns that I will end up in a similar situation to you, just having to deal with all of this again in another 2 years or so if I just go with myomectomy.

I guess if they can do the myomectomy through the hysteroscope, my recovery shouldn't be that bad. So maybe it's worth a try? But I am skeptical about their ability to get out my "grapefruit" through that method, since others who have submucosal fibroids that size are all talking about having them out abdominally.

Sigh. I guess I just ask the new gyno on Monday and hope for the best. Keep your fingers crossed for me that the Lupron at least doesn't make matters worse. When the nurse told me it could get worse, all I could think was, "how is that even possible?"

Big thanks again.

Update: Oh my god. I have had a lesson in the last 12 hours as to how my bleeding could get worse.

I was woken up at 5am by a feeling of being wet and sweaty. I got up to realize I had bled through my super plus tampon, overnight pad, and shorts, all over my bed. I started crying just seeing how bad it was.

I went to the bathroom to take out the tampon and felt 6-7 large clots, along with a river of blood, pass into the toilet after it. From that first wake-up to about 7:30 am, I was up and in the bathroom about every 10 minutes, having soaked through another set of super products with the same gushing, clotty experience behind it.

For a while I thought I should just sit on the toilet, and stop wasting cotton. But I was so tired.... I just wanted to lay down and go back to sleep. Finally at about 8am I drifted to sleep and managed to stay asleep for about 40 minutes before having to change tampons again.

After that I slept most of the morning until about 11, and only got up about every hour or so after that.

But, I did NOT realize Lupron would completely incapacitate me today! I really hope it slows down soon.

:-(

Hi Lucille,
I found the same thing with the Lupron no products would survive more than an hour so I finally resorted to wearing tampon and overnight pad inside of a depends underpant at night. Some time ago, I bought a plastic mattress pad to protect my mattress and dark green sheets which I plan to throw out some day soon.There were some days that I considered going to the emergency room due to the amout of blood and the size of the clots. I hated the hear that 'plop' sound every time I squatted!

My recovery is going well, much slower than the last procedure that's for sure. My poor belly button has been punctured three times now so it's healing the slowest. My largest fibroid was not quite as large as yours...3" in diameter with a few much smaller ones internally..but it was the large one that was almost through the uterine wall so there was a lot of damage to the uterus to get it out. I was so happy just to keep my uterus, but that was then, when I still had hopes that it would bear me another child. I think the worst part was that there was an appliance left in the vagina for a full week afterward that the dr removed at the post op appointment. I was only off work for 10 days I think that time. I have an office desk job so there wasn't a lot of physical demands other than driving. I was also able to work a little from home which was great and saved me from spending full days in the office and fighting commuter traffic.
You haven't mentioned anything about your iron levels in this thread (that I noticed). You should monitor that carefully and consider taking supplements as that really helps with your energy level which indirectly helps with the emotional stuff.
Hang in there, just a few more days.
Sending you positive thoughts