Uterine Fibroids and Endometriosis Any woman that has ever had to deal with heavy menstrual cycles knows how difficult this can be. It can be so bad that it is difficult to leave the home for fear of embarrassment. The cramps, the mood swings, and the worst part of all, the heavy bleeding. You try everything, and nothing seems to work. You may be faced with a major surgery, continue to live with this monthly issue, or in some cases more often than monthly. Related:
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A Patient's Story Judy was 42 years old, worked full time as a teacher, and had a good life other than her monthly period. The cramps would be so bad; Judy would end up missing at least one day of work or activities every month, and suffer through the others. Judy was wearing 2 extra long sanitary napkins, and still had regular accidents; she was at the end of her rope. After visiting the doctor, she decided to try a shot that is given every 3 months; in most cases this improves the symptoms of heavy bleeding. Well, it turned out Judy was not most cases, and 4 days after her shot was injected she started to bleed. 5 months later, after one continuous period, Judy had an endometrial biopsy done to rule out other problems. The biopsy was clear, but the problem continued. Judy was so weak that during her Thanksgiving dinner with family, she could barely stand up. Embarrassed to tell everyone what the problem was, Judy said she had the flu and left the gathering. Another trip to the doctor, and Judy was prescribed birth control pills which finally slowed and eventually stopped the bleeding. Judy returned to her world of monthly problems, thankfully it was at least no longer continuous. At age 50 Judy was still having problems, and the issue was so bad that she actually slept while sitting on the commode at night. Judy finally saw a gynecologist that specialized in fibroids. 2 weeks later Judy had a uterine ablation, called Novasure. Judy was in the hospital as an outpatient, about four hours, and out of work one day. 2 weeks later all problems stopped and Judy was able to return to a normal life. Her advice to any woman suffering with similar problems is to not wait, insist something be done, no one should, have to live like that. In Judy’s case she had multiple fibroids, which caused the heavy cycles. For women with similar problems, after menopause, the fibroids usually shrink, however anyone that suffers in such a way it alters their lives, should seek help from a specialist. It's also very important to note that fibroids can be dangerous. There have been cases that a woman has bled to death from uterine fibroids, so always take heavy bleeding serious.