Follow-up to lady bits

[serene]

That procedure I described in my earlier post carries a higher than average risk for me because my sister has had endometrial cancer, so the ablation is off.

Other options to fix my anemia (from excessive bleeding) are:

1) birth control pills, not an option for me for two reasons: my age, and a minor heart issue;

2) a hysterectomy, which of course is major surgery and not something I want to jump into; and

3) try iron therapy for a month and get a blood test next month to see if the iron pills keep my blood count at a decent level, and if not, then get the hysterectomy.

So I'll take the iron pills and see how it goes. The excessive bleeding is exceedingly inconvenient, but if it's not making me sick, I can tolerate it until menopause.

Comments

[firecat]

Sympathy. I had the anemia-from-excessive-bleeding too. (I had the ablation.) If you want me to mention other treatments I've heard of, let me know.

[serene]

Yes, please!

[firecat]

Lupron https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupron - injectable drug that lasts for a month and "mimics menopause". They gave it to me for 3 months to shrink the fibroids pre-ablation. It also stopped the bleeding. Unfortunately you can only take it for 3-6 months.

Uterine artery embolization https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uterine_artery_embolization — cuts off blood supply to fibroids

Surgical removal of just the fibroids (can sometimes be done laparoscopically) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uterine_myomectomy

[serene]

Thank you! I will talk to the GYN. *&* (I only have one small fibroid, so she's not sure that's what's causing this, but it's worth talking about.)

[firecat]

*&* I hope you get answers and an easy treatment.