Tag: fibroid symptoms

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Fibroids

Pregnant…with fibroids?

Can uterine fibroids make me look pregnant?

“Congratulations! When are you due?!” Though saying this is appropriate when there is indeed a pregnancy, sometimes this congratulatory statement is given or received when there is no pregnancy. Which, needless to say, is embarrassing and uncomfortable for all involved.

But how, you might ask, could someone mistakenly assume a woman is pregnant?

Though sometimes weight gain, especially in the form of excess belly fat can make a woman’s body appear pregnant, it’s not the only underlying cause.

In fact, sometimes, weight gain has little to do with it, and the appearance of pregnancy can be caused by something else entirely.  And, that something else, could be uterine fibroids.

That’s right.

For starters, uterine fibroids can range in size… and location.

Sometimes they are as small as 1-5 centimeters, which is about the size of a small seed or a grape. Other times they are medium-sized which is usually between 5-10 centimeters or about the size of a lemon or even an orange.

Large fibroids are 10 centimeters or more and can grow to be the size of a mango or grapefruit. And, in some cases, they can even be as large as a watermelon.

So now, imagine what a woman’s body might look like with a watermelon-sized fibroid in her uterus, and you’ll see how an erroneous “Congratulations! When are you due!?” could happen.

Fibroids can sometimes grow to the point where they distort the abdomen, making some women appear pregnant. Furthermore,  depending on their size and the number of them, fibroids can not only lead to an increase in clothing size, but they can also lead to an increase on the scale as well.

In fact, when left untreated, some larger fibroids can weigh as much as 20 to 40 pounds!

And, as if that isn’t bad enough, fibroids regardless of their size can come with a slew of terrible life-interrupting symptoms such as long and painful periods, anemia, excessive bleeding in between cycles, pelvic pressure, and pain, frequent urination, constipation, and fatigue.

All of these symptoms can not only affect a woman’s day-to-day life, but they can adversely affect the way she feels about herself and her body.

In our next article, we will take a look at the effect that fibroids can have on a woman’s body image.

In the meantime, if you or a loved one are experiencing body distortion from large fibroids, or painful symptoms from any size fibroid, you are not alone. Read this recent blog post to find out if you are a good candidate for Uterine Fibroid Embolization.

Help is available, and you can even call us today and set up a consultation where we can work together to help determine the best treatment plan for you.

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Fibroids

Holiday Season and Fibroids

Cheers to Living Free of Fibroids in the New Year!

The holiday season can be a time full of laughter and joy. It can be time spent with family and friends, sharing presents and good food and fun. It can be a wonderful celebration for all, however, for women with uterine fibroids, this time of year isn’t always as carefree and joyful as it could be. In fact, it can be downright stressful.

For a woman with uterine fibroids, all the social activities of the holiday season can be extra stressful and can take a lot of extra preparation.

This could mean packing enough feminine products for a month or stocking up on pain relievers that may relieve the pain, but also cause other obnoxious issues such as constipation. It can also mean feeling uncomfortable getting dressed up due to fibroid-related bloating and pelvic pressure and pain.

So what can be done?

It turns out, there is a lot.

Therefore this holiday season, if you are a woman suffering from the painful and life-interrupting symptoms of uterine fibroids, it’s time to take action. And gift yourself and your body, a new year without uterine fibroids.

Life without fibroids? Is this possible?

Absolutely.

However, unfortunately, many women choose to forgo treatment because, in the past, the only options were invasive surgeries that came with a long recovery period such as a hysterectomy or a myomectomy,  or medications that came with a slew of unwanted side effects.

Fortunately, now there is a minimally invasive option that is completely safe, and one that has become the gold standard when it comes to non-surgical fibroid treatment. And that is Uterine Fibroid Embolization or UFE.

Uterine Fibroid Embolization is helping women to overcome their fibroid symptoms enabling them to live happier, healthier, fibroid-free lives.

Taking the action to treat fibroids with a procedure such as UFE, can not only prevent fibroids from growing and becoming worse, but it can also relieve painful fibroid symptoms.

Imagine a holiday season without:

Heavy periods
Pelvic pain or pressure
Back or leg pain
Constipation and diarrhea
Weight gain
Difficulty urinating or urinary frequency
Bloating and swelling

Therefore, treat yourself to a new year without the pain and discomfort of uterine fibroids by taking action. In fact, you can call us today to learn more about UFE and to even set up your initial consultation.

Together we can have you living fibroid symptom-free in the New Year and beyond.

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Fibroids

Menstrual Cramps or Fibroids?

If you are a menstruating female, it is likely that at some point you have experienced the pain and discomfort of menstrual cramps.

If you are a menstruating female, it is likely that at some point you have experienced the pain and discomfort of menstrual cramps.

These cramps usually range from mild to moderate, and can most often be treated with over-the-counter medications, and soothed with a hot water bottle or heating pad.

However, some women experience excessive cramping both before, during, and after their period.

Having period cramps between periods could be a sign of something more. And that something more, could be uterine fibroids.

So how can you tell if the cramps are from fibroids or just normal menstrual cramps?

Though it can be difficult to distinguish the difference between fibroid pain, and menstrual cramps, there are things you can do to help determine which is the cause of the cramping.

One valuable action is to start keeping track of when you get these cramps, which can help provide valuable information as to what is happening.

Keeping a log of your symptoms, the pain level, and the amount of bleeding experienced during each day of your period can be helpful in finding the solution to your individual situation.

So what exactly are menstrual cramps anyway?

Cramps during a monthly period are caused by the uterus contracting in order to push out the lining of the uterus, also known as the endometrium.

The endometrium builds up every month to prepare to support the fertilized egg and embryo that may attach to it during pregnancy.

No fertilized egg? No problem.

Fueled by hormones, the uterus begins to contract and shed the uterine lining. Then, the next month, if there is no pregnancy, the process will begin again.

Cramping during this time of the month is often a normal part of menstruating, however, when this cramping is excessive and accompanied by other symptoms such as pain in the pelvis, abdomen, back, and legs, this could point to something more.

Potential causes of excessive cramping are:

Endometriosis
Tissue that acts similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside of the uterus, most commonly on fallopian tubes, ovaries, or the tissue lining your pelvis.

Adenomyosis
The tissue that lines your uterus begins to grow into the muscular walls of the uterus.

Pelvic inflammatory disease
This infection of the female reproductive organs is usually caused by sexually transmitted bacteria.

Cervical stenosis
In some women, the opening of the cervix is small enough to impede menstrual flow, causing a painful increase of pressure within the uterus.

Uterine fibroids These noncancerous growths in the wall of the uterus can cause pain.

One of the most common causes of excessive cramping is uterine fibroids

When cramping and pelvic pain is caused by uterine fibroids, these uncomfortable symptoms could also be accompanied by additional symptoms such as heavy bleeding, frequent urination, and more.

If you are experiencing severe menstrual cramps, excessive bleeding, bleeding and cramps between periods, and other uncomfortable symptoms, it’s important to contact your doctor and schedule a visit.

If the cause is uterine fibroids, fortunately, this condition is treatable.

In fact, there are many different treatment options to treat uterine fibroids, ranging from medication to surgery, to a non-invasive procedure called Uterine Fibroid Embolization.

In our next article, we will take a look at how the specific type of fibroid can cause symptoms such as cramping and pelvic pain.

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Fibroids

The Symptoms of Uterine Fibroids: Finding Relief

Though most women with fibroids have fibroids that are asymptomatic, it is estimated that approximately 30% of women with fibroids will experience severe symptoms.

Uterine fibroids are a common type of benign tumor characterized by the overgrowth of connective or smooth muscle tissue in the uterus.

These tumors, which affect women mainly during their reproductive years,  are diagnosed in up to 70% of white women and more than 80% of women of African ancestry during their lifetime.

Though most women with fibroids have fibroids that are asymptomatic, it is estimated that approximately 30% of women with fibroids will experience severe symptoms which may require medication, surgery, or interventional radiology procedures, such as Uterine Fibroid Embolization.

In our last article, we took a look at clinical data on the effect that Uterine Fibroid Embolization can have on relieving the common fibroid symptom of heavy bleeding, also known as menorrhagia.

We learned that according to medical records analyzed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM), an estimated 26 million women between 15 and 50 have uterine fibroids. And of those, nearly 15 million women experience associated symptoms or linked health-related problems, such as heavy menstrual bleeding.

Based on the results of several studies and meta-analyses of studies, there is plenty of evidence to support that as many as 92% of women treated with Uterine Fibroid Embolization, experience a decrease in the symptom of heavy bleeding.

In fact, one rather large study found that 86% of patients experienced relief from fibroid-related heavy bleeding merely 3 months after the UFE procedure. While 92% experienced relief from heavy bleeding at 12 months.

This same study, which was published in The Journal of the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists, also found that the bulk of fibroid symptoms was controlled in 64% of patients at 3 months and 92% at 12 months.

So what are the bulk of fibroid symptoms? And, what does the research say regarding the effect that Uterine Fibroid Embolization has on treating these?

Though not all women with fibroids experience symptoms, for those that do,  the most common signs and symptoms of uterine fibroids include:

– Menstrual pelvic pain/cramping
– Heavy menstrual bleeding
– Lower back pain
– Fatigue/weariness/anemia
– Constipation/bloating/diarrhea
– Irregular periods
– Passage of clots
– Spotting/bleeding between periods
– Difficulty having a bowel movement
– General abdominal pain
– Non-menstrual pelvic pain/cramping
– Pain during sex
– Pelvic pressure
– Infertility

While of course fibroid symptoms vary from woman to woman, there is evidence to show that some symptoms are more common than others.

One study that looked at the prevalence of fibroid symptoms was published in 2017,  in The International Journal of Women’s Health.

This prestigious medical journal published the results of a cross-sectional survey of 59,411 women aged 18–54 years in the US from August 6, 2012, through September 14, 2012, that have a diagnosis of uterine fibroids.

What they found regarding the distribution of uterine fibroid-related symptoms experienced in these women with uterine fibroids was as follows:

Menstrual pelvic pain/cramping:
2,277, which is 74.9%

Heavy menstrual bleeding:
2,147 which is 73.4%

Lower back pain:
2,090 which is 68.4%

Fatigue/weariness/anemia:
2,069 which is 68.3%

Constipation/bloating/diarrhea:
1,859 which is 63.3%

Irregular periods:
1,698 which is 57.8%

Passage of clots:
1,690 which is 56.9%

Spotting/bleeding between periods:
1,342 which is 45.0

Difficulty having a bowel movement:
1,140 which is 38.9%

General abdominal pain:
1,019 which is 35.0%

Non-menstrual pelvic pain/cramping:
984 which is 33.2%

Pain during sex:
851 which is 29.3%

Pelvic pressure:
654 which is 22.4%

Infertility:
384 which is 12.0%

We already know based on the research results published in our previous article, that UFE is very effective in treating the symptoms of heavy menstrual bleeding. But how well does it help in the relief of these other symptoms?

Over the next few weeks, we will take a look at the effect that Uterine Fibroid Embolization can have on reliving some of these troublesome symptoms of uterine fibroids.

In the meantime, if you would like to learn more about Uterine Fibroid Embolization, or to find out if this procedure could benefit you, please give us a call and set up your consultation today.