Fibroid... feeling Bloated! up & Down with weight!

Hormonal fluctuations. (Ovulation/ToM/PMS...)
If you feel it is abnormal, schedule an appointment with your ob/gyn.

You should talk to your doctor. I had a 15 cm fibroid that weighed over 3 pounds! I had a total abdominal hysterectomy to remove the fibroid. If yours is smaller there are less invasive ways to remove it. I lost 10 pounds from the day of my surgery until the day I had my staples removed. They hysterectomy was the best thing I did. I feel so much better!

navychickpensfan wrote: »

You should talk to your doctor. I had a 15 cm fibroid that weighed over 3 pounds! I had a total abdominal hysterectomy to remove the fibroid. If yours is smaller there are less invasive ways to remove it. I lost 10 pounds from the day of my surgery until the day I had my staples removed. They hysterectomy was the best thing I did. I feel so much better!

Amen on this! I too had a fibroid the size of a grapefruit. Hysterectomy was the best option there ever was ! But.....I had 2 kids so I was done with my addition of the population!

I too have a fibroid. They claim it is the size of a 4-5 month pregnancy. Those of you that have had a hysterectomy, answer if you want. Were you before or after menopause? Even if you kept ovaries did you notice any weird hormone or other related issues after surgery? Bladder issues? The potential for bladder problems is probably what I worry about the most.

youngmomtaz wrote: »

I too have a fibroid. They claim it is the size of a 4-5 month pregnancy. Those of you that have had a hysterectomy, answer if you want. Were you before or after menopause? Even if you kept ovaries did you notice any weird hormone or other related issues after surgery? Bladder issues? The potential for bladder problems is probably what I worry about the most.

My hysterectomy was pre menopause. I had bladder issues from the fibroid (it both moved and compressed my bladder) and they were gone after surgery; right back to normal

cosmichvoyager wrote: »

I am bumping this thread because I have a huge fibroid (26 cm) and I am so anxious about getting a hysterectomy / fibroid removal surgery and I'm looking for some support. Other than the anxiety I also am very angry because I've been going to the gynecologist complaining about pressure and pain in my abdomen since 2013, had many ultrasounds and I feel that being overweight led to her dismissing my symptoms. Now I am looking at a much more difficult and painful recovery. Would love to hear from anyone who has experienced this.

My fibroids give me a 5 month-sized uterus. I'm 53 and years ago made the decision to instead of surgery wait and see if the plummet of estrogen levels post-menopause shrinks them to a reasonable size.

It's been a rough few years and menopause is nowhere in sight - not a single hot flash. (My sister is two years younger and she is having them.) However, my health insurance is through the VA and I've not been impressed with the surgical GYNs I have met so far, so I'm going to keep putting up with the fibroids and see what happens after menopause.

You may find Dr. Christiane Northrup's Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom helpful in whatever you decide to do. It was the basis for my deciding against surgery. In the newest version (2010) she talks about her own fibroid and her decision to have surgery.

This book is available in my library system so perhaps yours as well.

In your situation I would replace your GYN. It's unconscionable that your fibroid got to 26 cm without being discovered. Mine were minuscule when they first showed up on ultrasound.

cosmichvoyager wrote: »

I will look at this book, thank you for the suggestion. I'm sorry that you are also going through this experience and maybe you could keep looking for a surgeon at the VA, perhaps in other nearby locations?

I absolutely need to get surgery because the fibroid causes urinary urgency and it is affecting my quality of life in other ways too. I am going to a gynecological surgeon for this now, not my regular gynecologist and I will be looking elsewhere for my care moving forward for sure. I also plan to have a conversation with her about whether she thinks bias played a part in failing to diagnose this common condition and ask her to think of this in her future work with larger women. FWIW she was never unkind or mean to me she just never seemed to make much of an effort to diagnose the issue. So many practices are all about the OB part of this and neglect what happens after kids or when we choose not to have them or as we age.

I hear you about the urinary frequency! Since I work from home it is manageable, but I have to stop drinking before dinner if I want to limit night time peeing to once. I could go on, but I have to pee now, as a matter of fact, lol.

But before I go, you might find this thread about a woman wanting to make and freeze meals in advance of her surgery useful: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10771128/hospitaliztion-tips-for-making-freezer-meals