r/Fibroids

Hi all,

I’ve gotten some great insight and feedback and support from this community, so I just wanted to pay that forward. I am now on day six post-op from an open abdominal myomectomy with a vertical incision. My surgeon removed six fibroids, the largest of which was approximately 15 cm. I’m happy to answer any questions that anyone may have!

I am 10 weeks post op and have been on my feet a lot for different events and because of my job. I am now feeling a achey almost pinching feeling in my pelvic area. It’s almost like a zinging feeling idk how to describe it. But I’m currently out of town for a wedding and I’m trying to figure out if this is normal or what is going on. Definitely feeling anxious about it 😭

Few days post op from an open myomectomy and having some serious swelling on my labia. It’s insane on how big it actually looks right now. I have started icing it for a few mins every few hours but is there anything else I should be doing?! I was not expecting to have this side effect at all and no one mentioned it in anything I read so it just seems like a cruel joke. lol Please help me out.

Hello! I’m 47 yo and just starting my research. I have 3 fibroids (smallest is 3 cm) and also a polyp in my uterus. The polyp will need to be removed for sure, but hysterectomy is also an option. My NP was not able to do a cervical biopsy because a fibroid is blocking the cervical opening, and also hard to get to because I have a tilted uterus. The attempts really hurt. My periods have been very irregular and long when I have it (12-15 days). I went 3 months without a period and when I had one it was very heavy with lots of clots. I am scared of surgery but I need one no matter what. I wonder if a hysterectomy is the right way to go? I don’t have discomfort and my periods are just annoying, not affecting my life. I have an appt with the obgyn surgeon in August.

Does an anti inflammatory diet work for fibroids or is it just something people say. Anyone tried it?

Hi all… I have a 4cm submuscosal and am going to schedule a myomectomy via hysteroscopy at end of the month. If it is not successful I will most likely move forward with removing the uterus. Wondering what your experiences are with this? I am considering just jumping straight to removing uterus but have a work trip in mid August and I have heard energy levels can be down after uterus removal. How down were you? Ive been bleeding heavily for going on 4 months and anemic for months… is it worse than that? Being that I take care of dogs and work for myself I don’t have the option of medical leave. So…. thinking of trying myomectomy to see if we can get it out then going from there (totally trust surgeon as she is very experienced and willing to try). Thanks for your thoughts!

Hi everyone, I am 47 and was diagnosed with a small fibroid few years back. My periods have been heavier (with clots) and have gotten longer- they last about 7-8 days with the last few days with brown blood. This month I got my period on time; however I am going on day #15 and I still have dark brown/light brown blood when wiping and some on panty liner - this is new and my period has never lasted this long where it just won’t stop. Has anyone had this happen? I see my doctor on Friday.

Just had a surgery to remove some fibroids and a whole bunch of polyps in my uterus, and removal of some of a thickened endometrium.

I DIDN’T EXPECT TO FEEL SO DIFFERENT!!

I feel like someone flipped on a nuclear reactor in my body and it’s coursing with energy. I feel less of a baseline of depression I’d had for who knows how long.

The fibroids had developed slowly over years and I wonder how much of a frog in the pot I’ve been to their symptoms. And I’m still healing from the surgery and TRYING to take it easy. I over-did it yesterday because I felt so good.

It may sound silly but the difference is so drastic it feels a little scary. Like if I was driving and someone else pressed the gas pedal more than I was comfortable with. It’s great but hard to relate to? I’m sure I’ll adjust but right now it’s so distinct. Good, weird, and a lot. Just wanted to share. ♥️

hi everyone,

I had 2 surgeries 3 years ago to removed 39 fibroids and no partner at the time. I tried to follow a healthy diet ( Mediterranean diet) in prevention to try to stay health. I have also found now my partner and we are decided to try, he is 37 and I’m 42.

has anyone successfully conceived naturally after a myomectomy and after 40? what was your experience like and perhaps you have any supplement/diets recommendations? I’m UK based. thank you

TW: discussion of disability, miscarriage and trouble pregnancy

Edit: Thanks to everyone who shared. I guess I'm just lucky in the worst way lol. I'll be back if they find fibroids in my upcoming ultrasound.

This may not be a question that has an answer but I thought I would ask because Google is useless.

I am almost 40 and have had a diagnosis of PCOS since I was 16. The other day I went for a PAP and mentioned I had been having abdominal cramps (similar to menstrual cramps) for months. When she pressed down she said it felt stiff and thought I may have fibroids. I will be getting that fun ultrasound next week. When I wad talking to my mother about that, she mentioned she had fibroids while she was pregnant with me. She has also told me in the past that she had been bleeding and the doctors gave her specific instructions to stop me from being a miscarriage. I wouldn't be surprised if the two are connected. Anyways, I was wondering for those who had a fibroids while pregnant, did the doctor discuss potential health issues in your child's future. I'm a health mess (epilepsy, iih, pulmonary sarcoidosis, sinus issues including polyps, migraines, bipolar ii, anemia and pcos) and was curious if there was a connection. I was able to find information about fibroids impact on the fetus but almost nothing about what happens after birth. I thought coming to my fellows who have had the experience would be more knowledgeable. Thanks

I got a myomectomy in 2020 and had 3 huge fibroids removed (9cm,6cm and 3 cm).End of April this year I found out that I had grown 8 fibroids all about 2cm-3cm.Got on primolut on May cos I wanted a break from my periods had bleeding after the dose ended beginning of May..While still bleeding I got mirena cos I was told it would ease my heavy periods,it expelled in 10 days and the bleeding lasted for 20 days.So my next period was due yesterday but I didn't think it would come but it did and it is the worst period I have ever had in my period.I thought I had bad periods but this!!I am talking filling a maxi pad in a minute after sneezing.Huge clots like I have never seen(I have experienced pretty terrible periods cos of my fibroids)I am passing huge huge clots every minutes I am even force to use clothing cos a pad simply isn't helping.Is this normal for the period after mirena?

Hi! I'm pretty new here and it's my first time posting. Most of the posts I've seen here so far from you lovely humans have been really informative, but most of you are either very far along in your journey or have already had surgery, and I just got diagnosed in February, so I wanted to share my experience as a newbie and hope to find a sense of community here.

For starters, I'm very blessed to have medical history on my side. My mom had fibroids and it runs in her family, so the moment something felt off with my body I was already prepared. I went to the hospital one day in February with severe abdominal/pelvic pain and cramping, which had been persisting for a few days or so and I wasn't on my period, and I already had a strong feeling it was fibroids. I told them about my medical history and they did an ultrasound (among other tests) and sure enough, they found 2 fibroids, less than 2cm each. I had to go back to the hospital again in May for the unbearable pain and I also couldn't poop without extreme shooting pain, so I just didn't poop for like 4 days. I was BAWLING in the ER, which was so embarrassing 😭 sure enough, at least one of the fibroids grew a bit, but the other one didn't seem to show up on the ultrasound this time. I previously googled the type of fibroid that one was (I forget the name but I'll look it up and put it in the comments) and it apparently is notoriously hard to capture on ultrasounds.

Fast forward to now...the cramps are persistent and I can't really function without my portable heat pack these days. I had to file for intermittent leave from my work to protect my job from frequent absences between flare ups, doctor's appointments, and, down the road, surgery. I plan to have a hysterectomy ASAP. I'm in my 30s and my partner and I both don't want kids. Where I'm located they shouldn't give me much issue on that, and my partner also had a hysterectomy due to similar but more severe issues, so it's not like we could have kids anyway (I know adopting is an option, but again we do NOT want kids, EVER). I have no idea how long this process will take...I'm currently waiting for an appeal with my insurance to settle before I can make an appointment with a specialist to review everything and put together a plan. That's a whole other story. In the meantime, it's heating pads, Mary Jane for the pain, and checking on the insurance appeal status.

Wish me luck, y'all! Y'all are strong as hell, I have no clue how some of y'all are walking around with footballs in you. I feel like such a wimp complaining about less than 2cm 😭 I almost didn't want to post but I'm sure I'm not the only one just getting diagnosed, and I'm sure y'all who have been going through it have great wisdom 💞 I'm so scared of what's to come. I'm not great with pain and discomfort and I know it's only going to get worse until I can get surgery but I know that's a long way down the road.

I’m writing this as a warning/ advice to other women in maybe the same situation as me to share what I’ve been thru in the USA with healthcare. As some background, my husband and I have been doing Ivf on and off for quite a couple of years now and we had a miscarriage this last March which led me to want to investigate more as shady grove fertility wasn’t giving me the answers I needed.

My surgical history below;
2017- Myomectomy with the worst possible doctor on planet earth who scarred my completely okay tubes. Also left a massive scar that became a keloid above my belly button, later he was sued by many women for this matter. The actual devil.

2021- bilateral salpingectomy, left ovary removal. Endo resection.

2025 - endo resection, removal of 1 fibroid. (I had a diagnoses of DIE and was told he was able to separate everything and clean up everything)

All three surgeries with different doctors who all promised pregnancy would be achieved after this from what they saw.

After my last surgery I was adamant that Ivf should work. After my miscarriage, I wanted more answers and the doctors just kept saying you don’t need surgery, you don’t need an mri again. Mind you they implanted a completely healthy, tested and our last embryo in a fibroid uterus. I could tell something was wrong because I kept having pain near my rectum and my belly was always bloated. I went to a different Obgyn who ordered an mri and lo and behold - 19 fibroids with two nodules on my rectum still existing. I was so exhausted with US healthcare I had no idea why no one was operating on any of this correctly or why it was being left in again and again. To live with 25 fibroids is not a joke and to have surgery again and again isn’t either. I work for a company that has fantastic health care and has Ivf benefits which is why I never cared to go abroad for any treatment but after all of this, I was so tired I chose to go back to India to get treatment. I was operated on laparoscopically, was given a gnrh after to starve the remaining endo if any and to shrink my bulky uterus. He also diagnosed me with adenomyosis which the US never did. He was able to treat all of it at once.

I will not sugarcoat it, Us hospitals and Indian hospitals are not comparative. The whole thing was a big strain on me. I have family in India and therefore recovery was okay but nothing compared to what it would have been back home in the USA. I want to say all of this as cautionary tale that if something feels wrong, please question it and seek care elsewhere. The last Obgyn I saw was one of the most recommended in the area for endometriosis and he told me “this is like a bag of marbles, I don’t think I can operate on this level” and asked me to go to a doctor out of network to get operated. He was actually adamant on me getting a hysterectomy.

Currently, I’m healing but I’m super traumatized by everything I’ve had to go through. I’m not sure we will attempt Ivf again because of how exhausted we both are mentally but I do feel like the level of care and the plan to actually treat this long term felt better elsewhere than just being told either get pregnant asap or have a hysterectomy.

If you have similar stories, I’d like to hear. Wishing you all so much strength. We don’t talk enough about how debilitating these issues can be.

Hi everyone! Is it normal to feel more pain around the incision site 3 weeks post robotic lap myomectomy? I can feel a needle pricking my stitch under the belly button and some on and off pain and itching around the other incisions. Anyone felt this before?

At 3 weeks post op, do you still easily get tired? I went grocery shopping earlier and boy I was tired from walking for 30 minutes. I still walk slowly. Not too slow but I know it is not my normal pace. Were you like this too?

Please no suggestion of surgery! I don't want to be cut open.

What has helped with prolonged bleeding? I'm peri and gave fibroids that shrunk a bit after ufe, either they missed one or a new one is growing.

I want to manage periods. I'm on the mini pill (norenthdine) pack 5, still prolonged bleeding way past my regular period. I know they say this sucker takes 6 months to adjust.

Please tell me what has been helpful for you!

update: not sure why I'm being downvoted. Why would someone be so petty as to downvote someone who is llooking for management options?

i am looking for a way to manage symptoms namely the prolonged bleeding until menopause. Thought this place was supportive, not everyone wants to do open surgery. I don't want to have to take off multiple days of work.

Also, some women are not candidates of simpler lap or vaginal hysterectomy or myo surgeries, some of us have to be cut open and that can lead to complications and longer recovery times.

Thank you for the suggestions.

I would love to hear what everyone had prepared before getting into their myomectomy! It’s never too much! From necessity to extra comfort, I’ll take anything ❤️

Back story: i’m flying to get this surgery abroad. It will be a robotic myomectomy to remove 5 fibroids with the largest being 10cm.

Thank you queens ❤️