Symptoms of Uterine Fibroids
Past Fibroid Patients Discuss Their Symptoms
In these videos, several fibroid patients discuss some of the most common symptoms of fibroids including heavy uterine and vaginal bleeding and chronic pelvic pain and cramping. Listen to what they went through prior to their treatments.
Dr. Harris Discusses Fibroid Symptoms
While uterine fibroids can cause a variety of symptoms, they may not cause any symptoms at all. Some women may not even know that they have one. However, uterine fibroids, may cause a wide range of symptoms. Some of the more common symptoms of uterine fibroid disease we see in our patients include:
Heavy Vaginal Bleeding & Clots
Menorrhagia (prolonged and/or profuse uterine & vaginal bleeding, also called hypermenorrhea). This is the most common symptom associated with uterine fibroids and the one that usually prompts a woman to make an appointment with our office. Depending on the amount of bleeding, a woman can become anemic (low blood counts) over several months. This anemia can cause chronic fatigue and overall weakness.
Normal menstrual periods typically last four to five days, whereas women with uterine fibroids often have abnormal vaginal bleeding lasting longer than seven days. In some cases, our patients describe heavy uterine or vaginal bleeding lasting for months without stopping. As discussed above, depending on the amount and duration of vaginal bleeding, a woman can become anemic.
Many women notice large ‘blood clots’ that pass during their menses. This type of abnormal vaginal bleeding and hypermenorrhea is not normal. Large clots during heavy vaginal bleeding could be a sign of uterine fibroids.
Pain and pressure
Fibroids may cause a range of symptoms that are due to the large size within the pelvis. When fibroids grow, they often press on surrounding organs. When this happens, it can cause pain, pressure in the pelvic region, painful intercourse, frequent urination or infertility.
Infertility
When a woman has fibroids pressing on the inner lining of the uterus, it can prevent normal attachment of a fertilized egg to the uterus. Or, if a embryo does attach to the uterus, the fibroid can limit the embryo’s growth and cause loss of the pregnancy. Both of these effects from fibroids lead to infertility.
Past Fibroid Patients Discuss What Steps They Took For Fibroid Treatment
In these videos, several fibroid patients discuss some of the steps they took to get treatment for their fibroids. Listen to what they went through prior to their treatments.
‘Social’ Symptoms
While the following list of ‘symptoms’ are not truly medical in nature, they are just as important to us, and our patients. At The Fibroid Treatment Center, no only do we want to help women medically, we want to help them return to a normal social life. The following are many of the ‘symptoms’ we have heard from our patients over the years:
Avoiding social activities
Many of our patients describe that they often avoid social engagements due to the amount of vaginal bleeding. Some women resort to wearing Depends or other forms of underwear protection due to the volume of bleeding they encounter. Often they avoid parties or other social engagements due to the fear of having to find a bathroom urgently because of bleeding.
‘I never, ever, wear white’
Some of our patients describe “not being able to wear white” for many years due to the fear of constant, heavy bleeding. Having ongoing bleeding is not normal and shouldn’t limit a woman’s right to wear white!
Lack of intimacy
When a woman has ongoing bleeding for months without stopping, it can limit her ability to be intimate with her partner. Sometimes when a fibroid gets large enough, it can cause pain during intercourse leading to a lack of desire for intimacy. This is an important ‘symptom’ that needs to be addressed.
These symptoms are not normal and they don’t have to continue!
Past Fibroid Patients Discuss Their Experience at the Fibroid Treatment Center
In these videos, several fibroid patients discuss their experience with the Fibroid Treatment Center and their consultation with Dr. Harris. Listen to how they felt our center helped them prior to their treatments.