Fibroid Frustration

Hello,
I have been very frustrated and feeling quite depressed over the growth of my fibroids over a 3 year period. I just had my 50th birthday March 6, so I must be getting close to menopause. I am a very small person, now with a uterus up over my navel and the doctor says about a 4 1/2 or 5 months pregnancy! I do notice what seems to be some slight growth with each cycle. I am terrified of having a hysterectomy because of all the negatives I have read about this surgery. My symptoms have been getting worse – very heavy bleeding that scares me and I bleed for 15 days in a 27 or 28 day period. I am anemic (not surprising), tired a lot, low energy, nasty low back pain, pressure on the bladder needing to go to bathroom often and I am so depressed! Because of my age, would you suggest I wait till I get into menopause/go through it, or does it seem like I should have the FAS? If I did have the FAS now, could more tumors develop in a few years from now with/at/after menopause?

Dear Anonymous-
This is the classic “wait and see” question we get here all the time. If you are a premenopausal patient with small tumors and only seem to have menstrual problems ie: heavy bleeding, clotting and anemia then avoiding surgery may be a good possibility. Once you enter menopause the tumors will stop growing and the bleeding symptoms will cease. However, for women with larger tumors, like yourself, the associated symptoms are not relieved. You will still have the tumors and therefore any symptoms related to them ie: back pain, urinary frequency, any abdominal protrusion, constipation etc. In order to eliminate these issues the tumors need to be removed. Good Luck