# need your input please



## salbur (Oct 29, 2007)

i was diagnosed with ibs quite some time ago (after ending up in A+E from the pain and 3 years of bugging my gp). with pain and worsening syptoms as time has gone on.since my late teens, i have had dreadful periods, heavy long lasting and painful. over the years i have frequently asked if there could be anything other than ibs going on. i once had a dr suggest i was suffering from psychological pain







!!!!!!!!!! eventually i was talked out of thinking anything else was wrong and i had to just get on with it (apparently its very common for ibs patients to worry there is something more serious going on, gee i wonder WHY!!!!!). i never managed to take on a full time contract because of the pain and never knowing how i'd be from one day to the next so i was a 'bank' nurse (i filled in when a member of staff was sick) in a childrens hospital for just over 10 years but 5 years ago my symptoms worsened again and i worked so little that eventually they just sent me my p45. i've had no income or help for a few years now and its only down to my incredible partner that i'm not in an even worse state.he has supported me both financially and emotionally.2 days ago i had to have an abdominal ultrasound scan this was not ordered by my gp but by a renal consultant, i have been undergoing tests to check my suitability as a kidney doner. within 30 seconds of looking at the screen the radiographer looked at me with a horrified expression and asked me if i had bad periods, i said yes, she then said "you have at least 2 very large fibroids in your uterus".i just cant grasp why this wasn't picked up years ago, all these years of pain and psychological anguish. all i've done is cry ever since. i know i should feel some relief that i finally know but i dont. all i feel is grief and anger that i have been in all this pain for over 15 years, i've lost my social life, a career i loved and what should of been all of my young adult life, i'm now 38 and dont have my own children and probably will never have any now as many women in my position are offered a hysterectomy as treatment (other treatments are available but fertility is always compromised).does anyone have any experience that they can share with me of fibroids?do fibroids go hand in hand with ibs?can anybody give me any reason or words of comfort to help me deal with my feelings right now. i'm just devastated and i can't stop crying, i'm not usually like this i can usually find something positive to think about in most situations ,and the humour which we all know is essential!! but i'm realy struggling here.finally if you have heavy periods, please look up the symptoms of fibroids, if you fit, then demand an abdominal ultrasound. do it now please, i can't bear to think that there are other women out there who may be having the same experience as me. thanks for listening.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Both disorders are very common so it is hard to know if they go together more than you'd expect by chance alone.Some women have heavy or painful periods for no particular reason so it can be hard to know why you have them, but if there is a change in them they need to be reported (when I first talked to the doctor he diagnosed it as a likely fibroid but we went on watch and wait as it could have been nothing much and I'd notice when it needed to come out). Although if your periods were very heavy and painful I'm surprised they didn't suggest you see and OB-GYN.Depending on where they are and how much trouble they cause the treatment can vary a lot. Sometimes if a woman is close to menopause and not trying to get pregnant (or they aren't in a place that effects that) they just wait it out. Once the estrogen drops they tend to shrink on their own. I had one that had to be removed because it was making my periods dangerously heavy. The heavier that usual was OK so we just watched and waited until it became a problem. IF I was trying to get pregnant they might have removed it sooner as they say that location can interfere with pregnancy. Mine was easy to remove with conservative treatment, but sometimes they aren't. One of the doctors involved in the surgery happened to be a fertility specialist and if you want to conserve fertility (wasn't a priority for me, but it was who ended up being available for my surgery) you may want to check in with a fertility specialist to see what your best option is as sometimes they can do something in a particular way to try to preserve fertility.


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## salbur (Oct 29, 2007)

thanks for replying so quickly kathleen. it was an ob gynae who diagnosed ibs, whilst i was in A+E and bleeding heavily. my haemogloblin has been on the very low side of normal each time i've had a full blood count and slightly raised neutrophils. i had initial ivestigations and a laperoscopy in the early 90's. i woke up during the laperoscopy as my weight had not been recorded accuratley,not enough anaesthetic was administered. i tried to turn over as if i were in bed asleep, i remember it well!, and woke up with bruises on my legs chest and arms where they had to grab me to stop me falling off the table. frankly i now wonder if they performed the laperoscopy 'fully' because of this or wether the fibroids were just begining and were too small at that time. i was told that as far as gynae were concerned everything was ok. i have mentioned my periods to my gp from time to time since then but no futher investigation was ever mentioned or offered. one gp frowned at me and just said "youve had investigations and everything is fine, youre just unlucky to have bad periods. make sure you eat plenty of iron rich food". by this time the ?ibs was so bad i was on the loo up to 20 times a day and after eating i'd feel very uncomfortably full and in pain, my appetite was minimal. my periods last between 9-14 days. i was exhausted and just didn't have any 'fight' left in me, each time i brought it up i was told 'no', i'd changed my gp on severel occassions and was at risk of being labled as a 'nuisance patient' (although i wonder now if i had already been given that label).


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## Tiss (Aug 22, 2000)

Hi, Sorry you are having troubles like this. I don't know why your fibroids weren't dx before and I don't know how old you are but I had fibroids too that caused me pain and bleeding. I am 53 and am in menopause so my childbearing years are done but I opted to have an endometrial ablation rather than a hysterectomy. Best thing I've ever done! No pain, easy recovery, no bleeding and no more fibroids. But, if you want children then that's not an option. Just something to think about. My fibroids I don't believe had anything to do with my IBS as I've had it all my life so it didn't effect that.


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## salbur (Oct 29, 2007)

thank you tiss. its good to know that it's likely i do have both the ibs and fibroids, at the time of writing my post,everything i thought i knew about my health had seemed to be turned on its head. especially after my gp 'talked' me out of believing my periods were abnormal, i was feeling very confused!i'm a bit calmer now. i keep telling myself that at least i know now and can do something about it.i've looked up the various surgical treatments and i guess i'll have to wait and see what they offer me, my next appointment in november the 15th which seems an age away. there is one thing i'm sure about though and thats that i won't have a hysterectomy unless its 100% necessary and it will take a-lot of convincing me. my trust in the medical profession is at an all time low. from now on if i come across as the patient from hell then so be it! it's my body and my mind, if i know something is wrong, then it's wrong and i wont have my symptoms brushed under the carpet.thanks again tiss, i'm glad your surgery worked out for you and good luck for the future.


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