fibroids: the culprit for heavy uterine cramping & bleeding | common female pelvic diseases pt. 3

In this episode of Stellar Cycles, we’re shedding light on uterine fibroids—benign tumors that affect many women, particularly women of color. 

I’ll guide you through the basics of what fibroids are, how they’re diagnosed, and the symptoms you should be aware of. We’ll discuss various treatment options, from watchful waiting to surgical interventions, and explore how lifestyle changes can play a role in managing fibroids. Plus, we’ll touch on the emotional toll this condition can take and why it’s so important to seek support and stay informed about your health. 

Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram for more updates, download our free grocery guide, and support the podcast by leaving a rating and review. Tune in to learn more about fibroids and how to take control of your health! 

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Transcript

Alina: Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the Stellar Cycles podcast. Your hot girl database for all things pertaining to your femininity, your cycle and wellness, and your walk in life as a woman. I'm your host, Olena, and today we are going to be talking about what fibroids are and why they cause us women trouble. The goal of today's episode is for us to learn about these little growths called fibroids in the uterus, which often can be the culprit for many common, unpleasant menstrual issues things like heavy bleeding, hardcourt, cramping, pelvic and back pain and anemia. It is really important for us to talk about this today because by the time women approach their menopause years, most of them will have fibroids also. They disproportionately affect women of color. So we want to make sure we share this information and be more vigilant in preventing them for our own health and the sisters around us. I hope that today's episode will help dispel some of your fears around fibroids and help empower you to know what you can do if you're afraid you might be dealing with them. Just remember, this is just from the interest and viewpoint of myself, an ultrasound tech who has seen many female patients with uterine fibroids in that clinical setting. I just want to break down this condition for my curious listeners, any medical advice or treatment should be sought through your own health care provider. Always good to have that reminder. let's get into today's episode. Why do we need to talk about fibroids? Number one, because fibroids are extremely prevalent. They will affect 70 to 80% of women by the time they reach the age of 50. And I can attest to this because when I was working in the ultrasound setting, working in the hospital, doing a lot of pelvic scans for women, looking at their uterus, looking at their ovaries, fibroids were literally so commonly seen ranging from really small ones, not that many to really, really big ones that could completely enlarge the uterus, make it look about as big as a pregnant uterus. these fibroids were so commonly seen on ultrasound exams that all the radiologists had us do is just kind of measure and count them. And unless they looked concerning, it was just kind of thought that this is a normal finding. Another important reason why we want to talk about fibroids today is for symptom management, things like heavy menstrual bleeding, pelvic pain, fertility struggles. So a lot of women already deal with these things. So having the information about what causes it can really help manage these types of symptoms. And as always, the more educated that we are, it will lead to earlier diagnosis, better management and better outcomes. And the other reason that I mentioned in this introduction is there's a lot of disparity in fibroid treatment and outcomes, especially for women of color. since women of color are more affected by fibroids, it's really important for us to talk about this and know about this so that we all Especially women with less options, can know what's going on and what they can do about it. knowing the treatment options that are available will also empower you to make informed decisions about your health care. Also, there's a really strong impact on fertility and pregnancy, one in four women in America are seeking fertility treatment. So it's highly important for us to know about what our options are. And of course, any chronic symptoms that we deal with will always affect our mental health. So we will get into that a little bit and what kind of mental health support we can find. And finally, prevention. So we are really going to talk about lifestyle guidelines that can minimize that development of fibroids down the line. And hopefully you won't be one of the 70 to 80% of women struggling with them by the time you reach menopause. This podcast, we're always talking about cycles thinking and how to modify your lifestyle and how to make better choices that are centered around your female hormones so you can best support them and not get in the way as much as there is in this world that gets in the way of our hormones doing its job. There's a lot that we can do to help them. moving on, what is the definition of fibroids? What are fibroids exactly? Fibroids are also known as a uterine leo myeloma. So words ending in a coma typically mean a tumor. So it's a little tumor inside of the uterine muscle tissue. A lot of fibroids are benign, which means it's a non deadly tumor. It's just, you know, a little bundle of cells and other tissue that creates it. just a reminder that there are three layers of the uterus the innermost layer is called the endometrium. It's made up of those blood vessels which create that network of nutrition that the embryo usually will implant into. And we talked about endometriosis previously in another episode, which is a disorder of this level of tissue. The next layer, so we're working from the inside out is going to be the middle layer, which is called the Myo Medium. the Miami trim is a muscle layer. Okay, remember that uterus is a muscle, mostly because when you're cramping and having your period or giving birth, the muscle has to push things out of your body. Sometimes it's endometrium, sometimes it's a full baby. So the Miami atrium, which is made up of smooth muscle tissue, it's also the middle layer. This is where those fibroids are often occurring. And then finally, we have kind of the capsule of the uterus. And that's called the Perry medium is covers the uterus and it's made out of connective tissue. fibroids, these little benign tumors, little bundles, what are they made out of? They are made out of smooth muscle cells, a fibrous which is kind of a stiff connective tissue. And sometimes they can be calcified if they've been around for a bit. And calcified means they've been hardened. are there different kinds of fibroids? There are. they're categorized into four different types, depending on their location in the uterus. this is typically useful for imaging and diagnosis. And I'm going to make a little graphic for you guys to refer to on our Instagram for a visual representation of these four types. what they look like and where are they located in the uterus. it's very common to sometimes have multiple fibroids, maybe have one of each type, and they can also vary in size. Like I said earlier, they can be very, very tiny or they can be very big. what are going to be the signs and symptoms that women with fibroids present with? It's a range they can vary from some woman not experiencing any symptoms at all, not even knowing that they have them to experiencing significant pain and discomfort from these fibroids. Some of the symptoms that we know to be typical of fibroids will be heavy, prolonged, menstrual. Flo. That means you're having your period for more than seven days. You're bleeding a lot. A lot. And that can typically lead to anemia, which is a deficiency of iron in your blood because you are losing so much blood, more so than on average you're supposed to lose. So it can really affect your iron levels and lead to some unpleasant side effects and symptoms of that, which is like fatigue or weakness, maybe having a hard time regulating your body temperature, things like that that we know to be associated with anemia. Another symptom of fibroids could be pelvic pain and pressure, kind of this full feeling in your lower tummy and also lower back aches because one, this organ has fibroids that are enlarging it, making it bigger. It can really affect the weight distribution in your pelvis and create some aches and pains. Another interesting fertility affecting symptom could be difficulty conceiving. So fibroids that grow in the wall of the uterus, they can kind of mess with the implantation of the embryo, but not always. I have seen plenty of cases in the ultrasound setting of pregnant women who came in for ultrasound scan, and you just see this little tumor in their uterine wall. another symptom of fibroids is more frequent periods. So your periods are closer together and you might have spotting bleeding in between your periods. Another interesting symptom is needing to pee more often constipation or bladder retention, which means not being able to empty completely or kind of having trouble getting started when you're urinating. And this, of course, is because, again, an enlarged uterus with fibroids, can impress upon your other organs like your bladder, your bowel, and affect the efficiency of those organs. We also might experience pain during sex, more so depending on where those fibroids are located. If they're located at the top of the uterus, which is further away from your vaginal canal, maybe you might not feel it. But if they're located closer, down below to where your vaginal canal is, then you could experience dyspareunia, which is also known as pain during sex. And finally, another symptom which can be really, really interesting is abdominal enlargement. So sometimes those fibroids can grow so big and make the uterus that much bigger that it can kind of resemble a pregnant uterus. But you're not actually pregnant. Your uterus is just full of these fibroids that have enlarged it. how are those fibroids getting diagnosed? Well, things that the doctor might look at would be, first and foremost, your medical history. They're going to assess those symptoms, that list of symptoms we just talked about. Are you having really heavy, prolonged menstrual flow? Do you have that pain and aches in your pelvis? Maybe you've had difficult time conceiving a baby. Are your periods very close together? Do you need to appear very frequently without the presence of a UTI? Are you having pain during sex? Is your abdomen enlarging for no apparent reason? And of course, the doctor will also take a close look at your risk factors. they will look at your family history, your age, your reproductive history. And reproductive history doesn't always mean if you've had a baby or not, but they're going to look at, okay, when did you start getting your period? What are your periods looking like? How much are they affecting your life? How painful, how heavy are they? And they're going to look at other factors that might increase the likelihood of fibroids. Maybe some things like your lifestyle, your chronic stress levels, your diet, your exercise habits. Next, the doctor might do a physical exam so they will feel around inside of you and could possibly detect fibroids with a manual pelvic check. So, yes, sometimes you can actually feel them by inserting a finger and just kind of like feeling around next up. And this will for sure tell us if you have fibroids is things like medical imaging using ultrasound, MRI histories, Scenography or his gyroscope. He will go into each and every one of these. So first and foremost, ultrasound is going to be your most common, your most noninvasive imaging technique. Like I mentioned previously, we see this a lot. It's a very common finding on ultrasound. So they might do a transvaginal where they put the probe inside of you and look at the uterus from beneath, or they'll just use the probe over your tummy. called the trans abdominal ultrasound. And that can provide the doctor with detailed images of the uterus, which will reveal the presence, the size and the location of the fibroids they can classify them. Next up is going to be a more serious imaging option, which is the MRI. And MRI is always going to provide a more detailed image of the uterus. And it is really useful in particularly complex cases when they're considering surgery or if those fibroids are really big or located in, difficult to detect areas. So anything that ultrasound can't really image MRI is going to be really good for that because it takes literally a picture of your whole entire body. The next stop is something called his sterile scenography his sterile means uterus and scenography means ultrasound. And this is not the same as just a pelvic ultrasound because. This procedure actually involves injecting a little bit of salient into your uterine cavity during an ultrasound, and that helps them get a clearer view of sub mucosal fibroids. those ones are the innermost fibroids. Right. Remember, there's four different types. Some mucosal ones are the ones that could be distorting our uterine lining. And anything that messes with the uterine lining, the endometrium could get in the way of successful implantation of an embryo. So that is what a hysteresis scenography looks at. And then a history. Ross Copy is when a thin lighted tube is inserted through the vagina into the uterus to examine the urine cavity directly. So this can be used for both diagnosis and treatment, especially for some mucosal fibroids. So that's kind of least to most invasive way of trying to diagnose fibroids. Next, the doctor might also order some labs for you. They could be testing for anemia because anemia is very often a byproduct of fibroids and of normal bleeding. Remember that the fibroids that are going to increase the amount of blood that you lose, they're going to prolong the days and the amount of time that you're bleeding. So it could lead to a lot more iron loss than someone with regular periods. they're really going to check for anemia as part of the diagnosis. And finally, the most invasive and often done, if other conditions are suspected like endometriosis, is going to be a laparoscopy. that's just when they insert a small camera inside to look at your organs. next up, we're going to be talking about fibroid risk factors. what are going to be those things that set women up to develop fibroids? fibroids are seen in about one quarter of reproductive age women. And by the time they get to menopause, usually around age 50, it's different for everyone. But at least 70% of women will have them by menopause. the most important thing to realize here is that fibroids are responsive to hormones. They can't grow without the presence of estrogen. in pregnancy, they can get bigger because our bodies have more estrogen during pregnancy. And then when you hit menopause, your body isn't producing that estrogen as much anymore and they won't have their food for growth. So they might still stick around, but they're not going to be growing Very important for us to talk about is that fibroids affect African and African-American women 2 to 3 times more than other women. And they occur more the older that women get. So with each decade that you go through, so from 20 to 30, you might have a few than 30 to 40, you develop more and then that peaks around 50 to 60 is one. They're pretty much really raging. And of course, family history always plays a part in these conditions as we talk about in every single episode. So you might have a three times of risk of getting fibroids if any family members close to you have had uterine fibroids as well. it's really important for us to talk about lifestyle factors, because I don't think it's talked about enough in the medical setting. so what kind of lifestyle factors can lead to fibroids? fibroids grow with estrogen, right? So anything that increases your natural estrogen can pose that risk of increasing the fibroids. That's why we always talk on this podcast about how it's so important to manage the estrogen levels in your body. Because, remember, your ovaries are creating estrogen all month long except for when you get your period. this is during your whole entire reproductive years when you hit menopause, obviously your ovary function starts declining little by little and you start producing less and less estrogen. That's why women in menopause often need to go on hormone replacement therapy in order to continue getting those benefits of estrogen for their body while their body is not producing it. when we are in our reproductive years, if we're not careful about helping the excess estrogen, the extra that we don't really need exit our body, then we can have really unpleasant symptoms. something that really helps is eating enough crunchy, fibrous foods that that extra extra gene that's floating around in your body can attach to and be eliminated with when you go to the bathroom. diet can really affect fibroids. And my personal deduction here is that the standard American diet really contributes to higher estrogen levels, which is probably why 70 to 80% of American women will have fibroids by the time they reach 50 years of age. So what are some examples of diet that can up your estrogen levels and lead to fibroids? A very high red meat intake. Also, I have heard that. Higher dairy intake, too, could lead to higher estrogen levels, but not completely sure on that. And of course, if you're not eating a lot of crunchy, fibrous things and you have a low fruit and veg intake, that could also make it easier for that estrogen to stick around in your body and create unpleasant symptoms. We also have a high fat diet being as part of the lifestyle factors that contributes to fibroids. I'm not talking about healthy fats like avocados, nuts, seeds, olive oil. I'm talking about those more dangerous fats that can lead to obesity. when people have extra fat on their body that they don't need, it's much easier for extra hormones and toxins to stick around in that fat tissue. So the more fat tissue that a person has, the higher the estrogen production, which leads to more growth of fibroids. A lack of exercise could also mean that you're not burning that fat and you might not be getting as much circulation through your body to keep all those hormones and toxins moving out of it. Another dietary factor that can lead to fibroids is a high alcohol and caffeine consumption. So because alcohol increases estrogen and decreases liver function, which normally the liver works to flush out any extra hormones or toxins that the body doesn't need. which would make it harder for your body to fight the development of fibroids. a high caffeine intake also implies a risk factor for fibroids, but the research on that is still incomplete. So that's not a very like for certain thing, like these other ones. As always, chronic stress is a huge enemy for the woman and for her reproductive system, for her hormones, for her immunity, for her digestion. And we just want to remember that cortisol is also going to affect estrogen. So when women get stressed, their bodies, first and foremost, are going to hold on to more excess fat because it's a fight or flight response for us, tells our body that it's like you don't know when you're going to get your nutrients next It's better to just hold on to what we have. And when your body holds on to excess fat, it's going to hold on to those excess hormones as well, which it's easier for those hormones to be produced and stick around when there's more fat tissue. Another potential risk factor for fibroids is endocrine disruptors. So any environmental things that we put on or inside our bodies that pose a risk to our hormones and their function. things like BPA, phthalates, those have also been linked to fibroid growth. And finally, this is something that women can always control, but early menstruation girls who start puberty earlier, meaning anywhere from before, ten years of age, I would say they're taking off the production of estrogen in their bodies. As soon as you hit puberty, you are officially in the reproductive age. Your ovaries are beginning to produce estrogen, which means that girls who started their periods earlier are exposed to estrogen for longer. they're more at risk to develop fibroids because that estrogen has just been in their bodies for a longer period of time. So those are the risk factors to keep in mind. Moving on, what are going to be effective? Fibroid treatments and the side effects that come with them? First and foremost, this is typically one that they'll do before they jump into anything really serious or invasive, and that is called watchful waiting. if the fibroids are not causing the patient's significant symptoms, they might the doctor might just regularly monitor them every six months or so and just hold off. On jumping into any immediate treatment with this. There's really no direct side effects, but if nothing is done about them, even if they're not causing any symptoms, symptoms could show up or worsen over time, which would require later intervention. Now, what kind of medications are often prescribed to women who are suffering from fibroids? First of all, they're going to prescribe a. And that affects your hormones because, remember, estrogen is the number one food for fibroids and it's what fuels them. It's why they grow and get bigger. So a first one would be something like a G and RH agonist, for example, a drug called Lupron. these drugs are going to work by temporarily shrinking fibroids because they will lower the estrogen in your body as well as the progesterone levels. And this is often an option that is used pre surgery. So they're going to kind of see like, okay, by lowering the estrogen in your body, can we get these fibroids to start shrinking and decreasing in size? The side effects of a G gene? RH agonists could be things like hot flashes, bone loss, vaginal dryness and mood changes. all of these symptoms are very much like menopause symptoms because again, they're kind of shutting down your estrogen and progesterone levels, your hormone production, in order to try to affect those fibroids. However, another side effect is that those symptoms and fibroid growth might come back if you do stop the medication. The next one is a progestin releasing IUD. progestin, remember, it's a synthetic version of progesterone. Only human bodies can create things like estrogen and progesterone, while some animal bodies, too. But progestin is more of like the synthetic lab version of progesterone. And when they give you a progestin releasing IUD, they're going to obviously put in an intrauterine device, kind of like the birth control one. And the progestin in that is going to work to help reduce heavy menstrual bleeding that's caused by fibroids, but it doesn't necessarily do much to shrink them. The side effects could be irregular bleeding, meaning now your bleeding, your period isn't really coming up in a timely manner. It might just kind of be all over the place. You could have cramping. Of course, any time that you have an IUD inside the uterus, the uterus as an organ recognizes it as a foreign body. So a lot of women with IUDs experience cramping a lot of the time, not just around their period, because the uterus is kind of pushing that IUD around and trying to get it out, which is kind of a crazy thing. finally, another side effect of that progestin releasing IUD can cause breast tenderness. The next one is oral contraceptives, just oral birth control pills or progestins and those in the medical field. I'm using less than quotations, but they help regulate, quote unquote, menstrual cycles and reduce bleeding. Again, because this is going to work on your hormones, is going to decrease your hormone production, kind of hoping to slow down any unpleasant symptoms caused by those fibroids. But as lots of us know, side effects of birth control pills are things like weight gain, breast tenderness, mood changes, nausea. You could get blood clots. There's there's just a lot that we don't talk about. finally, for hormonal treatments, we have things called selective progesterone receptor modulators. I know that's a mouthful, but an example of this drug could be ULA, Bristol acetate, and those also can shrink fibroids and reduce bleeding, but it can lead to liver function issues, headaches and hot flashes as well. So it's really like a give and take with these hormonal treatments. Yes, they might affect the fibroids. They might shrink them, they might reduce bleeding and all this stuff, but they can also replace those issues with more side effects and uncomfortable problems that you might not want to have. Now, some nonhormonal treatments. There is a medication that doesn't really mess with your hormones, and it's called Tranexamic acid. It's a non-hormonal medication that is taken during your period in order to reduce bleeding. But again, it has some nasty side effects like nausea, vomiting, headaches and risk of blood clots. I don't know about you guys, but I hate being nauseous. I hate throwing up. I don't really know if that would be worth it. But again, a lot of these treatments, even though they help people, they are offered more readily, rather than just teaching the patient how to make better lifestyle choices and how to shrink down those fibroids by directly working on your hormones, working to reduce the amount of estrogen in your body. And that's why this podcast exists. That's why we talk about cycles thinking we're always giving you exercise ideas, food ideas, things that can really help balance out the hormones that are not going out of whack and creating these unpleasant issues in your body. next for treatment, there are some non-surgical procedures that doctors will offer to fibroid patients. First one is called UFC uterine fibroids embolization. embolization means that they're going to cut blood vessels and kind of like burn them so that they reduce the blood flow and the bleeding. UFC is going to be a minimally invasive procedure. It's going to cut off blood flow to fibroids, which causes them to shrink because if they don't have blood flow going to them, then that estrogen can't get to them through the blood. Right. But side effects of this procedure could be things like pain, cramping, some nausea, post procedure, possible complications with future pregnancies. Because if we think about it, your uterus needs a blood supply in order to nourish a healthy baby, a healthy embryo. So for messing with and mobilizing those blood vessels, then that could potentially affect your chances with future pregnancies. There's also a rare risk of infection, as with most procedures. Then we have an MRI guided, focused ultrasound surgery. That's a mouthful. Usually they will call it. And for us. what they do here is they use a high intensity ultrasound waves. these are sound waves that you can't hear, but they do have a vibration to them still. that will kind of go in and break up that fibroid tissue and kind of destroy the fibroids using focused ultrasound. However, side effects of this could include skin burns, abdominal pain, also long term effects on fertility. But those are still being studied. And finally, for nonsurgical procedures, we have something called radiofrequency ablation. And again, this kind of uses energy to shrink fibroids as well as destroy those blood vessels that supply them. Side effects from this procedure could include mild discomfort, potential impact on future pregnancies and requires a bit of a short we. Covering time next. Moving on to surgery. these are going to be a little bit more serious if maybe the other things don't work on them as much now, they're going to have to go in and open you up and kind of, use scalpels, do some things to actually cut the fibroids out of the tissue. So the first and foremost one is called a myomectomy. Remember that mayo medium means that metal muscle layer of the uterus. in a myomectomy, they're going to still leave your uterus inside your pelvic cavity. But what they're going to do is they're going to surgically remove fibroids while preserving the uterus. It can be performed through the abdomen. It can be performed laparoscopically, which is when they insert a really, really tiny camera and instrument into a very small opening in your abdomen or history scar Brooklyn, which is when they go in through your vagina and up into your uterus. Side effects of myomectomy can include infection, bleeding adhesions. Adhesions are kind of like sticky web like tissue that can develop in your uterus. Also, there's a risk of those fibroids coming back, which I don't know how force it it is to undergo an entire surgery just for the fibroids to come back. I really hope that with future studies and research and developments and treatments, they can really find an effective way to keep them away. And again, depending on the type of surgery you have and which way they go and could also affect your chances for future pregnancies. So that's a myomectomy that's where they just go in and they'll cut those little fibroids out of the uterine wall. They'll leave the uterus inside. The next one is called a hysterectomy. This one is probably a little more familiar to you guys because a hysterectomy is going to be a complete removal of the uterus, which unfortunately is the only definitive cure in the medical setting that they have for fibroids, because no uterus, no muscle tissue, no fibroids for them to develop in there. However, the side effects are going to be obviously a permanent loss of fertility. You can't carry a baby. You can't get pregnant if you don't have a uterus to do it with. There's also surgical risks, like infection, bleeding. Sometimes they'll just take out the uterus and leave the ovaries. But in the case of both the uterus and the ovaries being removed, they can send you into early menopause. And of course, because that's, you know, your female organ, there could be possible emotional and psychological impacts. Finally, for a surgery, we have something called endometrial ablation. because heavy bleeding is such a common symptom of fibroids, an endometrial ablation is going to destroy the lining or the endometrium of the uterus in order to reduce that heavy bleeding. It is definitely not a suitable option if you do wish to hold on to your fertility. If you want to have a chance at having a baby in the future and side effects of an endometrial ablation could be cramping, vaginal discharge, reduced menstrual flow. And it's really not effective for large fibroids. there are some lifestyle and alternative treatments. Obviously, these don't get highlighted as much in the medical setting, but I have heard plenty of success stories of people going, women going this route and actually being able to shrink down and cure their fibroids and minimize their symptoms by doing a few things like dietary changes and supplements. some women who are suffering from fibroids, they might manage their symptoms with dietary adjustments like we talked about, kind of decreasing maybe their very high red meat intake, upping those crunchy veggies and fruits and taking supplements like vitamin D, green tea extract or herbal remedies. There's so many things that we talk about that help balance out the hormones and help them do their job better. Side effects, of course, will always vary depending on the supplement or the supplement routine that you take. And it's always really important to let your doctor know what kind of supplements you're considering taking because herbs and are very strong, they're very powerful and they might interact with other medications or they might cause an allergic reaction. So definitely don't ever go into just blindly using supplements. There's also things like acupuncture or yoga. Acupuncture and yoga can help manage pain, improve your overall well-being and side effects for both of those are pretty minimal. They could include a little bit of soreness or bruising at needle sites for acupuncture, but really nothing to worry about much of the time. And finally, this one, I really hope it gets a little bit more traction, but it's a yoni steaming. It's where you sit over a pot of steaming herbs that are designated specifically, specifically for your pelvis and for your your womanly troubles. it's really, really important to not try this by yourself. You always want to consult a professional. There's a lot of stores that offer Yoni steaming, especially Koreans buyers. And the way that the steaming can help work on the fibroids is that when the steam rises up into your pelvic cavity, it goes through your vagina, goes up into your pelvis. It can really help loosen up and dissolve the fibroids over time that are inside your uterus and can bring some relief and hopefully help you avoid surgical intervention. the same way that facials and as dietitians use steam to open up your skin, kind of dislodge the poor, clogging sebum and things that are inside your pores, help them come out easier. It works in the same exact way down there, but it is not safe to use while you're on your period because it could make you bleed more and open up your cervix. It's not safe to do it around your period or if you're pregnant because again, you just don't want to open up your cervix prematurely right before it's time to give birth. some things when it comes to fertility considerations, right? If your future fertility is a concern, you might want to opt for the less invasive treatments like the MYOMECTOMY or medication management. It could be more preferred over more definitive treatments, obviously like a hysterectomy where they take out your entire uterus and completely affect your ability to conceive and have a baby in the future. with all of this said, what is the prognosis or the future outlook for women with fibroids when it comes to those asymptomatic patients, like the women that just don't even know that they have fibroids because they don't have any symptoms. A lot of these women, because they have no symptoms, they might not need treatment. And The doctor might just want to regularly monitor these fibroids, and that'll be sufficient for stable or very slow growing fibroids if they notice that there's just not really many changes to be worried about. And if it's not causing the patient pain or suffering with the symptomatic fibroids, when those symptoms include the heavy bleeding, the pelvic pain the fertility issues, the pain during sex pain, it affects your urination or your elimination, right? Your digestive tract. There's a very good prognosis for these patients. they'll have good results with medical or surgical treatments. And a lot of these patients will find a significant improvement in their quality of life once they do get these treatments when it comes to fertility and pregnancy, we've talked a few things about how fibroids and their treatment can affect your future fertility. So just a reminder, the fibroids can interfere with conception in pregnancy. But a lot of women like I've seen before that I've done ultrasounds on, can still conceive and carry to term and those fibroids they might grow a bit during pregnancy, but they're not really going to mess with the baby or mess with your ability to give birth. They're just going to be those little knots within your uterine wall. they'll still monitor those fibroids pretty closely during pregnancy just to make sure that everything is looking good and that there's no complications. Now, do fibroids come back after you've done all of these treatments? Maybe you've done more minimally invasive things, maybe you've done them more surgically invasive things. Well, that's unfortunately, the downside of all of this is that fibroids can return after nonsurgical treatments and things like myomectomy, where they just cut those fibroids out of your uterus, leaving your uterus in place. It could require future treatments if those fibroids come back. However, with the hysterectomy, it is a definitive cure because it removes the uterus and it completely eliminates any sort of future risk. But it does put an end to your fertility. When we're looking at the long term health of women who have had fibroids, who are dealing with fibroids, let's look at their quality of life. an effective management of symptoms is going to improve their overall well-being if they can figure out how to control their estrogen, how to live a healthy lifestyle. And, keep that in mind that they will find relief from pain, bleeding, and that pressure on their organs. when women go into menopause, it's going to decrease their estrogen production that their body makes. That kind of feeds those. Fibroids. So it is going to get better after menopause. But there is because they kind of peak towards menopause. Women do need to be considerate and pay attention to what's going on, especially as they're nearing menopause and kind of local. Are they growing? Are they causing any problems? as with most health conditions that are messing with your lifestyle, messing with your quality of life, it can be emotionally challenging, which is why it's really important to look for support from health care providers, counseling support groups. We'll talk about that in just a little bit here about where women can find that support. But just a reminder that there is a very low risk of actual cancer and malignancy from these fibroid uterine tumors. Fibroids are almost always benign, meaning that they don't pose a lethal threat. They're not deadly. There's a very, very low risk. It's not completely zero, but it's a very low risk of those fibroids becoming cancerous. Again, it's super important to regularly monitor them, check on them, and always make sure that there's no new or unusual symptoms that you're experiencing. So overall, the prognosis is pretty favorable for women with fibroids. Again, 170 to 80% of them have them by age 50, yes, they might have those unpleasant symptoms, heavy menstrual bleeding, pelvic pain. But overall, you're not going to die from fibroids. Effective treatment and follow up care will always lead to good quality of life. And it's really, really highly encouraged to seek appropriate medical advice and support. where can women who experience fibroids where maybe suffering from fibroids find education and support? I urge you to do the best you can to find a supportive doctor who is willing to answer all of your questions, who can kind of guide you towards the best possible treatment options, as well as support groups and a doctor who makes you feel like you are working together to solve the problem because the right doctor is the number one most helpful thing for you. If you're suffering from fibroids and you will always know when you're in the right place that respects and values as a patient, your body and female intuition always known. Next is support groups for in-person support groups. Your doctor can maybe refer you to some of these. There's also so much support online. You can use your Instagram and TikTok as a search engine to find community for women with fibroids. But be safe if it feels like they're only trying to sell you something or if they have like no credentials whatsoever, they don't go through any sort of schooling to learn about this or yeah, there's also plenty of communities and forums. Reddit is kind of a good place because there's an anonymous discussion. You don't have to identify yourself and a lot of people find relief in that. But it's really important to always fact check and research for yourself against what people are saying on there. Don't just believe everything blindly. there's also sites like Health Unlocked, which is a fibroid network UK. It's an online community where women can share stories, ask for advice and find comfort in knowing that they're not alone. There's nonprofit organizations that you can look into. There's the Fibroid Foundation, which provides education, advocacy support for women with fibroids. It also offers things like webinars, articles, patients, stories that you can also dove into. a few other places like this could be the National Uterine Fibroids Foundation and the White Dress Project. things that you can do to take care of your mental health If you are struggling with fibroids is reach out to psychiatrists and therapists. Make sure that they also have a consistent background in helping women who are specifically going with reproductive struggles and the mental health strain that comes with that, because those are going to be the ones best equipped to help you. Things that you can do on your own for mindfulness could be things like yoga, meditation, and managing your stress. although you might think that this won't have as direct of a physical impact on your condition as such things as drugs or surgery. Just remember that your brain works together with your body to heal. If you can help your mind and soul feel safe and know that it is always in the process of healing, you'll be surprised to see your body quickly follow the story that you tell it. Also, don't forget that prayer works miracles and has healed many illnesses and conditions, even when science can't explain it. finally, to feel supported. Get involved with others going through the same thing. There's advocacy awareness, events, things like webinars, workshops, conferences, and attending events that are focused on this fibroid education and advocacy could be a valuable source of information, and it can help you find some community support and participating in things like awareness. Campaigns like Fibroid Awareness Month can connect women with other women going through the same thing and also help raise the general public awareness for this. in conclusion, just to kind of recap, fibroids are solid muscle tumors that form in the middle muscle layer of the uterus and they're responsive to high astringent levels. There can be four types of them, but the way that they affect your life and health is pretty much all the same. It's really important for us to learn and talk about fibroids because up to 80% of us will have them by the time we reach 50 years old. And much of this can be prevented with a healthy lifestyle, strong exercise and diet habits, and a positive, low stress, mindful life. Just a reminder that fibroids affect women of color, particularly our African-American sisters, 2 to 3 times more than any other ethnic background. And women who are in impoverished areas have a harder time with this condition because of their lack of education may be a later diagnosis and less effective treatment options. fibroids can cause a multitude of unpleasant symptoms things like heavy bleeding, pelvic and back pain, pain during intercourse, difficulty conceiving abdominal enlargement and issues with the digestive and urinary system. But there is hope because today's modern medicine offers a wide variety of treatment options from minimally invasive to surgeries that are targeted specifically at removing the problem altogether. Don't forget, as humans, we all have options, and there are also more holistic, less intense treatment options that have shown plenty of success as well. experiencing uterine fibroids not only has unpleasant physical symptoms, but it can also take a really heavy toll on the mental health of any woman who suffers from this condition Always remember to take care of yourself by seeking out support from other women, by looking for well-educated and kindhearted doctors, by exploring online platforms that want to help women, and researching and showing up to events like Advocacy for Fibroids and even going to webinars that are designed to draw more awareness to the condition no matter what. Just know that you're not alone. And there are people with a special passion for finding solutions and cures for conditions like these, conditions like fibroids, conditions like endometriosis. And we are just so fortunate to live in a time with so much available information and treatment options. Don't let fibroids get the best of you. thank you guys for joining me for this episode. I know it's a bit lengthy, but I really hope that you'll come away with some things that you didn't know about fibroids and also have some tools in your toolbox for what you can do to manage symptoms and find treatments. that's it for this episode. Go ahead and follow us on Instagram at the Stellar Cycles Pod. Please give us a five star rating if you enjoy this podcast and if you're feeling extra generous. I love to read the reviews that you girls leave for me. Until next time, stellar cycles out.