WOMENS-HEALTH Messages for November, 2000: A few questions about menorrhagia and fibroids

A few questions about menorrhagia and fibroids

From: Linda (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Wed, 15 Nov 2000 17:11:22 -0600 (CST)

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Since there have been several women lately posting with symptoms similar to my own, I thought I'd ask a few questions that have had me puzzled lately.

Short background - Difficult periods all my life, much worse the past 3 years. Heavy, 7-12 days (finally 30 days non-stop), flooding, cramps, back pain, leg pain, stuck at home, had to turn away clients...

My problems sounded like classic symptomatic fibroids. I asked my doctor repeatedly over the 3 years about them, and was told that was very unlikely to be the problem.

No effort was made to diagnose me - no ultrasound, no blood test, nothing. Doctor put me on various BCPs, none of which helped much.

Things got much worse, I couldn't function. Got fed up, found new doctor, had hysteroscopy and laparoscopy (12 days ago). Surprise! Fibroids. Doctor was able to partially remove the one on the inside. Now I'm waiting and seeing if that helps.

So, my questions:

- Why are fibroids not "prime suspects" in cases like mine, and the 2-3 women who have posted here just today with similar symptoms?

- Why does the standard practice for dealing with heavy bleeding seem to be BCPs? In what percentage of patients is this treatment effective?

- I can see prescribing BCPs "to see if they'll help" if no reason is found for the problem, but isn't it unethical to prescribe medications without even making an attempt at diagnosing the problem?

- Have there been any studies of menorrhagia and fibroids? Are there generally accepted numbers for the percentage of menorrhagic women in which fibroids are the problem? What I'm trying to learn is, are fibroids as unlikely a cause as most doctors seem to think?

- How can insurance companies, drug companies, and doctors ignore so many women (20%, isn't it) suffering with debilitating cramps and bleeding that effects every aspect of these women's lives, careers, and relationships?

- Why isn't menorrhagia seen as a "real" problem? Even on female gyn I saw told me it was "just an inconvenience"! Sure, an inconvenience on par with incontinence, impotence, the common cold, and allergies - none of them will kill you either - but those problems seem to be recognized as "valid". What can we do, short of buying TV spots, to get it through to doctors that it needs to be addressed, not brushed off?

- Wouldn't it be less expensive for insurance companies to get the problem diagnosed and dealt with ASAP, instead of going through years of "trying this and trying that" before ultimately having to deal with it anyway?

IMHO, this problem needs a lot of attention and publicity. Nevermind for a moment the impact it has on individual women, consider the loss in productivity, costs to employers, lost tax revenue... What can we do?

Thank you, Linda

Next message: Lynn D. Montgomery, MD: "Re: please help"
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