Don't delay getting referred to Gynaecologist if your fibroid has reached 5 cm.

[EmiliaW]

I discovered I had a fibroid when I was 34 and had a fertility check privately involving an ultrasound. It was picked up the size of a golf ball. I was advised to have an annual ultrasound scan. On my next NHS scan 2 years later it was 5 cm. My GP told me women have fibroids without knowing and they don't nesscarily get any bigger. That I could still conceive with one and that they often shrink after the menopause. A year later I requested a scan and my female GP did not refer me!!! I was advised that if I was not getting any symptoms i.e. heavy periods, bleeding in between periods or mass symptoms such as needing to frequently urinate to leave well alone. My advise is INSIST on having an ANNUAL scan. Make up symptoms if you have to. INSIST on a GYNAE referral. Eventually I got referred to the NHS Gynae dept as I could feel the fibroid around my abdomen. My fibroid had grown to 10cm. To perserve my fertility, I was told I would need an open myomectomy (open abdominal surgery which involves a caesarean type incision) 4-6 weeks recovery time. Interestingly the female Gynaecologist told me it was not standard procedure to operate on a fibroid at only 5 cm. However, if my fibriod had been around 7- 8 cm I could have had a keyhole myomectomy 2-4 weeks recovery time. I was devastated that I had not been better informed. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Don't be fobbed off or take no for an answer. Get a second opinion. Don't be embarrassed or afraid to get checked. Be bold and make a nuisance if you have to. It seems there is a small window of time for a keyhole myomectomy 7-8 cm. Get it checked sooner than later. Don't delay!

xxx

[Gracilis]

My fibroids are 5cms . They 're refusing to do anything about them. I now suffer chronic back n abdominal pain. I live in pains but my gp won't help

[Alaine1 Administrator]

I’m sorry to hear of your situation but I don’t support ‘making up symptoms’. This is one of the very reasons females with pelvic pain struggle to get heard and my endometriosis, adenomyosis and IC wasn’t diagnosed for almost 20 years despite severe symptoms including extremely heavy periods for 3 weeks out of every month, alongside passing out and vomiting amongst other symptoms. These conditions have up until now seen significant delays for women with both endometriosis and most recently adenomyosis which both are known to be a risk factor for infertility. I was going back 2-3 times every month to my GPs. Fibroids don’t always get larger and very few gynaecology departments will keep you on there books if not clinically necessarily ie heavy periods especially as your fibroids were below the threshold for removal especially as it hadn’t grown significantly in 2 years. Surgery irrespective of whether it’s keyhole or open still comes with significant risk especially if you want to preserve your fertility which is another factor for not carrying out any unnecessary surgery to the uterus. Removal of a fibroid that was causing you no symptoms would have been unnecessary and your GP is right many women do still manage to conceive with them. Your consultant referred you back to your GP who could and should have referred you for an ultrasound sooner which would have picked up any increase in the size of the fibroid. If necessary they then could have referred you back but when you went private and was advised to have an annual scan the consultant was probably under the impression you would pay privately. The NHS can’t afford to simply scan everyone with a fibroid that has no symptoms whatsoever and has shown very little growth in a two year time frame when you were last scanned plus many referrals to clinics or for tests are now vetted for suitability as they realise that some patients put pressure on their GPs to refer when not necessary. These types of referrals for consultations in an outpatient department or for tests blocks the system and leads to longer waits for those patients who absolutely need them. So please don’t advise patients (male or female) to make up their symptoms when females especially get such a hard time trying to get diagnosed. Male patients although they do better in terms of quick referrals and diagnosis we realise this isn’t always the case which is why we are here to raise the causes of all forms of pelvic pain.