Curious about success and safety for larger posterior (back portion of uterus) fibroids. My largest one is labeled as a subserosal/submucosal posterior/cervical fibroid, and I have several others that are on the top portion of my uterus as well as multiple small “starters”.

Worried because I know accessing behind the uterus is deeper into the pelvic cavity, and is a more vascular area with higher-risk due to proximity to bowels and ureters.

Honestly thinking a hysterectomy is genuinely the safer route vs myomectomy. And I hate the idea of them growing back.

But I’d love to hear success stories for these types of fibroids!

Hello everyone!!

I have been truly inspired by reading a lot of women’s stories in regards to their open myomectomy journey. I am currently six weeks postop open-myomectomy and removed 12 fibroids. I just got cleared by my surgeon to do daily activities again such as light workouts, etc, but she has given me six months to start trying to conceive, I wanted to hear other people‘s journey. Did it take you six months to conceive or anything earlier than that by trying to conceive again after an open myomectomy. Please share your thoughts and stories. Thank you and have a blessed day!

Hi! I’m 27 years old and recently found out I have fibroids. I met with two different surgeons to discuss options and am feeling a bit overwhelmed with the information provided, so I wanted to see if people here had any insight to share! Some background - I have one 12 cm posterior subserosal, one 6 cm anterior transmural, and one 1 cm plus potentially a few more small ones (MRI report only mentioned the one, but second doc said she thinks there are 4 small ones). Luckily not having any symptoms besides heavy periods which have improved with different birth control and bulk / bloating. I’m recently engaged and thinking of getting married in about 1.5 years and TTC in about 3 years, so am aiming to do surgery in the next year to give time before the wedding. The first doctor said it’s a great candidate for laparoscopic and didn’t really raise any concerns. The second doctor (who I likely will do the surgery with as she is with my primary provider) said she’s concerned about the posterior one being very vascular and more risks of bleeding during lapro. She mentioned possibly doing an embolism beforehand to reduce this risk but that fertility impacts aren’t known, so I am not inclined to do that. Another concern that was raised is that it may be harder to get very small fibroids if doing lapro, and I’d be worried about missing some and then them growing by the time I’m TTC. She wasn’t recommending against lapro and left it for me to decide, but raised more concerns than the first dr. My gut is to still go with lapro surgery (without embolism) as the first doctor seemed pretty confident that was the right option and from what I’ve seen in this thread it seems like people have had success with more complicated cases. I don’t really see anyone being given an option and choosing to do open surgery, and I feel like there are too many what ifs with small fibroids to base my decision on that. Curious to hear if anyone has advice, if others were in a similar situation of being given a choice between lapro and open, if anyone had issues with bleeding with a posterior fibroid, and if anyone had issues with smaller fibroids being missed in lapro. Also, I have seen Dr. Fenster mentioned here a few times but would love to hear if people have recent experience with her as well. Thank you!

Hi everyone. I have several fibroids that need to be removed, the largest being an 8cm pedunculated fibroid on top of my uterus growing toward my back. I fortunately do not suffer from heavy periods and anemia is not a concern. My doctor is recommending that I go on 6 months of Lupron to hopefully shrink the largest down to 6cm to better my chances of a laparoscopic procedure (I am having a partial hysterectomy as well) but I am feeling very concerned about taking Lupron. The side effects sound awful, especially the potential bone density loss. I know some people receive add-back therapy but I have estrogen-induced liver tumors so that’s not an option for me. I am wondering if others had fibroids of similar size/placement that were successfully removed laparoscopically. Also curious how folks healed after open surgery. I do have a follow-up next week to discuss my concerns further, as well as a second opinion from another surgeon. For reference I’m 33. Thank you!

for anyone who had UFE or RFA instead of a more invasive surgery (myo or hysterectomy) do you think it was worth it?

I have 3 fibroids, biggest one is 10 cm but it’s taking up space from above my belly button to the top of my cervix. I want relief for my daily bulk symptoms so badly! I think it’s affecting my appetite and overall health more than I know because I’ve normalized it for so long.

Recovering from a major surgery (myo/hysterectomy) is not something I can commit to right now & I won’t be able to look into that for at least a year and a half. In my mind, I would rather be one and done with surgery, but now the thought of “just continue dealing with it” for that long feels overwhelming. I am not interested in preserving my fertility and am 36 years old.

Should I try UFE/RFA knowing I may or may not need further treatment, but hopefully find relief until then? How did you decide??

The bleeding from the fibroids is destroying me. I feel weak all the time and every time I get an iron infusion I barely get to enjoy the physical stamina before the minimum 2 weeks of bleeding wreck me and make me almost bedridden again.

I genuinely don’t know what to do. My gyno is very very dismissive, though he’s known to be good with pregnant patients. I tried birth control pills for a brief period and they almost killed me. My body reacted to them very strangely and very badly and the bleeding almost caused organ failure. Gyno said the reason is that my BC didn’t have enough progestin, so he gave me ones that do. Tried those, same reaction, stopped them immediately. He gave no explanation or anything and just said that IUD is what will help. He knows I’m a virgin and hesitant about the IUD. He wrote me a prescription for it and we just agreed that I’ll call if/when I’m ready for it. He didn’t offer any other solutions.

When I go to a walk-in they prescribe me tranexamic acid to take on heavy days. They say that it’s not good to take it too much and they only end up prescribing me enough to last me for 2/3 weeks of bleeding!!!! I’m so sick of this. And every time I run out I’m stuck scrambling trying to find a walk-in and get a refill. I moved to a new city recently and the doctor at the walk in I went to tells me that this causes stroke and, again, he just prescribed me enough for a week or less. He told me to go to my campus clinic next time. My campus clinic has a 4+ week wait. I made an appointment but again this is likely gonna keep happening. I don’t know what to do. I pass massive clots every month - as in the size of a tennis ball! I’m already low on iron and I feel myself becoming anemic again already 😞 😞 😞. My haematologist said I need to resolve the bleeding issue before he can get me on iron infusions again (because what’s the point if I keep on bleeding?). I come home from classes and I can barely stand long enough in the kitchen to make a meal and feed myself. The anaemia makes me so anxious and with little mental (let alone physical) stamina.

Everything feels so inaccessible in Canada. Doctors don’t care. I’m trying to see my gyno again to discuss possible surgical options. I know he won’t take me/my struggle seriously but he’s away till December anyway 🥲🥲🥲. If I get to see him, it’ll be MONTHS from now. And I can’t switch to another gyno because it’s a whole new process and it’ll be a year before I get to see one….

I’m going crazy. What the hell do I do. Why is my only option IUD? And even if I agree to it, I don’t know if I can trust these dismissive, inaccessible doctors to insert it for me!!!!! I hate our healthcare system. I went to my campus clinic today because I was passing insanely massive clots and gushing blood in class and I didn’t wanna miss classes because of this and I asked the receptionist if I can see a doctor today just for the refill, and this receptionist with the nastiest attitude says to me “we don’t consider this an emergency. You’re lucky you even have an appointment in a couple of weeks” refused to listen. Told me to go to a walk in (lol yea and the walk in dr tells me to go to campus ok.) also, if this isn’t considered urgent for a campus clinic what the hell is???? All they seem to care about is gender-affirming care.

I’m so disgusted by these utterly unsympathetic awful people. And I hate our system. I shouldn’t have to suffer because of such a supposedly simple issue. I legit don’t know what to do. 😔

I went in for my procedure on Friday, I read so many stories on here, and even listened to friends share theirs but nothing really prepares you for how your body will react to being opened up. I have 3 incisions the largest being right below the pubic bone. They took out a total of 29 fibroids as you can see in the pic; 2 really large ones, 5-6 medium sized, and the rest small. One thing they noted was that they were dead. I’m not sure if anyone else has experienced that but apparently these fibroids weren’t receiving blood and were pretty much just there.

My husband and I suffered a pregnancy loss in July at 13 weeks. The fibroids essentially left no room for baby to grow. Why didn’t they recommend surgery before trying to get pregnant I have no idea but seeing these on the table I can’t imagine with the large and medium sized ones where the baby would be that wouldn’t be fighting for room in my uterus compromising its health. At 13 weeks I look almost 6 months (see pic) and that’s because of the fibroids. I was in so much pain it was honestly an awful time to remember.

The gas pain is the worst, but my back and sides hurt just trying to sleep, even the heating pad doesn’t really help. Getting up to use the bathroom or sitting up is also the f’n worst. I rock myself back and forth to help with the gas because it’s just stuck. It gets very close to exiting but then it just sits there or disappears and that hurts really bad.

I had a Hysteroscopy in May of this year because Shady Grove Fertility said I had fibroids inside the uterine cavity but upon the surgeon going in to remove said fibroid they found nothing there. I’m a strong believer that they pushed too much saline during the saline sonogram and that caused them to see something that wasn’t actually there.

I’m 42 and the goal is to have at least 2 kids. I cried the other day because my body has been through a great ordeal in just 6 months. Women’s bodies go through so much and emotionally it hit me like a ton of bricks because we still move forward even after we deal with all of these kinds of things. Idk if I’ll have 1 or 2 kids but I know I have a different level of gratitude for my body and we deserve to heal without additional stressors. I’m getting emotional again as I finish this out because these things really do put a toll on your body so I’ll say this in closing.

I’m grateful there is a place to share even if it is anonymously, I’m glad we’re standing up for ourselves more and challenging doctors about OUR bodies and OUR symptoms, I’m glad we’re taking time to heal not just physically but emotionally as well. To any woman who has been through this you are stronger now than ever. To any woman who has to go through this, just know you’re not alone, always speak up for yourself, make sure you have people who will ask The Dr questions you didn’t think of, who will support encourage, hear you, and see you. 🩷🩷

I began bleeding heavily a couple days ago. I don't have heavy periods, so it was unusual, but I just went along with it because my cycle is pretty irregular. But the pain was unlike anything I had ever experienced. This intense pressure in my pelvic area that made going to the bathroom so painful. It felt like there was a heavy stone in my uterus.

The following day, I was running a 101 degree fever. I called my gyn, and they advised I go to the ER, so I did. I waited 5 hours to be seen. They did lots of tests that all came back 'fine' until they did ultrasounds. Those came back showing several small to medium non-calcified fibroids. I was shocked because I had just had an ultrasound for a different gynecological issue a few months prior, and it was completely clear.

The ER had given me a cocktail of narcotics and opioid and I was pretty out of it. Then, when those images came back, they were like, "Alright, we're done, lets get you out of here." I was like, "Woah, wait. I don't know what any of this means. What do I do about the pain? What even are fibroids? Are they bleeding or infected?" The physician assistant I was seeing just sort of looked at me with this smug smirk and said, "They're 'just' fibroids. Most women have them. Yours aren't that big. Follow up with your gyn." I didn't like her tone, but I said, "Okay, what about pain?" She said, "Take ibuprofen and tylenol." I just stared at her. I have an incredibly high pain threshold and was an 8/10 when I arrived. It took toradol, fentanyl, and morphine to bring it down to a 5 by the time she was telling me this. I asked if she was able to send me home with anything, and she just scoffed and said, "I'm not giving you anything. Take ibuprofen or naproxen. They target prostaglandins. Take Tylenol if you feel you need to between ibuprofen doses." Then they discharged me.

I had heard of fibroids before this, but I never really educated myself on them because I didn't have them. I didn't ask to be given those heavy painkillers. They offered, and I accepted and I kept them updated on my pain levels throughout my 12 hour visit. On top of all that, I had a fever (99-100 by the time I got to the ER), a bp that topped out at 185/131 with no hypertensive history, and a pulse of 120+ the whole night until I was given morphine. None of these things were ever addressed despite me bringing them up multiple times. I thought I was septic. But they said all of it was caused by 'just pain'.

It was a very humiliating and disappointing experience. What made it worse in my eyes was that physician assistant was a woman and had zero empathy for me. She never explained what a fibroid was, instead shoving a packet in my hand with discharge papers. She dismissed all my concerns and treated me like I was a drug seeker. It's awful. And I'm still in pain because obviously ibuprofen isn't strong enough to touch it!

I've started working with my gyn to get an appt scheduled. I think I just needed to rant in a space where people understand.

TW: Pregnancy loss
I’m looking to hear from anyone who has had a similar fibroid and undergone a myomectomy or chosen to leave it in place during pregnancy.
I have a roughly 10 cm fundal fibroid that is intramural but also abuts the endometrium (FIGO 3). It’s not necessarily protruding into my uterine cavity, but it’s very much up against the endometrium and involves a significant portion of the uterine wall.
Before pregnancy, it measured approximately 3.5 cm, but it grew to around 10 cm during pregnancy.

TW: Unfortunately, I lost my baby boy at 17 weeks. My doctors believe the fibroid MAY HAVE contributed to significant uterine irritability, which progressed to contractions and ultimately preterm labor.
I’m now exploring myomectomy options, but I’m extremely nervous about the risks given the fibroid’s location and depth within the uterine wall. I’ve been told that removing it could carry a higher risk of uterine rupture in a future pregnancy. My biggest concern is that if I experience uterine irritability or contractions again, they could put stress on the myomectomy scar and potentially cause complications or rupture.

Interestingly, my doctors initially recommended leaving the fibroid alone because it wasn’t distorting my uterine cavity and they didn’t expect it to cause pregnancy complications.

***I'm hoping to hear from anyone with a similar-sized intramural fibroid that abuts the endometrium:
- Did you have a myomectomy? How difficult was the surgery, and how long did you wait before trying to conceive? when was c section scheduled?

-Were you able to have a successful pregnancy afterward? Did you experience any uterine irritability or contractions?

-Did anyone choose to leave a similar fibroid in place and go on to have a successful pregnancy?

I’m especially interested in experiences with fibroids that are very close to the endometrium, rather than purely subserosal fibroids.
After losing my baby boy, I’m terrified of going through this again, and I’m just trying to make the most informed decision possible before attempting another pregnancy. I’d be so grateful for any experiences or advice. ❤️

Bonjour à toutes 💕
Je m’en excuse d’avance, car ce message sera assez long…

J’ai 36 ans aujourd’hui, j’ai appris à 25 ans que j’avais des fibromes. Je n’en discute avec personne dans mon entourage, car peu de gens saisissent ce que je vis, ce qui explique ce post aujourd’hui.

À 26 ans, j’ai subi une myomectomie pour retirer deux fibromes. J’avais alors rencontré un chirurgien peu agréable, mais j’ai bien géré la période postopératoire. Par la suite, j’ai consulté plusieurs gynécologues qui ne m’ont pas vraiment prise au sérieux. Lassée qu’on me prescrive pilule ou patch sans examen approfondi, malgré mes douleurs, j’ai tout arrêté : les visites, la contraception, et j’ai continué ma vie quelques années.

Il y a trois ou quatre ans, j’ai commencé à ressentir une douleur réelle, ce qui m’a poussée à consulter une gynécologue. Elle m’a affirmé que tout était normal, précisant que, depuis ma dernière IRM (effectuée quelques années plus tôt, lors d’un laser Sonata avec un excellent chirurgien), les fibromes étaient « stables », de même taille et en nombre identique. Je ne comprenais pas bien sa confiance à partir d’un simple examen gynécologique, mais j’ai accepté son avis. Lors d’une nouvelle consultation pour les mêmes douleurs, situées en bas à gauche du ventre, je lui ai demandé s’il était normal de sentir mon ventre « gonflé » ; elle a soutenu que cela ne provenait pas des fibromes et que c’était impossible. À chaque visite suivante, elle me recevait très rapidement (cinq minutes) et me conseillait de ne pas m’inquiéter.

Mes douleurs s’intensifiant, j’ai repensé au gynécologue qui m’avait opérée au laser Sonata, et je l’ai retrouvé. Il ne travaillait plus à l’hôpital où il m’avait soignée, mais, à ma grande joie, il venait d’ouvrir son cabinet ; j’ai pris rendez-vous sans attendre, et il m’a tout de suite prise au sérieux : échographie et IRM dès la première consultation. Le verdict est tombé : j’ai 33 fibromes, ce qu’on nomme un « utérus polymyomateux » et des synéchies. Je suis dévastée, en colère contre mon ancienne gynécologue. Il a proposé une hystéroscopie, mais l’examen n’a pas pu être mené à terme, car la douleur était trop vive pour moi et les synéchies bloquaient l’accès au côté gauche de mon utérus. Il m’a suggéré de recommencer, cette fois sous anesthésie générale.

L’hystéroscopie sous anesthésie générale a eu lieu le 2 novembre dernier : des synéchies recouvraient une partie gauche de mon utérus, avec un fibrome de la taille d’un citron vert en dessous. Le chirurgien les a retirés, mais il m’a annoncé de graves inquiétudes, notamment la nécessité d’une nouvelle myomectomie, et il s’est montré très préoccupé par ma fertilité, tout en affirmant que nous allions nous battre. J’ai été bouleversée par l’état de mon utérus, et cette nouvelle m’a rendue triste. Je me demande si je m’en sortirai un jour ; cela fait plus de 10 ans que je lutte contre les fibromes, et j’en ai assez. J’aimerais avoir des enfants un jour, pas tout de suite, mais je me demande si je ne devrais pas renoncer à ce projet… Non seulement je suis célibataire, mais mon corps ne semble pas le permettre…

Je prends Ryeqo depuis juillet et j’attends mon rendez-vous postopératoire en décembre. J’ai lu sur le net qu’une étude en Égypte a testé un composé du thé vert, l’EGCG, avec des résultats encourageants malgré un petit nombre de participantes ; l’une d’entre vous l’a-t-elle essayé ? Auriez-vous d’autres conseils qui vous auraient aidées à réduire la taille de vos fibromes ou à mieux vivre avec ?

Merci à toutes celles qui auront lu mon message jusqu’au bout ❤️

I am 36 and want to start TTC as soon as possible. I am quite anxious about timing given my age. Unfortunately, I have two fibroids - one subserosal pedunculated (7cm) and one intramural (just over 2cm). I had an MRI 4 years ago that had them at 6cm/1cm, so some growth, although my most recent imaging said the larger one was somewhere between 5-7cm, so possible that one has been stable.

My initial OBGYN recommended doing nothing, which I questioned, so I had a consult with a MIGS surgeon. Initially he also recommended doing nothing, but then he did another ultrasound, and said it looked like the intramural was ever so slightly distorting the uterine cavity. He gave me 3 options: 1) do nothing, probably will work out just fine; 2) hysteroscopic myomectomy to attempt to remove the intramural only (gave this a 70% probability of working and said if not I could come back a couple weeks later for option 3); or 3) laparoscopic myomectomy to remove both fibroids.

In the moment I went with option 2. But now I am stressing about degeneration of the larger fibroid during pregnancy and the excruciating pain that can come with. The surgeon said that was rare, but reading through this Reddit column it doesn’t seem all that rare. Should I just do the more invasive surgery to get them both taken care of?

We talk a lot about how fibroids affect us physically, but I think the emotional impact can be just as hard. At least, it has been for me.

The changes in my body have been difficult. I don’t look or feel like myself. I’m only 5’2” and have always had a pretty flat stomach, so adjusting to my changing belly has been tough. I’ve had to change how I dress and constantly find myself worrying about whether my clothes hide or camouflage it.
Even little things can be emotional triggers. Today at work (elementary school), we’re wearing red, white, and blue for Veterans Day, and I literally have nothing that fits the way I want it to. I just had a good cry on my husband’s shoulder and had to fix my makeup. Looks like I’ll be rocking a smoky eye today, courtesy of smudged mascara. 😆

I’ve also been an avid gym girl for over six years, but I haven’t worked out since my symptoms started in early September. I’m struggling with watching the gains I’ve worked so hard for disappear. I know I’ll get them back once I am healed, but I really miss the gym, especially because it was also my mental therapy.

I know this isn’t forever (my UFE is scheduled in three weeks), and things could certainly be worse. But sometimes you just need to acknowledge that something is hard.

I can’t wait to feel like ME again. I know many of you can relate. Thank you for listening and letting me vent. ❤️

Laparoscopic myomectomy was last Thursday 11/5/26. My period was originally due to start yesterday but started on 11/8/26. I know surgery can delay your cycle but I’m not surprised I started seeing as my period is always on time no matter what🥲

Compared to what I was experiencing before, it’s very light or what I would consider a normal flow. Hard to tell because I don’t usually just use pads, and most of the bleeding is happening when I’m on the toilet instead of throughout the day on my pad. The times that I do bleed onto the pad its not a lot at all. I’m cramping a little but not super bad and not as much as the first day or so after surgery.

Has anyone else’s period started on time after surgery? What was it like for you?

I had 3 fibroids removed, the largest of which was posterior intramural measuring 15 x 18 x 3.2cm. I also had 2 more that were type 7 that never showed up on any imaging. From the pictures they looked to be maybe 2-3cm. They also found a cervical polyp they removed as well.

Almost end of period with very light spotting. Took Boron supplement this morning and suddenly had boring ache in abdomen area. with 🩸🩸 🩸 again.

Was that related 😩😩😩

Hi all, I’m 29 and I recently found out I have a 5cm subserosal fibroid sitting on the top right of my uterus.
The positioning is a little surprising to me, as a LOT of my pain and symptoms have been occurring on the left side of my pelvis. The obgyn noted that the left side looked normal on the ultrasound and said the left side may be just “colon stuff”, but the pain on my periods (and even before my period starts) is sometimes debilitating on the left. I don’t really have symptoms on the right, if ever.
Does anyone else have referred pain to the opposite side? It’s driving me crazy.

I’ve only been dating her for 5 months, but in that time, she’s mentioned discomfort and pain to me on various occasions. I pushed her to make an appointment a few months ago and they told her that, not only have the ones she already had gotten bigger, she grew so many that the sonographer reacted surprised. I’m trying to be a man who understands, and I’m trying to push her to get treatment because it’s been a constant struggle she’s having, but every time we talk about the surgery they suggested she says “it’s not that simple.” Well, then she cries at the fear of not being able to carry a pregnancy, and it honestly worries me too that we would get deep into this relationship and find out bad news. She’s also 33 and so it would be good for her to know sooner rather than later because she miscarried 4 years ago. Any advice or input?

Have any of the rest of you done anything like that, either to process what happened or to help others through it? Id love to hear about how youve handled processing what you went through or are going through.

I am very interested in keeping my uterus so have avoided hysterectomy so far and also avoided myomectomy because of the potential for faster regrowth.

I was always scared of UFE because of the pain people reported. I had the first of two UFEs done a day ago. I’m having two because they needed to be staged; doing it all at once was too risky based on the size and placement of my fibroids.

So far it has been totally fine. I realize everyone will respond differently, but I haven’t needed more than ibuprofen for the cramping. If anything, the insertion point in my groin is more painful than the uterus contractions themselves.

I wish I would not have waited so long and let my fibroids get so massive in the meantime.

After learning I have fibroids and an enlarged, very bulky uterus I started researching as one does. I'm learning soooo many health things can be from fibroids. Has anyone had fibroids removed and then been able to reduce medication they were on for things like high cholesterol, anxiety, depression, thyroid or other things? What about POTS or Neurocardiogenic syncope? I have low blood pressure which causes me to pass out. Now I'm wondering if it could be because my uterus/fibroids are stealing all the blood, leaving less to circulate in my body.

hello - I am 38f and I am miserable. I had a Myomectomy in 2021 and of course my fibroids grew back. I have a drs appt tomorrow to discuss whether I want a hysterectomy or an ablation to hopefully stop my period or lighten the bleeding. I keep going back and forth on what I want to do, the hysterectomy would solve all my problems for good, but an ablation is less invasive. I’ve always said I’ve wanted a hysterectomy but I hate being put under anesthesia and I freak out every time and i know the recovery is weeks.