Fibroids and weight loss
 

I saw an old thread about thyroids under General Chatter but wanted to get a little more insight into fibroids and weight loss. If you'd look through my posts over the past few months I've been struggling to find a reason for my weight loss being at a stand still. I've been exercising, eating right, and the scale hasn't moved. I've reevaluated my diet, tried eating less, eating more, limiting caffeine, walking more, walking less, weight training, etc. etc. and nothing was working. I have to go back in a time machine now and bring up the fact that over a year ago I noticed my periods started getting bad...pain, heavier flow, lasting over a week. I initially ignored it. Work schedule is pretty full and honestly I brushed it off that just that one period was bad and the next would be fine. Boy was I wrong! The pain has increased, flow has increased, bloating increased, add to the mix more frequent urination, constipation, and fatigue like I've never known! Sorry if this is TMI! I finally took the time and had a pelvic ultrasound done and was diagnosed with a very large fibroid. It explains a lot of my problems, and honestly, it's nice to finally acknowledge all this pain and fatigue are not just in my head! Anyone else have fibroids? Have it effect your weight loss? While I wait for a follow up with my doctor I did pick up some iron pills along with vitamin c to try to combat the tiredness (anemia is a concern due to the blood loss). Along with all of the health concerns weight gain is a concern too. I can't even explain how awkwardly clothes fit! I had noticed my jeans feeling tight but just around my lower belly. Sometimes the problem can get you bad you can appear pregnant. My looks are last on my list of this problem, but the entire situation is frustrating. Anyone else out there dealing with this? If you don't want to post here you can also PM me. I'm interested in hearing others experiences and successes!

Ugh sorry Fibroids not Thyroids! I think I right clicked to do a spell check and accidentally changed it!

LOL a lot of people read this but no responses! That's OK! Maybe I'll just post some updates here. Sometimes we blame ourselves for not losing weight when there could be underlying medical factors. If this could help anyone at all I'd be happy to periodically update this :) I should also update my Blog!

For anyone suffering through this and the fatigue, I will say the iron supplement is like a miracle for me! I'm taking it along with vitamin c. I'm hoping I can give up that second pot of coffee :)

I'm still worried as I haven't tried taking iron during my period, so that will be the true test. I've literally had days I could call off work I'm so tired. Keeping my fingers crossed!

hi! I too am experiencing tough weight loss dealing with my fibroids. You just described my feelings accurately. I started taking iron supplements along with my multivitamin. I am also discovering how different food combinations affect my body. Let me know what has been working for you!

I have fibroids, and they are growing, but so far have seen no negative health impacts. I have frequent pelvic ultrasounds (history of ovarian cancer in the family), so my fibroids and everything else in there is tracked closely.

My mum has fibroids. In her late 40s she went back on the pill to help handle them until menopause. She definitely had an iron deficiency, though her iron supplements weren't agreeable and a second doctor disagreed with the prescription.

I don't know how they would affect weightloss?

I'm wondering now if this isn't what I might have. My symptoms are very similar to yours - very, very heavy painful, periods, getting closer and closer together - lucky to get 18 days apart. I have lost no weight in the last year - I lose a bit and then before my period I bloat up like a huge balloon and there is not enough time in between to lose what I gain. I am perimenopausal. Had my yearly physical this week and have bloodwork on Friday as Dr. was also worried about anemia. He wasn't concerned with my lack of weight loss and told me to focus on how far I've come and how much I've improved my fitness level which bothered me cause I've worked hard to get where I am and there is no reason for the weightloss to have stopped. I've done the same as you - tried eating more, tried eating less, exercised more, exercised less etc.
He is blaming the perimenopause but that just doesn't seem right to me.
Guess I'll wait and see what the bloodwork shows. May just have to wait it out.

I am actually having surgery next week (Thursday July 24) to remove at least two fibroids. I had all the symptoms you listed and was sent to a Fertility Clinic to talk to a doctor that has experience with removing them. I wondered if they could affect weight loss but have not asked. I know that they can grow and cause you stomach to grow as if you were pregnant so they have to have some weight to them.

The doctor actually put me on a daily iron pill and a prescription vitamin D pill once a day for 4 weeks. Hoping that will help with the anemia too. I am so ready to feel better and not worry about leaving the house. Embarrassing to have a "flood" and go everywhere.

I had one removed not too long ago, along with two polyps. Wasn't bad at all. Glad it's gone.

I've been so depressed over my weight I haven't visisted 3fatchicks in awhile, but I was interested to see if there were any responses to this thread...

I certainly wish this fibroid wasn't affecting my health but it is :( Trying to control my weight has become somewhat of a nightmare. Since I last posted I went from a heavy period to bleeding out, pain that's so bad some days I have to call off work, and while iron pills help the anemia they cause unpleasant side effects....stop now if it's TMI....constipation is TERRIBLY painful, possibly because the fibroid is taking up room too?

Because of the position of my fibroid it's painful and I'm almost always in a state of PMS. LOL so in addition to the moodiness and bloating I also crave sugars and carbs (I have issues with my blood sugar so craving these types of food are terrible!)

The only flip side to this was realizing there was an underlying factor to my lack of weight loss. Now don't get me wrong I don't blame it ALL on my fibroid but I finally calmed down a bit when I realized there was an obstacle in the way.

The bloat from this thing is also terrible! I have two sizes of jeans that I wear now...fat and fatter! LOL! I can literally puff up by the end of the day and have to switch to my bigger pants! Yikes!

The good news is I've been working with my doctor and my options for controlling this. There is a SLEW of information out there and it was hard to decide what was the correct way to go. Because of my age and insurance stipulations I'm going through a couple of procedures to try to fix this. If they don't work I'll have to look into a hysterectomy.

It's all scary at times, but when I'm in pain so bad I can't even walk (I used to walk miles and miles each day but pain and fatigue will sometimes stop me in my tracks!) I realize that this really effects the quality of my life. I can't even leave the house without having an extra set of clothes. Sadly I've had to change at work on two occasions...how embarrassing!

I also want to get back on track so badly with my weight loss. It's not about wanting to be in a certain size, weight, etc I just want to feel comfortable in my own skin! This is like having period bloat 20+ days out of the month!

LOL OK rant over! Thanks for listening! I'd still like to post updates on here regarding the steps I"m taking and how things are working out. I myself am interested in seeing how this all pans out and hoping I can get back to ME soon! Next doctor's appt is Nov 24!!!

I also wanted to add, if any of you THINK there could be something wrong PLEASE do not be afraid to go to your doctor. I have put this off for over a year. Each month I'd think my period would be better but it didn't get better it just slowly got worse. I let it go for way to long. Now I struggle to get to work, do things around the house, and I even struggle to do the things I love like exercising and going to the gym.

As women I think we feel this sense of responsibility that we have to be strong all the time...I've always been the type to go to work each day, never call off, never let pain get in the way, and here I am having to admit I need to take care of me.

Again, if anyone wants to PM me feel free. It's nice to know we're not in it alone! There are also Fibroid support groups on FB.

Man, I'm sorry your fibroid is so problematic! I hope the procedures you're going to try will get rid of these terrible issues, you really sound like you are suffering. Please do post your updates, I've got my fingers crossed that you get relief!

I love your ideas .I notice off the people in my close sorounding that diet to lose weight, some of them loose quite a bit but others just cannot loose a pound and that is because of genetics.Each of us are a little geneticly different and what works for me will not work for you.In other words we do not store or burn fat the same way..The only way for some of us to lose weight is to have a " customized fat loss program" built for our particular type of geans . Food is the best medicine for our health.

I feel for you and pray you find the solution that is best for you fast. Damn fibroids! Ugh. I have been missing from the forum for a little while too but came back after having a Laparascopic Myomectomy to remove 11 fibroids but ended up removing 45 of them:o. Uh yes, shocked the heck out of me. :(.

So now I'm recovering and just praying for the best outcome because I plan to conceive. My surgeon/specialist was well aware of my desire for children and is optimistic. Thankfully there wasn't too many fibroids in the uterine cavity where the baby grows, so in January I will go back and see how the uterus has healed up.

Now my focus is to heal, lose this excess weight, and have me a baby! :)

I still have inflammation because the surgery was so extensive so my weight will also be a little higher from the fluid but I'm ready to do what I can to try to get to an ideal pregnancy weight for myself. I figure, I got approx two months before I see my doc, so I can try my hardest to get at least 15 lbs off. So here I am..back on this forum to start tracking again.

I hope you find an answer soon! :hug:

Thanks to all you lovely ladies who took the time to post!

I'm so envious of those of you who have no ill effects! I feel like I suffer from every darn symptom that can occur and sometimes feel like a whiner :)

Anyway, Dec 19th is my big day! I'm hoping to have some relief once I recover.

I still suffer from pain, bleeding, weight gain, etc. The pain is always there so I think I'm used to it. The weight gain is all together another beast! I went to the gym today and see again I gained another 5 lbs. Collectively that's about 25 lbs :( I don't want to seem that I'm pointing at that fibroid and saying "it's all your fault" but what's frustrating is that my fiibroid puts me in that state of PMS pretty much all the time so that means I have water retention and I definitely eat a bit more than I did before and don't always make the best food choices. I think what adds to the frustration though is feeling that this weight gain doesn't seem to equal what I'm consuming. I still go to myfitnesspal to track my food and walk and exercise each day. LOL I guess this is like having TOM but instead of fighting a week of weight gain I'm fighting each and every day!

Anyway, I'm hoping this madness is over soon and I can just focus on good eating, exercising, and getting back on the weight loss bandwagon. As much as I hate this weight gain I'm trying to relax a bit and realize I just have to get through this and better times will be on the other sides!

Thanks for listening everyone!!!

Well ladies I am post op. I had the novasure procedure. After research, working with the insurance, considering age, and working with doctor this was the best option for me. LOL googling fibroids and treatment was an overwhelming experience of information, differing opinions, and various treatments. Anyway, went with what seemed right for me!

This may be wishful thinking but my belly already feels less bloated. To put that in perspective for nearly a year I've been suffering period bloat...daily! I believe mine was caused more by inflammation than the actual size of my fibroid. Maybe because the lining inside was thinned this has gone down?

Anyway, I'm trying to think really positive, give my body time to heal, and take it one day at a time. Weight loss is probably "last" on my list of what I'd like to achieve but it's an important list all around! I'm looking forward to pain relief, lessening of period and period symptoms, increase of energy due to iron levels increasing (all that blood loss KILLS your iron levels and anemia is a constant battle!), and lastly hoping my weight will stabilize and I can focus again on being healthier and exercising more!

I wanted to post another update, hope you all don't mind! I just think if anyone else is dealing with fibroids it may be beneficial.

I'm nearly 2 months post op. Still struggling with weight loss but it's getting better. My biggest obstacle has been getting my energy level back to normal. When you read about novasure it sounds like a simple procedure but it does take time for your body to adjust and heal. Initially I felt fabulous afterwards! Then when it came time that my normal cycle started I felt terrible! Major fatigue and some pain. I was really depressed when this happened but realized from past experience that my iron levels could be low, so I started taking my vitamins again (why did I even stop?!) and within 3 days felt much better and a week later my energy level was back to normal. Due to vitamin deficiencies I need to take vitamins anyway, so even a small blood loss can drag me down. I feel I learned the hard way that taking my vitamins is not an option it's mandatory for me feeling the best I can.

I have good eating days and bad eating days, but slowly I'm getting that back on track too. The fatigue caused me to cave in and eat bad foods because they were convenient and easy. I felt so good today I spent a good deal of time making some homemade dishes with good ingredients so I'm preprared for this week and plan on starting off on the right foot Monday.

Thank you all for listening! I hope this may help someone if they have faced this obstacle in life. Many women live just fine with fibroid but I was one of the unlucky ones who could not. I was afraid to admit there was something wrong and am so glad I finally took care of ME! If anyone wants to PM me and ask questions feel free!

I am nearly 3 months post op and am nervously hoping I'm finally leveling off. My weight has been up and down and lately up up up. The worst was getting up one morning to put on a pair of my larger jeans and finding that fresh out of the dryer they wouldn't fit at all :( That was kind of the deal breaker for me. I expected post op I'd just go back to the old me, but that didn't quite happen. I finally settled myself down and am focused on eating better and getting my exercise routine back into play. I think I didn't realize what a struggle it would be! I thought I'd wake up from surgery my old self, and this is definetly taking a strong effort. The symptoms from my fibroid caused so many food cravings I had turned back into a food junkie and now that I'm post op I need to work on that. Daily it's still a struggle, anytime I want to eat something "bad" I worry that my surgery was not successful. I was upset to set my tracker to 220. I had vowed to stay under 200 but my illness took over. Since I've refocused my efforts I'm 3 lbs down and cautiously optimistic that the worst is behind me. I just need to keep on track and I know I'll be successful!

Hoping you're doing well!

Thank you! I'm still struggling with the weight. I'm down a total of 4 lbs but that's taken over 3 months to achieve and unfortunately I've still been fluctuating so it just seems I'm gaining and losing those same few lbs. I made a doctor's appt. I feel I need to address this issue, along with still experiencing pain (not as frequent but still there), and the chronic fatigue (I feel there isn't enough vitamins and/or coffee in the world to perk me up!). I'm concerned this fibroid may have grown :(

I finally saw my gyno and they ordered more testing. I'm embarrassed to say I had a mini meltdown in the office. Because of this meltdown, chronic fatigue, and unexplainable weight gain they ordered a full blood work up and also another pelvic ultrasound. I'm so relieved to have further testing but each day is a struggle trying to figure out what's wrong. Sadly I hope they find something, if not I'm at a loss.

I miss having energy more than anything and am most frustrated about my clothing not fitting. I know it sounds vain but I have none of my larger sized pants left and am down to one pair of pants that still fit. Money is beyond tight so buying a new wardrobe isn't an option.

I'm trying to find some humor in all of this wondering if I could fool anyone at work into thinking my yoga pants are actually dress pants!

Hopefully the doctor will have my results Monday or Tuesday. If they could at least pinpoint a deficiency somewhere I could at least figure out what my body is lacking and address it. I'm praying for a miracle cure here that if my body is lacking a vitamin/mineral or is overproducing something it can easily be taken care of and will fix all of my problems. LOL is that too much to ask?!!!!

Thanks for listening!

All of my blood work came back within normal ranges (this depressed me a bit as I'd love to point the finger at a simple vitamin deficiency). Afterwards I went for my pelvic ultrasound and I now have 2 fibroids...one 7 cm and one 3 cm. It's kind of like and orange and a golf ball inside of there. Lots of ladies have suffered from larger but I can say for sure these 2 I have are really causing me problems...always on the brink of fatigue (I have to take my vitamins or I literally cannot get up in the morning or do the things I have to do), reoccurring pelvic pain, and excess weight I just cannot take off irregardless of how well I eat or how much I exercise Additionally, this excess weight is causing me to have issues with my blood sugar (something I always controlled with exercise and diet. Next step is hysterectomy. That's a tough choice, but as much as I try to get up each morning with a good attitude determined that I'm OK I realize this is just not getting any better.

Finally got ref'd to another doctor to do a laproscopic hysterectomy. After dealing with extreme pain it's a relief. Now days from surgery the insurance and the hospital are trying to decide if my insurance covers this. What a nightmare! Everything was taken care of beforehand and now at the 11th hour this comes up :(

Vealcalf2000 Reading your horrible experiences and sympathizing.

Want you to know I'll be checking in here to support you for a while. Can't imagine the frustration you must be feeling. May you have safe and successful surgery that stops all this pain and madness!!

love2garden thank you so much! By tomorrow I should have an answer. I'll be terribly upset if my surgery is cancelled this week, but I'm trying to think positive :) I suppose the worst case scenario is finding a new doctor and possibly starting all over again. I just think it's such a shame that I went through all of the steps to make sure this was covered in network and now I'm waiting for an escalations dept to make the final determination.

Can you believe no answer on surgery today? I called the nurse handling it and she said she hasn't heard from the insurance even though they promised her an answer today. Surgery is supposed to be Wed. I put the time in at work already, worked extra hard to make sure everyone was ready for me to be off, did my blood work, am prepared to fast tomorrow and still have no idea if this will happen.

Finally the insurance co and the hospital figured it out and I had my surgery on Wed. Im sore from the surgery but already feel better and I've lost a few lbs and no longer have PMS cravings!

Do Fibroids really cause weight gain or just a slow metabolism from heredity and bad
 

I have 5 fibroids and ovarian cysts and finally got below 200 Lbs. I have had to work really hard and have finally gone and done it. I am NOT into surgery so I am just going to wait n see what happens with these abnormal benign female growths w/in me. but I feel that I am responsible for my weight loss not any surgery that I would have to remove those. However since I have so many of them , I probly would drop about 10 Lbs after the procedure to kill the growths. They do make me feel like I have alians swimming around inside of me though. They cause a lot of contraction on my bladder all day long and I am constantly urinating as a result of them. I should kill those stupid benign growths inside of me ha???I may just feel more liberated of a female after all that is out of me too. gee, perhaps I shall consider using technology and modern medicine to my advantage too...Thanks for the Mind Seed Gals.....

I too felt like I was in control of my weight loss and worked so hard to eat right and exercise and still gained. It wasn't until I went to two different doctors and learned my uterus was expanding and the fibroids were growing. Many women live quite well with their fibroids. I was not so fortunate because of the location and their continuing growth nothing was getting better...constant pain, bleeding, fatigue, unexplained weight gain. Not to mention not being able to do the things I loved due to always being tired or fearing I'd embarrass myself (I had to start carrying extra sets of clothes for fear of bleeding out). This was a personal decision for me and I'm happy to say already the pain and bleeding are gone. I'm anxious to recover so I can exercise again and just be me again!