a Novasure endometrial ablation? At my annual pap/mammo today, my gyno suggested I have this procedure for my heavy periods. I'm 48 so I'm done having babies. My youngest is 15. Have any of you had this procedure or know of someone who has? What was the outcome? Side effects? My gyno stated that 90% of patients experience lighter periods after the procedure, which is what I'm hoping for. I'm tired of wearing black pants for a week when I have TOM, which comes for 7-10 days every 21 days. The reason this procedure is so attractive to me is that bc pills are out of the question for me. The hormones in them bring on monthly migraines. TIA Ladies!


Mods, you can move this. I wasn't sure where to post it.

My friend had it a couple of years ago when she was 47 and it definitely helped a lot. She had the same issue with pills.

My sister in law just had this done last week, so too early to tell you how she feels about it, but the procedure was easy. She's only 38, but her tubes are tied and she was just having too much serious bleeding, like you.

I had one done about 3 years ago - even though I had a miserable 2 weeks following the procedure ( when they say go home and rest they MEAN IT!), it produced awesome results. For the next year I had one day periods - still had all of the hormonal nastiness that goes along with peri-menopause and PMS. But considering my periods were lasting up to 16 days and happening every 14-21 days, and were extremely heavy, it was awesome. I found the cramping alot worse though - I guess because of scar tissue, but now that I am in full blown menopause ( it happened at 49) even that is a non-issue. Never regretted it

My sister had this done a little over 6 months ago. Says it is the best thing she has ever done. She was having a period every 2 weeks. So it was this or a hysterectomy. She had 1 period after the procedure and nothing since. She still gets all of the bloating and hormonal changes that come with pms, but nothing else. I am going to talk with my doctor about it next visit. We have a family history of heavy bleeding after the age of 40. What fun it is to be a woman.

My sister had this done two years ago. It seemed to help for a limited time, but her periods, and the extreme cramping, did eventually become just as bad as it was before the procedure. She eventually had a hysterectomy. :S

I have considered it but I have a Paraguard IUD in and that would need to be removed and a new one put in and I just do not have the money for that. I am going to mention it to my doctor at my next physical though and see what he says.

I have heard of two people having had it done and neither one had good results as their periods and cramps eased briefly but returned to heavy and cramping soon after but I feel if I can find a way around the IUD issue I am willing to give it a try.

Thanks everyone! I think I'm going to go ahead with it. I am willing to accept any side effects and the possibility of a hysterectomy down the road if this doesn't help. It seems like a reasonable, but not over the top, solution. Thanks for all of your imput ladies! I knew I could count on you.

Regarding cramping, I've never been much of a cramper, except when I had an IUD in my early 20s. I thought I would die. The only way to ease the cramps was to exercise--I would walk for miles. I feel really bad for anyone who has to deal with bad cramps every month.

Yesterday I got the dreaded phone call from the "Breast Health Center"(stupid name). I need to come in asap as the dr noted "changes" in my rt boob on the mammo. They're going to redo the mammo and possibly do a ultrasound this afternoon. Geez I hate this! I have had to go in again in the past, usually because they didn't feel like they got a real good pic. Here's praying that it is nothing. If it is not, I'm gonna be pissed!

I'm sorry I just saw this! Good luck to you!

Thanks Sherrie!

Good news! After 4 extra pics, the dr said everything looked fine. They did mention that the pics looked different than last year. I'm still at the same weight I was a year ago, but I have lost alot of volume and maybe I've built some more muscle? I was so relieved that I went to the grocery store--$154! I really enjoyed myself just leisurely browsing. I don't usually allow myself time to do that.

I had the novasure procedure last May and it has been the best thing I have done for my health in a long time. Went to a new gyno due to insurance reasons and she told me about it when I told her about how heavy my flow was. Took me a few months to decide, but went ahead with it. I used to have at least 7 day periods and the first two days were horrible. Changing ultra tampons every hour and wearing a back up pad. God forbid I had to work those days or we were on vacation or in someone elses house. I had to plan my life around my periods. Now I have two day periods if you even want to call them that. The first day, some brown stuff makes it to a panti liner and the second day, only notice a little brown when I wipe. Thats it. I hope it lasts into menopause, as I was only 40 when I had it done. I wonder why my old gyno didn't ever mention it as an option?
The procedure itself is super easy, go to sleep, wake up, pee, go home, rest. The before tests are icky though, I had to have a biopsy (ouch) and an ultrasound. They need to make sure you are the right size and that there isn't any other reason for the heavy bleeding. I would recommend googling endometrial ablasion forums, I think there is only one, and I got a lot of information and answers from that before and after my procedure. Good luck to you! Oh and ironically when I was debating on having this done, I went for my first mammogram and sure enough, the needed to see me back for suspicious area in my rt. breast. Everything turned out fine, but I was sure cursing being a woman about this time last year! Glad to hear your follow up was okay too!

jomatho, thank you for sharing your experience and the suggestions!

Whew! I'm so glad the news was good.

Have you thought anymore about the procedure? My boss and a co-worker had it done (after tubal ligation in both cases) and both completely lost their periods. Sounds like a win to me! Good luck with your decision.

Please let us know how this turns out. I have looked at this before and would like to know it goes for you.