About Fibroids - My Personal Story

I found out I had uterine fibroids. I had been going to my general practitioner and getting regular examinations done, thinking everything should be as it always has been. My general practitioner never saw or mentioned fibroids to me and I had been going to him for years!

How did I find out? I had a severe case of acne. I had been dealing with acne pretty much all my life. My dermatologist and/or I had tried just about everything except for Accutane. (For a more detailed blog on my struggle with acne, and my treatment for it, check out my blog on victory over acne). Last ditch effort: I decided to use Accutane. The makers of Accutane want to ensure you don't get pregnant while taking the medication because of severe birth defects that occur as a side effect of taking the medications and getting pregnant. So to be placed on Accutane, you had to essentially be on birth control. To get birth control, I choose to go to a gynecologist. The gynecologist required that I do a full examination. Accutane required, among other things, that I go to the GYN every month to do pregnancy tests. So I stopped going to my GP and started using the GYN exclusively for examinations. It was during one of those routine pap smears that my GYN casually mentioned I had fibroids. Not one but three to be exact! They were small but tangible.

I was devastated. What? Fibroids! Why? How? Why didn't I know? Why didn't my general practitioner tell me? How big? What do I do?

I didn't know I had fibroids at all. My cycles were pretty regular at the time so I had no cause for alarm. Because the fibroids were asymptomatic, my GYN said I didn't need to do anything. She said all we needed to do is observe them to see if they remained asymptomatic. According to her, many women have fibroids and don't even know it. Many women have fibroids and the fibroids simply stay asymptomatic. So I was hoping and praying for the best. I can just go on with no problems. Unfortunately, I didn't stay asymptomatic.

To continue reading my personal story, keep coming back to this blog.