Like many women with symptoms of uterine fibroids — noncancerous tumors on the wall of the uterus — Travise, 44, saw her life turned upside down. Physicians struggled to diagnose the cause of the pain and other symptoms she was experiencing that were impacting her daily life. But she persisted in finding answers, determined to find relief. Thanks to a minimally invasive procedure called uterine fibroid embolization (UFE) performed by the Vascular & Interventional Specialists at Charlotte Radiology, Travise was able to avoid major surgery and move forward without fibroid symptoms and get back to life uninterrupted.
What Are the Symptoms of Uterine Fibroids?
Fibroids, also known as uterine fibroids or leiomyomas, are noncancerous growths of the uterus that often appear during childbearing years. They can grow in various sizes, ranging from as small as a pea to as large as a grapefruit, and can develop in different parts of the uterus. There are three types of fibroids based on their location. Submucosal fibroids grow from the wall of the uterus and protrude into the uterine cavity. Intramural fibroids develop within the uterine wall, while subserosal fibroids form on the outside of the uterus.
Fibroids can be difficult to diagnose based on symptoms alone. Common symptoms of uterine fibroids include heavy bleeding, abdominal/pelvic pain and difficulty urinating, which can also occur due to endometriosis or other conditions. Additional uterine fibroid symptoms include:
- Anemia
- Bleeding between periods
- Constipation
- Low back pain
- Menstrual cramps
- Pain during sex
- Rectal discomfort
“The symptoms I had along with my fibroids were bloating, lots of pain and cramps,” Travise says. “I just always seemed like I was on one of my cycles.”
Living With Symptoms and Finding Relief
Symptoms like Travise’s can affect nearly every aspect of life.
“A lot of our patients will have symptoms of heavy bleeding, pain, pelvic pressure, constipation, urinary frequency, urgency and accidents,” says Jeremy I. Kim, MD, a board-certified vascular and interventional radiologist at Vascular & Interventional Specialists of Charlotte Radiology. “All of those things can be life-changing in regard to a woman’s confidence level and being able to do things she wants to do.”
If you experience uterine fibroid-like symptoms, tell your primary care provider or OB-GYN so they can rule out other conditions, pinpoint the cause and recommend treatment. For Travise, finding answers took time.
“[The symptoms] went on for probably over a year, and no one could tell me what it was,” she says. “I actually ended up having to go to several different doctors, and someone finally just said, ‘Why don’t you try and see if you have fibroids? Find that out.’”
Read More: 10 Uterine Fibroid Facts Every Woman Should Know
Know Your Risk
Why uterine fibroids develop isn’t clear, although changes in estrogen and progesterone levels seem to influence their growth. High hormone levels during pregnancy may fuel fibroid growth. After menopause, when the body produces minimal estrogen and progesterone, fibroids usually shrink, and symptoms may improve or stop.
How can you know if you have a higher risk for uterine fibroids? For starters, consider your family history. Your risk rises three-fold if your mother had fibroids, according to the Office on Women’s Health. It is most commonly found in your 30s or 40s.
Other uterine fibroid risk factors include:
- A diet high in red meat
- Being African American
- Excess weight
Treating the Symptoms of Uterine Fibroids
Your OB-GYN may find uterine fibroids as part of a routine pelvic exam. To confirm the diagnosis, your physician may order an imaging test, such as a magnetic resonance imaging or ultrasound scan, or perform a minor procedure to observe the uterus with a scope. The sooner a diagnosis occurs, the better.
“Fibroids tend to enlarge with age,” adds Dr. Kim, “and when they enlarge, they may cause more problems.”
For women with mild symptoms, surgery may not be necessary. Some birth control pills, for example, can reduce excessive bleeding. Progestin-releasing intrauterine devices can also treat this common symptom. Medications called gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists release hormones that can shrink fibroids. This treatment, however, can cause side effects, such as hot flashes, that may require hormone therapy.
For women with disruptive symptoms, such as Travise, surgery or advanced non-surgical interventions may offer the most effective way to treat fibroids. Treatment options include myomectomy — removing the fibroids while sparing the rest of the uterus — or hysterectomy (removal of the uterus). These options require surgery, which can be more invasive and typically entail longer recovery times.
A Minimally Invasive Solution for Fibroids
At Vascular & Interventional Specialists, Travise was pleased to learn about another option — a non-surgical, minimally invasive image-guided procedure called UFE, also known as uterine fibroid embolization. UFE essentially blocks tumor-feeding blood vessels to stop the fibroids from growing.
“This procedure involves inserting a small, plastic tube called a catheter into the artery in the wrist or her groin,” Dr. Kim says. “We go to the blood vessel that supplies the uterine fibroids and administer tiny beads into the artery to block the blood flow to the fibroids so the fibroid cannot grow anymore and, actually, shrinks over time.”
UFE is a non-invasive medical procedure that can be performed on an outpatient basis and often with faster recovery times, and most insurances cover it.
Read More: Reclaiming Control From Uterine Fibroids
Farewell, Fibroid Symptoms
Travise was extremely pleased with her experience.
“The procedure itself was very simple,” Travise says. “There was a little pain.”
Now, with the symptoms of uterine fibroids no longer part of her life, Travise is eager to share the benefits of UFE with others.
“The process was seamless,” she says. “Everyone at the office was on top of it. The biggest benefit from all of it has been the education and being able to share it with family and friends. When I speak with anyone who’s contemplating doing a hysterectomy just from fibroids, I say, ‘You have got to check out Vascular & Interventional Specialists and see if you qualify for UFE.’”
