Saturday, December 20, 2003

Is it possible to not have problems when pregnant with fibroid/s?

From all the stories I've seen shared fibroids seem to be problematic during pregnancy, in example:

* they may grow
* they may outgrow their blood supply and cause pain
* they could restrict the baby's growth
* they (in rare cases) could cause deformity in the baby (pressure on developing bones)
* they could increase problems with bladder, kidneys
* they could outcompete the baby for the blood supply and cause miscarriage (or otherwise cause a miscarriage)

Surely there are people who have had other experiences such as fibroid reduction, no growth, no complications...and lived happily ever after. Anyone got a story to share?

Monday, December 15, 2003

Patient sharing info online and my mother's thyroid treatment when I was conceived

I know that doctors and the medical community are afraid of the information sharing that patients do online but I think it actually is to the benefit of the patient. Being able to meet other women in similar situations, and some not so similar, helps me keep things in perspective and not feel so alone. I like being able to ask tough questions of the doctors, I want the best medicine possible for myself.

I did meet a couple of women at a party recently who had fibroids during pregancy. One had no symptoms, the other one said that taking birth control pills afterwards (which she had never been on before) "melted" the fibroids away.

Here's a question my mother threw out to me last night. She was diagnosed as hypothyroid when she was trying to conceive back in the late 60s. They put her on thyroid medication, she said it was bovine source, and it was at really high doses. What might the affects of very high doses of thyroid hormone/s be on a developing fetus? I have only had the TSH test done with normal range results. Anyone care to speculate on whether this might have influenced some hormonal wackiness in me?