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5 Uterine Fibroids Symptoms You Don't Have To Live With
Uterine fibroids affect up to 80 percent of people with a uterus (and are two to three times more likely to occur in Black women)—and uterine fibroids symptoms tend to be "loud and obnoxious," says Ruth Arumala, D.O., an OB-GYN and fibroid specialist in Texas. While it's possible to have asymptomatic fibroids, "they make their presence known if they're symptomatic," Dr. Arumala says.
Uterine fibroids, also called leiomyomas or myomas, are non-cancerous growths found in or on the uterus which can be as small as a pea or as big as a grapefruit. Depending on the size and location of these non-cancerous tumors, they could be wreaking havoc or you might not even know you have them. "Some women have ginormous fibroids and don't know, or they do know, but it doesn't necessarily bother them," says Jessica Shepherd, M.D., chief medical officer at Verywell Health and a board-certified OB-GYN and fibroid expert.
Your gynecologist may catch asymptomatic fibroids during a routine pelvic exam but typically, uterine fibroids go unnoticed unless they start causing symptoms, the most common of which is heavy menstrual bleeding. Uterine fibroids symptoms can range from "being a nuisance to being life-threatening," says Dr. Arumala, so it's wise to know the signs you might have fibroids and keep an eye on any existing growths. Here's everything you need to know.
Types of fibroidsUterine fibroids are classified by their location. Depending on where they are located, they can cause different symptoms. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) there are three main types of fibroids: subserosal fibroids, which occur outside of the uterus; intramural fibroids, which grow within the uterine lining; and submucosal fibroids, which live inside the uterine cavity.
Uterine fibroids symptomsThe most common symptoms of fibroids can be sorted into three categories, says Dr. Arumala: bleeding, bulk symptoms, and reproductive symptoms.
BleedingHeavy periods are often a sign of fibroids. "The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists used to define [heavy bleeding] by milliliters or number of pads," says Somi Javaid, M.D., a board-certified OB-GYN and founder of HerMD, a women's health practice in Ohio. But recently, there's been a push towards a more subjective understanding of heavy bleeding, she says. "If a woman's perception is that her bleeding is heavy, it's heavy."
As a general rule of thumb, if you're changing your pad or tampon every two hours during your menstrual cycle, most gynecologists would agree that's heavy bleeding. If you're bleeding for longer than normal during your period or bleeding non-stop, those are also symptoms of uterine fibroids you should flag to your doctor right away.
In rare cases, fibroid-related bleeding is heavy enough that it can cause anemia, a condition that occurs when your body produces lower-than-normal amounts of red blood cells, according to the NIH. Symptoms of anemia include fatigue, a racing heart, and craving ice.
Bulk symptoms"Bulk symptoms" occur when "the fibroids are so big that they cause a space issue," explains Dr. Arumala. This can manifest in a few ways:
Pain during sex"Fibroids can cause a lot of pain particularly if they're near the cervix because there can be contact if you're talking about penetrative intercourse," says Dr. Javaid. You might also experience pain during orgasm. Large fibroids growing in the wall of the uterus or in the uterine cavity can feel like boulders, Dr. Javaid explains, so when the uterus contracts during an orgasm, it can feel uncomfortable, like squeezing a rock.
Depending on the location of the fibroids, you might also experience a "rocking pain" during sex as certain positions or thrusting can cause your uterus to rock back and forth, adds Dr. Arumala. If you're experiencing any pelvic pain or lower back pain, flag it to your doctor.
Bladder and bowel issuesIf a fibroid is pressing on your bladder, it can cause frequent urination and incontinence, says Dr. Arumala. Same goes for fibroids pressing on your bowels. "Sometimes patients have an alternative of constipation and diarrhea or just constipation," she says. "If the fibroid is on the back of the uterus and it's pressing on your rectum or part of your intestine, you'll have an inability to poop. If the poop gets past that blockage, it rushes out. So you'll have constipation, diarrhea, constipation, diarrhea."
Bulk symptoms can occur even if you don't have bleeding issues due to fibroids. "A lot of women will not realize that and they may end up with the wrong doctor," says Dr. Javaid.
Fertility symptomsFibroids can be a cause of infertility. Depending on their location, they can literally block the fallopian tube, preventing an egg from being fertilized. Fibroids in the lining of the uterus can also prevent a fertilized egg from implanting. (For years, fibroids have also been linked to the fear of early miscarriage. Though recent research suggests there's not enough evidence to support an increased risk, according to the NIH.)
During pregnancy, "fibroids can cause excruciating pain," says Dr. Arumala. As the pregnancy begins taking more blood flow from the uterus, any fibroids, which need a healthy blood supply to live, may begin to die, she explains. "Anything dying, like a tooth, is going to cause pain," Dr. Arumala says. Fibroids (again, depending on their location) can also increase your risk of having a cesarean delivery.
When to talk to your doctorIf you have asymptomatic fibroids, your gynecologist will likely manage them without treatment. Eventually, most fibroids will shrink and because they need estrogen to grow, the risk of developing any new fibroids drops dramatically during menopause.
If you're experiencing heavy menstrual bleeding or any of the other symptoms above, talk to your gynecologist. "Any one of these should warrant some type of conversation with your doctor. It's always better to start the conversation when things might be not as frequent or not as severe so that if there is something that starts to increase the frequency or severity that you have a baseline," says Dr. Shepherd. "Then it can start to generate a conversation of potentially looking at fibroids as the cause."
The good news? There are plenty of treatment options for uterine fibroids. Fibroid treatments range from a procedure called a myomectomy to remove the fibroids, to the use of birth control (either an IUD or the pill which can limit fibroid growth by increasing your body's levels of progesterone) or, depending on where you are in your reproductive journey, even a hysterectomy. If you're dealing with symptoms, talk to your healthcare provider about what's best for you.
Macaela MacKenzie is a writer and editor specializing in wellness. She writes about self-care, mental health, fertility, and women's equality with a focus on breaking down stigmas in women's health. She's the author of Money, Power, Respect: How Women in Sports Are Shaping the Future of Feminism.
Originally Appeared on Glamour
Signs And Symptoms Of Stomach Ulcer
A stomach ulcer—also known as a peptic ulcer—is an open sore on the lining of the stomach or duodenum (the upper part of the small intestine). These ulcers can cause various symptoms, including abdominal pain, bloating, heartburn, and nausea. If left untreated, a stomach ulcer can lead to complications and cause symptoms such as vomiting with or without blood, bloody stools, fatigue, and unexplained weight loss.
Typically, symptoms of a stomach ulcer develop gradually over time. But it's important to note that symptoms can vary from person to person. While some people may have mild symptoms that become more severe over time, others may have symptoms that fluctuate between flare-ups (periods where symptoms are active) and remission (periods where you experience little to no symptoms).
Stomach ulcers can be a common health condition. In fact, 5% to 10% of people will experience a stomach ulcer at some point in their lifetime. That's why learning the symptoms and knowing when to reach out to your provider for medical care can be so important.
Almost 70% of people with a stomach ulcer are asymptomatic, meaning they do not experience any symptoms at all. However, if you do develop symptoms, you'll likely experience a combination of the following gastrointestinal (stomach-related) symptoms:
Sometimes, stomach ulcer symptoms can worsen, which may suggest that you're experiencing a potential complication. While complications of a stomach ulcer are rare, if you have one or more of the following symptoms, it's important to reach out to your healthcare provider for medical attention:
While stomach ulcers don't often cause pain for most people, it's important to see a healthcare provider if you do have symptoms or if your symptoms last for more than one week. Your healthcare provider can perform a physical exam and order diagnostic tests (e.G., blood tests or imaging tests) to determine the cause of your symptoms and provide you with a diagnosis.
Certain symptoms of stomach ulcers warrant prompt medical attention. See a healthcare provider immediately if you have any of the following symptoms:
If you're unsure about your symptoms or their severity, it is always best to err on the side of caution and seek care from a healthcare provider who can evaluate your symptoms and provide appropriate treatment recommendations.
A stomach (peptic) ulcer is an open sore on the stomach lining or duodenum (upper portion of the small intestine). Common symptoms include abdominal pain, indigestion, nausea, burping, and loss of appetite. While some people with a stomach ulcer experience no symptoms, others may experience symptoms that come and go and persist for minutes to hours at a time. Symptoms often worsen between meals or at night and may be relieved by eating or taking antacids (e.G., Tums).
In some cases, stomach ulcer symptoms can worsen. While these complications are rare, it's a good idea to see your healthcare provider if you experience bloody stool, vomiting, unexplained weight loss, or excessive fatigue.
Asymptomatic People Can Spread Coronavirus For More Than A Week, Study Says
Combine a long incubation period with an absence of distinct signs, and you end up with a pathogen that can spread with ease and infect plenty of people without alerting them to its presence. That's why the novel coronavirus is so dangerous. Left unchecked, the virus moves from person to person faster than we could have imagined several months ago. A definitive COVID-19 diagnosis can't be established without testing because of the lack of specific signs. The coronavirus causes symptoms shared with other pathologies, and the unique COVID-19 signs do not appear in all infected people.
And herein lies another big problem: Many people are asymptomatic, but they're still contagious. A brand new study from China says that carriers without symptoms can be contagious anywhere from three to 12 days, for an average of around eight days. That's why social distancing measures are so important even after opening up the economy, combined with proper access to testing, the use of face masks, and increased handwashing.
The study comparing symptomatic patients to asymptomatic COVID-19 patients comes from Wuhan, China, and was published a few days ago in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
The researchers looked at 78 patients from 26 cluster cases of exposure to the Hunan seafood market or close contact with other COVID-19 patients. All of them were confirmed with RT-PCR tests, but 33 were asymptomatic — 42.3% of the total. That's a high percentage that's in line with recent findings from the CDC. Similarly, a study that analyzed the passengers of a cruise ship that left Argentina in mid-March with no confirmed infections on board found that 60% of the people on the boat were infected. Of those, 81% showed no symptoms.
The Wuhan study offered some conclusions about the asymptomatic patients that were observed during the study. Compared to symptomatic patients, they were younger and were more frequently female. Also, they had a lower proportion of liver injuries and less consumption of CD4 T lymphocytes. They also showed faster lung recovery in CT scans and a shorter duration of viral shedding from nasopharynx swabs.
What the study tells us is that asymptomatic patients may not feel anything, but their bodies still fight the virus. The coronavirus does affect the lungs, and lymphocyte counts can drop. Doctors from the UK think T-cell count is a marker that can predict severe COVID-19 cases, and boosting T-cells could improve the conditions of patients.
Viral shedding, or contagiousness, is around eight days on average, compared to up to 19 days for the symptomatic group. A separate set of studies say COVID-19 patients aren't infectious after 11 days.
The study makes it clear, if there was ever any doubt, that asymptomatic people are still contagious, even if viral shedding can be as low as three days for some people:
Our finding of less consumption of CD4+T lymphocyte in asymptomatic infections suggests that damage to the immune system in asymptomatic infections was milder compared with symptomatic infections. Although patients who were asymptomatic experienced less harm to themselves, they may have been unaware of their disease and therefore not isolated themselves or sought treatment, or they may have been overlooked by health care workers and thus unknowingly transmitted the virus to others.
The research also explains that asymptomatic cases need to be identified and isolated as fast as possible:
Since patients with asymptomatic COVID-19 were relatively concealed, the fact of viral shedding detected via nasopharyngeal swabs must not be ignored. Therefore, identifying and isolating patients with asymptomatic COVID-19 as early as possible is critical to control the transmission of COVID-19. Close contacts of patients with COVID-19 should be closely monitored to avoid secondary transmission.
As with other COVID-19 studies, more research might be required to confirm these findings. But, as I've noted earlier, this Wuhan study couldn't have come at a worse time. China just made a big deal of testing nearly 10 million out of Wuhan's population of 11 million people and finding just 300 asymptomatic cases who were labeled not infectious. That seems highly unlikely. What's worse is that China isn't including these 300 people in its official COVID-19 statistics despite what studies like this one say. The simplest conclusion is that China keeps lying about its coronavirus cases.
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