for question #3, post your city/state and maybe someone reading this thread can suggest her own gyn to you.

I've had the same trouble: you never know what the gyn is like until you've been there. It's useless asking friends, which is what you're usually told in answers to these questions if your friends haven't got anyone to offer, or if you don't know people well enough to ask.

You might try Yelp for your area. There are some doc reviews.

Honestly, for GPs, gyns, dentists, eye docs I just did the search and destroy method. I found my dentist in the yellow pages (remember these? I've been going to him nearly 30 years now. So sometimes it works). I just found a good eye doc by googling and googling until I found reviews that seemed to pinpoint one practice (I've been going there several years, quite happy). My gyn is pretty good but expensive (I had to go private to get satisfaction!).

Again, state your location and maybe someone can help.

Good luck and don't worry!!!!!!!!

I know cancer is a scary thing but fibroids ALMOST NEVER become malignant. A 1 in 1000 chance is VERY SLIM. I hope I dont sound glib but in my opinion, a gyn who takes a watchful waiting stance on fibroids is better than the gyns who do hysterectomies for fibroids (and there are far too many who do). If you feel more comfortable with closer monitoring, by all means, go back in 6 months for peace of mind. Diet, exercise, and/or supplements can oftentimes help fibroids. You didnt mention your peri-menopausal or menopausal status or age but fibroids generally have a growth spurt shortly before menopause and then shortly after menopause, they begin to shrink.

Do a web search for natural remedies for uterine fibroids. If natural remedies and/or meds (hormonal or non-hormonal) arent effective and your fibroids become too symptomatic, they can be shelled out using a hysteroscope or myomectomy (method depends on fibroid size). However, not all surgeons have these skills which may partially explain the high rate of hysterectomies. (According to ACOG, 76% of hysts dont meet their criteria for the surgery.) Working with an integrative or holistic doctor and/or nutritionist can oftentimes be beneficial. Most gyns and other mainstream doctors and surgeons arent knowledgeable enough about natural remedies nor are natural treatments the platform of their business model.

I had a hysterectomy with ovary removal after my gyn rushed me into surgery for a suspicious looking ovarian cyst. Although the cyst was benign, my gyn removed BOTH ovaries and my uterus. I feel like I lost my heart and soul along with my previously taken for granted good health (physical, mental, emotional, and sexual).

BTW - I also had a bad experience with mammograms in that I had 3 in one year that in hindsight probably weren't necessary.

Best of luck to you!

Check out the website earthclinic.com. Good home remedies for every thing; also fibroids. Hope this was of any help.

Fibroid s- has some which caused heavy heavy bleeding. Has a myomectomy & endometrial ablation which took care of everything with great success- pls discuss with your doctor, I wish you all the best..

thank you all for your advice & support. I am perimenopausal and the fibroids do not cause heavy bleeding (no idea why -- seems like that's typically one of the big symptoms)...For the past few years, I have shorter periods (3 days), but my gyn doesn't seem concerned.

So sorry to hear of your experience, fighting4change.

I've gotta get over my fears and just go for the boob check & mammogram. I went through a scare a few years back and my blood pressure goes up, just walking into the office. Sigh. Everything turned out alright, but that was then, y'know?

thanks again everyone!

Most fibroids are asymptomatic and need no intervention except to be monitored. I had fibroids for years and was fine with them until they started to cause heavy bleeding,lots of bloating and horrendous cramps. I went annually for US and for my physicals and I was fine for several years. Unfortunately, they became worse and worse until I decided to have a hysterectomy last June. Now, for me this was a great decision as I have felt so much better but if I had not had symptoms, I would have left all alone and waited for menopause. Don't be afraid of fibroids as so many women have them and don't even know it. If they aren't causing problems, just feel lucky and move forward. Also, I had breast cancer and a mastectomy 3 years ago. I was lucky because I never missed my mammograms every year and they caught it very early. With breast cancer, as with most cancers, early detection is crucial so don't put off your mammogram! Good luck.

yuo need to get those out of there . take care of you.. Life is to short as it is.....

I f have something foreign in my body I get it out . My old GYN said if you have a lump , bump or knot get it out.....

8 years ago this month they found a golf ball sized FB in my uterus. I did not know it was there & when I did, it explained some of my symptoms, such as bladder sensitivity and pressure around my anus etc as my period approached.

I too never had heavy bleeding, maybe some clots but not many.

I saw a couple of Drs & both of them said different things, one even questioning "Don't you want a hysterectomy"...as though he were offering me ice cream or some other desirable thing. Then I saw a 3rd Dr, an Gyno, who told me that my FB was not unusually large & that he was sure that my symptoms were disappear entirely once periods began, and he dismissed the hysterectomy idea as unnecessary.

He was right. I hardly know it is there now, in fact, I have to check internally to feel the bump and it is much smaller. I have had a vaginal US since menopause & Dr told me that the area of the FB was smaller, but also said that the uterus and ovaries shrink too and that can help.

I did quite an amount of research on FBs and I recall reading that if cancer occurs in FB, it is usually in elderly women (then again, being older is the main risk factor for cancer, something we tend to forget...) So try not to worry about the FB being cancer, by now, if it was, you would have some rather terrible things happening & that does not appear to be the case...

I have some of that anxiety too, as to Drs etc... I avoided Drs for nearly 3 yrs, (except eye & dentist...yeh, not very consistent I know...). Slowly, that anxiety faded and now I wonder what I was afraid of, so I have about a 3 year window when I did not see a physician. However, I began to see Drs last year & in fact, just had a visit to one in March, and felt totally at ease about it, just as I did before peri happened.

I really feel that our nervous system is kicked on high during this time and we are always in a "flight or fight" mode in that everything is a threat. I had some odd feelings and strange ideas for a couple of years too. At this time, I feel I crossed over some vast nightmarish landscape & now on the other side of it, and looking behind, I see a dim gray nothing that makes me question just what was that all about???? I think my brain has calmed down & I am not finding things to rage about on a daily basis either...

I would encourage you to seek out other opinions, as did I. Drs come in all flavors, some are more conservative and just want to err on the side of being cautious and others are more experienced and knowledgeable and they can guess what is likely to happen and will advise from that point.

You received a varied bunch of responses here, but you have to pick out what is most comfortable for you (I totally understand about the BC thing too). BC is in the freaking news all the time and it can give you such a sense of urgency that it is out there, ready to pounce if you miss even one annual mammo. Lots of women never get BC, most don't in fact, even at the peak of occurrance (age 80, I think you have 1 in 9 chance). That makes it nearly 90 per cent unlikely you have BC.

Maybe take some time off from these thoughts. I will tell myself I won't worry about something for 3 mos or 6 mos and then when that time arrives, I will review it. The last time I used this strategy, when the time came due, I was feeling better and past the worst of peri and I could then think about it rationally. Time can give us peace.

Hope you find what you need...DaisyC

Unfortunately, too many gyns are scalpel happy (but they are surgeons and that's how they make most of their money). Our bodies can have many harmless lumps and bumps. If every "lump" or organ with a "lump" had to be removed, I wouldn't have kidneys or a liver. I'm a "cyst maker" (on the inside anyway - only have one on the outside) but they've never caused any problems so no need to treat them. All surgery has risks that need to be taken into consideration..

Thank you everyone! I really appreciate your openness & honesty. It dawned on me the other day, something that has worked for me in dealing with my anxieties re. going to Drs. in recent times:

"if it's there, it's already there. If it's not there, it's not there. Avoiding going to the Dr is Not going to change any of these facts of "what is." Might as well deal with it now, rather than way later, when it's been there all along and I could have done something about it so much sooner."

At all costs, I do not want surgery (especially something as life-altering as a hysterectomy). I'd rather deal with benign things as naturally as possible and whatever symptoms I have are not affecting my ability to function. I just worry about these things in my body that feel out of control. I have to keep reminding myself that I can feel empowered in my own healthcare, even if I cannot control everything my body does.

Thanks again!

I would get a second opinion. When my doctor told me I had them, she wanted to take them out right away. I said a big "yes!". I'd rather deal with them then to worry all the time.

What about embolization? Performed by a radiologist, they block blood flow to fibroids and they shrink.

Your non hysterectomy options also depend on location of fibroids. Choosing another gyn in your case I'd go for a female in her 30's. Second a male late thirties and a big plus if their practice does a lot of fertility work because in some cases they have to minimize firbroids and preserve uterus.

Best to you!