Questions about Endometrial Ablation

[klw]

I remember reading here that others have had one.  Did you just tell your doc that you were interested?  Were there any qualifications?  Did it work for you?  

I have been dealing with abnormal periods for the past 11 months.  They usually come every 3ish weeks, but sometimes it is 16-18 days in between. 7-10 days in length. Some are "normal" but most have days of heavy bleeding.  I've had bleeding after intercourse.  In February, we did an ultrasound, pelvic exam and pap smear.  All the results were normal.  The NP  suggested that  I was premenopausal and this could last up to 10 years.  She recommended an IUD.  With my luck, the IUD won't help matters.  

[klong11]

My obgyn recommended the ablation due to uterine polyps. The only requirement was that I was done having children.
I did have some cramping pain afterward, but it was a fairly easy procedure and I haven't had a period since. It's been 2 years now, I believe.


My friend had it done and it did not work for her, so she ended up having a partial hysterectomy. Which, may also be an option.

[willow]

My ablation worked super well for 2.5 years. Then I had adenmyosis tissue which caused insane amounts of pain so I had a full hysterectomy (kept ovaries) in June.

The ablation surgery itself was super easy and so was recovery. I was back to normal within 24 hours. I only had 3 day light spotting type periods for 2.5 years before the adenmyosis. I highly recommend it as a first step before hysterectomy to see if it works for you.

[origami]

I’m coming up on five years in January and haven’t had a period since. The procedure was a breeze though I had to wear a pad for about two weeks for discharge.

Best health decision I’ve ever made. The pain is gone. I do still cycle and I can tell because I get bloated and am a stone cold bitch for a few days but no cramps and no bleeding.

The first doc I asked about it was a dude who said they don’t really work and the cramps would still exist. I asked for a second opinion and the female doc I had said they have a 80-90% success rate and had not heard of cramp pain reported so keep that in mind if you get dismissed when first asking.

[kayc]

Sept 28, 2024 10:31:53 GMT -6 origami said:

I’m coming up on five years in January and haven’t had a period since. The procedure was a breeze though I had to wear a pad for about two weeks for discharge.

Best health decision I’ve ever made. The pain is gone. I do still cycle and I can tell because I get bloated and am a stone cold bitch for a few days but no cramps and no bleeding.

The first doc I asked about it was a dude who said they don’t really work and the cramps would still exist. I asked for a second opinion and the female doc I had said they have a 80-90% success rate and had not heard of cramp pain reported so keep that in mind if you get dismissed when first asking.

This is basically my exact experience, minus the doc dismissal. My PCP referred me to a gynecologist who was fabulous. She did a uterine biopsy before she would do the procedure and that hurt more than the ablation-I was given some decent meds for the ablation, I recommend asking for pain meds to take before biopsy if they do one. 

seriously the BEST decision I’ve made.

[sudsy]

My regular OB told me to have one done due to recurrent fibroids, but I actually saw a specialist for a polyp (I had it surgically removed) last year, and he told me I was not a candidate for ablation due to my previous uterine surgeries. I had an extremely large fibroid that required myomectomy with a little bit of uterine reconstruction before having babies and then two c-sections afterwards. So I think as long as you haven’t had a bunch of surgeries already and you don’t want anymore pregnancies, you’d likely be a candidate. People that I know who have had them done highly recommend it before considering a full hysto.

[yellow711]

I had one about 10 months ago due to very heavy and long periods that were accompanied by very painful cramps.

I am a “failed” ablation because I still get a period but it is shorter and not nearly as heavy. I get occasional cramps .

I am still glad I did it.

[Lady Mary]

I had to try all different kinds of birth control, including a Mirena that embedded in my uterus. Super fun. I asked what other options there were and ablation was the next logical choice. It was a breeze, I was knocked out and recovery was pretty painless. I was back to work in two days and I could have gone sooner. I milked it a bit.

That was almost 6 years ago and I haven’t had a period since. I do have pms and bloat but that’s nothing compared to the heavy periods I had for years. Best thing I ever did for myself. Hands down.

[microworm]

I think an ablation may be in future. I don't have irregular periods but I do have paragard, the non hormonal IUD. My issue is my period symptoms are very flu like for a day or 2 and I cannot even work. I have my annual appt in a few weeks and I'm guessing they will recommend hormonal BC. Not sure if an ablation will help the hormonal aspect of my symptoms (chills, hot flashes, nausea, headache). But not having a period would be nice.

[clucky]

Mine was about 3 years ago. I was finished having children, tired of bleeding (start to finish my cycle was about 21-23 days), and complicated relationship with my uterus. Was also hoping it would help with some migraine and nauseating cramps. It was truly ruling my life. My OB was great, and we got it scheduled after talking through my reasons for wanting it and the need to still use another form of BC. She did have me look at some pamphlets, because she had 2 methods available at her practice. Not having bleeding, I believe has helped my migraines, they do not last days anymore and are not as frequent either. It does make dealing with anything else more tolerable as I am not suffering frequent bathroom trips.

[spicysalmonroll]

I am curious if they do it for people who don't have crazy periods. I've considered it just because I hate any period at all, even though mine is barely an issue compared to all the really bad ones described here.

[ponyhairs]

I am going to have to ask my gyn if an ablation would work for me. I have been having bleeding issues for about a year now and got a Mirena, but had it removed after about 4 months because it was causing too many migraines. I'm back to just near constant bleeding and it's so frustrating. Some days it's constant but light, and other days it's constant and heavy enough that I bleed through my period underwear and have to put on a pad halfway through the day. I'd really just love to have all of the hardware uninstalled at this point.

[loony]

My sister has one scheduled for Friday. Really heavy, constant bleeding for almost a year now. I will update next week.

[willow]

I will say, while my ablation was great and worked for a while, if the more serious step is needed for anyone here, I cannot say enough good things about my hysterectomy. I even had a pretty rough recovery with some physical setbacks (due to how my body healed, nothing with the surgery itself or anything the doctors could have done) but I'm now almost 4 months out and damn. This is how life is without a uterus? Fucking incredible. I'm annoyed knowing that this is how men just.... exist and always have existed, pain free. I have no regrets and am so excited that this is my life now.

[loony]

Sept 30, 2024 13:05:11 GMT -6 willow said:

I will say, while my ablation was great and worked for a while, if the more serious step is needed for anyone here, I cannot say enough good things about my hysterectomy. I even had a pretty rough recovery with some physical setbacks (due to how my body healed, nothing with the surgery itself or anything the doctors could have done) but I'm now almost 4 months out and damn. This is how life is without a uterus? Fucking incredible. I'm annoyed knowing that this is how men just.... exist and always have existed, pain free. I have no regrets and am so excited that this is my life now.

My sister had just had an ovary removed (cancerous) and so her OBGYN Oncologist wouldn't do just a uterus and leave her remaining (non-cancerous) ovary. She just turned 40, so didn't want to jump straight into menopause.

This was for her second opinion who was willing to try the ablation first and then revisit if it isn't effective.

[willow]

Sept 30, 2024 13:10:06 GMT -6 loony said:

Sept 30, 2024 13:05:11 GMT -6 willow said:

I will say, while my ablation was great and worked for a while, if the more serious step is needed for anyone here, I cannot say enough good things about my hysterectomy. I even had a pretty rough recovery with some physical setbacks (due to how my body healed, nothing with the surgery itself or anything the doctors could have done) but I'm now almost 4 months out and damn. This is how life is without a uterus? Fucking incredible. I'm annoyed knowing that this is how men just.... exist and always have existed, pain free. I have no regrets and am so excited that this is my life now.

My sister had just had an ovary removed (cancerous) and so her OBGYN Oncologist wouldn't do just a uterus and leave her remaining (non-cancerous) ovary. She just turned 40, so didn't want to jump straight into menopause.

This was for her second opinion who was willing to try the ablation first and then revisit if it isn't effective.

I have both my ovaries so I understand not wanting to go into menopause, my doctor was definitely not going to do that for me anyway. I hope the ablation solves it all for her! For me it made everything stay away for a time before the tissue growth in my uterus began and made my life actual hell for the majority of this year before surgery - like I couldn't work unless I was reclined on the couch for several months because it was too much pain. 

[klw]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I just did the math and I have had my period for 147 days in 13 months. I just want to have all the info when I go. I see my primary care in early December, but I’ll probably send the GYN a portal message this week. I’ve only seen her 1x because I switched after my doc (who I had seen for 25 years) closed her practice. 😩

[calendula]

Sept 30, 2024 13:05:11 GMT -6 willow said:

I will say, while my ablation was great and worked for a while, if the more serious step is needed for anyone here, I cannot say enough good things about my hysterectomy. I even had a pretty rough recovery with some physical setbacks (due to how my body healed, nothing with the surgery itself or anything the doctors could have done) but I'm now almost 4 months out and damn. This is how life is without a uterus? Fucking incredible. I'm annoyed knowing that this is how men just.... exist and always have existed, pain free. I have no regrets and am so excited that this is my life now.

I could have written this word for word. I had a partial hysterectomy a year ago today (along with endometriosis excision). Life without a uterus is absolutely amazing. I'm bitter and resentful I had to spend my entire adult life leaking like a bloody sieve for 75% of the time and in so much pain. 

[byjove]

Oct 3, 2024 7:27:14 GMT -6 calendula said:

Sept 30, 2024 13:05:11 GMT -6 willow said:

I will say, while my ablation was great and worked for a while, if the more serious step is needed for anyone here, I cannot say enough good things about my hysterectomy. I even had a pretty rough recovery with some physical setbacks (due to how my body healed, nothing with the surgery itself or anything the doctors could have done) but I'm now almost 4 months out and damn. This is how life is without a uterus? Fucking incredible. I'm annoyed knowing that this is how men just.... exist and always have existed, pain free. I have no regrets and am so excited that this is my life now.

I could have written this word for word. I had a partial hysterectomy a year ago today (along with endometriosis excision). Life without a uterus is absolutely amazing. I'm bitter and resentful I had to spend my entire adult life leaking like a bloody sieve for 75% of the time and in so much pain. 

I'm 3 years out now and it's been A+ (still have my ovaries too, which has been more complicated).