1069

I've been taking Microgestin 1.5/30 since early September.
Before that, I wasn't taking anything and was having all kinds of crazy bleeding.
I went to Planned Parenthood back in March '07 (was uninsured then) because of postcoital bleeding- I also hadn't been to a gyno in about eight years, so I was like, "Great; now it'll come back and bite me in the arse. Shoulda been getting those yearly PAPs."
At PP, they told me I had a very small polyp on my cervix. I had never heard of this, but have since researched it, and it's common. 5-10% of women who have had two or more children have these polyps. They're nearly always benign.
So anyway, at PP they did a PAP (which came back normal) and removed the polyp- just pulled it off with tweezers, apparently it was just kinda hanging there. They sent the polyp in to the lab for analysis, it came back benign, which was what I expected.
They told me the polyp was what was causing the abnormal bleeding, and that now it would stop.
They tried to put me on birth control pills, but I said no.
September of '07, I was back at Planned Parenthood. The bleeding hadn't stopped; it was worse. It was so heavy I couldn't stay at work.
I saw the same nurse practioner again. She didn't want to examine me again, she just kept pushing birth control pills on me, claiming that was the answer.
So I started taking them.
They did control the bleeding somewhat, but I had a lot of side effects; nausea, headaches. I have trouble remembering to take them on time, and if I'm 4 hours late, the spotting starts up and lasts until the end of the pill pack- three weeks, in one case.
So, I got insurance in January '08, and used it to go to a real gyno.
I told him my history and everything, and as soon as he looked in there, he goes, "They're baaa-aaack."
The polyps. Apparently, now there's more than one.
He did another PAP (normal again) and gave me a scrip for my pills, so I could get them for a $5.00 copay instead of $22 dollars at Planned Parenthood.
The heavy bleeding, the irregular bleeding, the postcoital bleeding are all caused by these polyps, according to him.
He did not remove any of the polyps to send to the lab for analysis because, he says, "They aren't cancer. They're just a nuisance."
He told me he could remove them if I wanted; it would be a minor surgical procedure in which he would "shave them off", then cauterize the tissue so they'd never grow back. He said that if I had this procedure done, I should never get pregnant again, because it would compromise my ability to carry to term.
He did not seem very encouraging about this procedure. He kept stressing that it really wasn't necessary, that the polyps were "only a nuisance, not dangerous", didn't really require any treatment, and would go away after I go through menopause, since they're caused by estrogen.

So, I've been considering this since March, but I've decided to go ahead and have this procedure, whatever it is. I certainly don't want any more kids, so that part of it's not even a consideration.
My quality of life is compromised by this condition; dangerous or not, I think about it all the time, and it grosses me out.
I need to be off these pills. I originally thought a hormone imbalance was causing the heavy bleeding, which was why I got on them in the first place; when they seemed to help, this confirmed my suspicion. But the doctor I saw in March told me I don't have any hormone imbalance.
In light of the side effects of the pill, and my dislike and distrust of medicines in general (I'm not a fanatic about it; pills have their place. But I don't think a healthy person should take pills every day, forever. It just doesn't seem right)
I figure I might as well just quit them. In fact, I took my last one today, and I'm not planning to get any more, even though the prescription's for a year.
And I guess I'm going to call the doctor and make an appointment to get this procedure done, this surgery. I'm pretty scared about it, even though I think it's minor- they do it in the office, apparently, with only local anesthesia.

My questions are- what can I expect from going off the pill after 7 or 8 months? Will I be sick? Will I lose weight? What will happen?
And has anybody else here ever been diagnosed cervical or endometrial polyps (they're not the same thing, but I think they're similar, and often appear together; doctor says best as he can tell from an ultrasound he did, I don't have any endometrial ones) and if so, what- if anything- did you do about it?

The thing is, I only have a guarantee of medical insurance until next january (my dad's paying for it, specifically so I can get this problem dealt with).
He's committed to providing me with a year of medical insurance; after that, he may or may not continue to provide it. I can't afford it on my own.
This procedure- especially with it being elective and all- is not something I'll ever be able to afford, if I'm uninsured.
So, I feel like my window of opportunity for having it is going to close, and I need to move on this. I feel some urgency, here.
I know I can't live with this crazy bleeding for the next 20 years or more, waiting for menopause; I'm already anemic, I can't afford this.
But I'd like to talk to someone who's had this procedure, or anything similar (not even sure what it's called; if he told me, I can't remember).
I'm really kind of scared about it. It sounds painful. And kind of serious, if it changes things to the point that you can't carry a pregnancy anymore.
But I need to do something. This is not merely a "nuisance' to me. My whole quality of life is ****ed ever since this started. I've been living with this for well over a year now, closer to two years. This near-constant, awful bleeding.
It's just a hard decision.

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missypea

I'm really sorry to hear about this Ten, but I'm so glad you posted this. I've been going through something similar...at least the bleeding part.

I”m going to sound sexist but..........have you seen a female gyno? If not, I think you should.

I haven't had a polyp but I did have some pre-cancerous cells on my cervix when I was in my 20's. I had my cervix frozen and all my paps have come back normal since then.
(no symptoms—only caught on a pap. You GOTTA get a yearly pap!!!)

If it will stop the bleeding then I think it's worth it. If you're at risk for on-going bleeding in the future then I would do something more permanent....especially if you're going to be without health care.

I know that surgery really upsets you, so I'm pretty sure you wouldn't entertain the thought of a hysterectomy, but that's the decision I made.

I cannot handle these 15-16 day periods. You tolerated it a lot longer than I have. I've only gone through it two months. My surgery is scheduled for June 19th.

Goodbye uterus, goodbye cervix.....I won't miss you one little bit

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1069

Wow. That is serious.
Good luck.
I know women who have had hysterectomies.
I've never heard anyone say they regretted it.
I'd be too much of a chicken to go that route.
But if I could just magically make it all disappear, without surgery, I'd do it right now!

missypea

I've heard you mention in other posts that surgery upsets you. What about it is the scary part....being put under? Recovery pain? .........just curious

missypea

I do hope that you get a second opinion and make the appt. with a female doctor. You may end up with the same advice, but you may be presented with other options.

1069

I guess all of it. The being in the hospital part. I've never been in the hospital overnight except to have my kids. And yeah, pain. Anesthesia. All of it.
I thought everybody was scared of medical stuff. Maybe I'm more phobic than most.

Maybe I will. I really like this guy, he's a sort of wise-cracking little Middle-Eastern guy, looks like Al Pacino and makes jokes all the time. He's very reassuring.
But at the same time, I don't feel like he really gets it.
I don't think he'd see it as merely a minor inconvenience if he were bleeding from one of his orifices, every day, forever.
I'll have to look at my insurance paperwork and see who else I can go to.
It's Aetna, so I'm sure a lot of doctors accept it. It's a big company.

missypea

I agree with staying in the hospital part. I just want to get it done and go home.

My gyno is a true patient advocate so she agreed that I would be the first surgery of the day and she promised to remove the catheter by 6:00 PM that evening. The deal is the minute I am able to pee, I get to go home. I hope to be out of there by 9:00........

The scariest part for me is that I won't be able to pee, have to be re-cathed and spend the night in the hospital.

Exactly. Women know what it feels like to have cramps, bleed, be hormonal, etc. You really don't get it until you've lived it.

.......I would really do some research on this too, Ten. If you're at risk for developing more polyps and having the bleeding start up again, you should look into other options while you have the insurance coverage.

What are the chances of it recurring? If the cervix is cauterized will the polyps grow somewhere else and put you back at square one?

1069

Naw, I've researched it pretty carefully- I've known about this for over a year, remember- I found out about that first one at Planned Parenthood in March 2007.
It really does seem that they're not that big a deal, as far as health risks go; apparently mine are more symptomatic than most, though, because not everyone bleeds with them, or has any symptoms at all.
The websites I've read say most polyps are discovered during routine annual gyn exams; a sizeable minority are discovered when women make appointments because of postcoital bleeding, which is the most common symptom of them.

I guess my thing is, there's really no chance that they'll go away on their own. At least not until menopause, which could be a long time.
They might stay the same, or they might get a whole lot bigger and worse.
But they aren't going to get better on their own.
If there was a chance of that, I wouldn't do anything, I'd just take a wait and see approach.
But as it is, there's nothing to wait for; they aren't going to just spontaneously improve or go away.
From what I understand from talking to the doctor, if I get this procedure, they won't grow back again in the same spot, because it will be cauterized; although they might grow back in a different spot, in which case I'd have to have the procedure all over again to get rid of them.
Or they might not grow back.

Apparently, if they're on your endometrium, it's a little easier to treat; they just do a D&C-type procedure, and scrape them out. In tough cases, where they keep growing back, they can cauterize the inside of your uterus (although again, you can't get pregnant after that).
But that type of polyps- (the endometrial type) is also more dangerous; they can occasionally lead to endometrial cancer. These cervical ones, apparently, are rarely to never malignant.
So that's a relief; but it still doesn't solve the basic problem, which is that these symptoms are pretty hard to live with.

talloulou

Ten, get them shaved off. You can't live like that, bleeding all the time. Seriously, I couldn't live like that. It's a safe procedure and hopefully afterwards you'll be done with it and they won't come back.

I've never had any so I don't know much about it but I know if that was happening to me there's no way I could just live with the nuisance.

As far as going off the pill that shouldn't be a big deal. I was on the pill for almost a decade and when I went off the only noticeable thing was I lost a little weight and my periods were slightly heavier. So going off shouldn't be an issue unless the change in hormones causes the polyps to bleed even more.

Oy vey. Get the surgery.

talloulou

I'd advise against something as drastic as a hysterectomy though. Not for such a benign problem, no offense missy. I think you're too young for a hysterectomy ten.