Ablation for heavy periods

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone had a complication from one? My doctor explained all the possible complications and I decided to wait (I am 49 so I don't know how much longer I will have periods anyway). But my bleeding is so heavy now and the cramps are crazy. They seem to be getting worse over time.

I was suppose to have it done and I chickened out. My doctor told me he had a few patients that had the lining grow back in such a way where there were pockets of blood that get trapped and the pain was so bad they had to have hysterectomies. I still wish I had not chickened out though. I don't like to leave the house 3 out of 10 days that I bleed because it is so bad.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone had the Novasure procedure? I am wondering if there are serious complication or if it is pretty typical for what is discussed in this thread.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know about using it for birth control, although you can not get pregnant after. I had one done 2 years ago and it helped my very heavy, painful, fibroid induced periods in an amazing way. Most pain gone. Periods are light. Used Dr. rangnath at cap women's care Rockville MD. He was great all around.

You CAN potentially get pregnant afterwards. It is very dangerous though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone had a complication from one? My doctor explained all the possible complications and I decided to wait (I am 49 so I don't know how much longer I will have periods anyway). But my bleeding is so heavy now and the cramps are crazy. They seem to be getting worse over time.

I didn't have a complication FROM the surgery itself, but I had a complication during the surgery, in that the doctor was unable to properly open the tool and make it fan out correctly and ended up tearing my cervix as a result . I ended up with a fairly severe post-op infection because of it and was very ill for a few weeks, as well as scar tissue in my uterus that luckily has not caused any long term trouble. From what I understand, the complication I had is extremely rare and I still don't know how or why it happened. The doctor offered to try again, but uh...no thanks. I opted to try a Mirena IUD instead, even though there was some concern that it wouldn't be compatible with the scar tissue from the procedure, but fortunately I haven't had any problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had one two years ago and haven't bled once since then. Also it alleviated all pms symptoms. I had mine done as an outpatient in the hospital, took two day off, very little cramping, watery pink discharge. It's the best thing I ever did!!!! Karen Massr in Fairfax did mine- she did the burning type, not hot water. I believe it's called Assure??

The Burning type is Novasure, but it is commonly done with Essure (which sterilizes you by blocking your tubes with a little coil that provokes scar tissue). My regular gyn won't do Novasure without Essure because she doesn's like the risk of a life threatening pregnancy. So I saw a different doctor who does just Novasures twice a month at HCH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone had a complication from one? My doctor explained all the possible complications and I decided to wait (I am 49 so I don't know how much longer I will have periods anyway). But my bleeding is so heavy now and the cramps are crazy. They seem to be getting worse over time.

I was suppose to have it done and I chickened out. My doctor told me he had a few patients that had the lining grow back in such a way where there were pockets of blood that get trapped and the pain was so bad they had to have hysterectomies. I still wish I had not chickened out though. I don't like to leave the house 3 out of 10 days that I bleed because it is so bad.

I'm 48 and it is tempting. I will say that. But the thought of complications and having to go through a hysterectomy - no. Not worth the risk to me.

My periods can be heavy but it's mostly the first couple of days and after that it's not too bad. Even when it's heavy and can still go about my normal routine even if it is a pain to make extra trips to the bathroom and I have to be careful to wear dark pants just in case. I am getting more than a little sick of it I will admit but I think that I can wait for it to stop naturally. Especially if I would still be going through PMS and all that crap anyway even if I had the procedure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I'm 48 and it is tempting. I will say that. But the thought of complications and having to go through a hysterectomy - no. Not worth the risk to me.

My periods can be heavy but it's mostly the first couple of days and after that it's not too bad. Even when it's heavy and can still go about my normal routine even if it is a pain to make extra trips to the bathroom and I have to be careful to wear dark pants just in case. I am getting more than a little sick of it I will admit but I think that I can wait for it to stop naturally. Especially if I would still be going through PMS and all that crap anyway even if I had the procedure.

You're not bad enough then. For me, all of my sick days were used up on my periods and my supervisor was unsympathetic. I was soaking through a super tampon and pad in less than an hour, throwing big clots, and had cramps that only responded to narcotics (Tylenol 3). Novasure gave me back my life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I'm 48 and it is tempting. I will say that. But the thought of complications and having to go through a hysterectomy - no. Not worth the risk to me.

My periods can be heavy but it's mostly the first couple of days and after that it's not too bad. Even when it's heavy and can still go about my normal routine even if it is a pain to make extra trips to the bathroom and I have to be careful to wear dark pants just in case. I am getting more than a little sick of it I will admit but I think that I can wait for it to stop naturally. Especially if I would still be going through PMS and all that crap anyway even if I had the procedure.

You're not bad enough then. For me, all of my sick days were used up on my periods and my supervisor was unsympathetic. I was soaking through a super tampon and pad in less than an hour, throwing big clots, and had cramps that only responded to narcotics (Tylenol 3). Novasure gave me back my life.

+1

I was bleeding almost every day for weeks on end. I had a period for most of 11 months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I'm 48 and it is tempting. I will say that. But the thought of complications and having to go through a hysterectomy - no. Not worth the risk to me.

My periods can be heavy but it's mostly the first couple of days and after that it's not too bad. Even when it's heavy and can still go about my normal routine even if it is a pain to make extra trips to the bathroom and I have to be careful to wear dark pants just in case. I am getting more than a little sick of it I will admit but I think that I can wait for it to stop naturally. Especially if I would still be going through PMS and all that crap anyway even if I had the procedure.

You're not bad enough then. For me, all of my sick days were used up on my periods and my supervisor was unsympathetic. I was soaking through a super tampon and pad in less than an hour, throwing big clots, and had cramps that only responded to narcotics (Tylenol 3). Novasure gave me back my life.

+1

I was bleeding almost every day for weeks on end. I had a period for most of 11 months.

Yes, if I had those types of things going on I think it would be a no brainer for me to have the procedure. Heck, I might even consider a hysterectomy in that situation.

[Anonymous]

Don't knock the hysterectomy! Had it done 2.5 yrs. ago and I NEVER think about feminine products and messes and gushing and dark colored pants! Seriously don't know why we put up with those dang uteruses as long as we do! Once you live without one... you can't believe you ever thought of keeping it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't knock the hysterectomy! Had it done 2.5 yrs. ago and I NEVER think about feminine products and messes and gushing and dark colored pants! Seriously don't know why we put up with those dang uteruses as long as we do! Once you live without one... you can't believe you ever thought of keeping it.

It can be hard to recover from though. My friend is in the military and she will not be re-enlisting because she still hasn't fully recovered almost two years later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone had a complication from one? My doctor explained all the possible complications and I decided to wait (I am 49 so I don't know how much longer I will have periods anyway). But my bleeding is so heavy now and the cramps are crazy. They seem to be getting worse over time.

I was suppose to have it done and I chickened out. My doctor told me he had a few patients that had the lining grow back in such a way where there were pockets of blood that get trapped and the pain was so bad they had to have hysterectomies. I still wish I had not chickened out though. I don't like to leave the house 3 out of 10 days that I bleed because it is so bad.

I'm 48 and it is tempting. I will say that. But the thought of complications and having to go through a hysterectomy - no. Not worth the risk to me.

My periods can be heavy but it's mostly the first couple of days and after that it's not too bad. Even when it's heavy and can still go about my normal routine even if it is a pain to make extra trips to the bathroom and I have to be careful to wear dark pants just in case. I am getting more than a little sick of it I will admit but I think that I can wait for it to stop naturally. Especially if I would still be going through PMS and all that crap anyway even if I had the procedure.

This was me exactly. I had an ablation (water method) and it didn't work. I still had to use tampons or pad most days of the month. Doctor was surprised and recommended another surgical procedure. I decided to wait and let nature take its course. Gradually it lessened and now I am in menopause. It's awesome not to have to wear anything, even with hot flashes!

[Anonymous]

Had Novasure two years ago and am so glad! I was having super heavy bad periods for two weeks every month. Having the ablation has been life changing for me.

My doctor wouldn't do it without some type of permanent birth control, though. Luckily DH had a vasectomy so we were good there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Had Novasure two years ago and am so glad! I was having super heavy bad periods for two weeks every month. Having the ablation has been life changing for me.

My doctor wouldn't do it without some type of permanent birth control, though. Luckily DH had a vasectomy so we were good there.

Smart doctor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone had a complication from one? My doctor explained all the possible complications and I decided to wait (I am 49 so I don't know how much longer I will have periods anyway). But my bleeding is so heavy now and the cramps are crazy. They seem to be getting worse over time.

I was suppose to have it done and I chickened out. My doctor told me he had a few patients that had the lining grow back in such a way where there were pockets of blood that get trapped and the pain was so bad they had to have hysterectomies. I still wish I had not chickened out though. I don't like to leave the house 3 out of 10 days that I bleed because it is so bad.

I'm 48 and it is tempting. I will say that. But the thought of complications and having to go through a hysterectomy - no. Not worth the risk to me.

My periods can be heavy but it's mostly the first couple of days and after that it's not too bad. Even when it's heavy and can still go about my normal routine even if it is a pain to make extra trips to the bathroom and I have to be careful to wear dark pants just in case. I am getting more than a little sick of it I will admit but I think that I can wait for it to stop naturally. Especially if I would still be going through PMS and all that crap anyway even if I had the procedure.

This was me exactly. I had an ablation (water method) and it didn't work. I still had to use tampons or pad most days of the month. Doctor was surprised and recommended another surgical procedure. I decided to wait and let nature take its course. Gradually it lessened and now I am in menopause. It's awesome not to have to wear anything, even with hot flashes!

Yeah. I'm thinking worst case scenario will mean 5 more years of this (typing that now boy that sounds like a long time). When did it end for you?