Severe Bloating from Fibroids

When fibroids become enlarged, they may press on the surrounding organs, including the bowel. This sometimes leads to constipation, resulting in slower bowel movements and blocked intestines. A woman may feel bloated or complain of a feeling of 'fullness'. If you do experience constipation as a result of fibroids, you may consider a stool softener.

Where a fibroids diagnosis has not be given, but you continue to experience abdominal bloating, constipation and weight gain, ask your doctor for a pelvic examination. These are also signs of ovarian cancer.

Some women may have uterus the size of a 4 to 5 month pregnancy with several large fibroids. The upper abdomen will get severely bloated and tight at times. You will feel like it is going to blowup when the pressure gets severe. Size of the fibroid can be very large fibroid making women's uterus the size of a full term pregnancy.

Some patients experience inconsistency in the sizes of fibroids. "I can put on a pair of pants in the morning, and they'll be too tight by the end of the afternoon if I'm on my feet too much. Yesterday, I scrubbed my bathtub and felt horrible for the rest of the day. One day constipation... the next diarrhea. Today I hurt all the way from my lower back all the way to my thighs... it's really gotten much worse in the last couple of weeks. And feeling like "something is going to drop out of me...." said one of the patients. 

I too feel really "full" at times. But I have found with moving or walking a bit it "moves" and the pain is easier. Not sure if this makes sense. My fibroids have my uterus about 4 months pregnant size. I also am finding I need to go to the bathroom more often, possibly pressing on my bladder now. And I too have had the diarrhea for "no reason". Mentioned another patient. 

Treatment 

Small fibroids do not usually require any treatment. If fibroids are small, they will be monitored regularly and treated only if they grow in size. If a fibroid causes a significant amount of pain, over-the-counter or prescription pain relievers may be used to reduce the severity of the pain. Low dose birth control pills may also be used to maintain hormonal balance and stop the growth of fibroids, according to Women's Health. A medication called a gonadotropin releasing hormone agonist may be given to decrease the size of fibroids. If medications are ineffective or the symptoms of fibroids interfere with daily life, surgery may be needed.

A myomectomy is used to remove only the fibroids from the affected area of the uterus. If there are a large number of fibroids present, a hysterectomy, which is the removal of the entire uterus, may be necessary.

Removal of the uterus renders the patient unable to bear children (as does removal of ovaries and fallopian tubes) and has surgical risks as well as long-term effects, so the surgery is normally recommended when other treatment options are not available or have failed. It is expected that the frequency of hysterectomies for non-malignant indications will fall as there are good alternatives in many cases. The video below shows how a large intramural fibroid was removed by Dr Vijayavel.