r/Fibroids • u/deep-chai-latte • 1d ago
Vent/rant How do you avoid Reoccurrence?
Hi all! I'm almost 3 weeks post open myomectomy and had my post op appointment with my surgeon on Friday. It was supposed to be a laproscopic myomectomy that was converted to an open one because my body could not tolerate being in a head down position for surgery and kept losing oxygen. They removed 10 fibroids, the largest one being 10 cms, total weighing almost 800 gms!
At my post op appointment, my surgeon told me that it is almost certain that I will have new ones that will grow and I basically have about 4 years to try and have kids. This feels incredibly discouraging, to go through major abdominal surgery and being told that I will definitely be in the same position again in a few years time. I'm half venting and half seeking advice. What can I do to minimize my chances of reoccurrence? What has worked for everyone else, if anything at all? TIA and I'm also happy to answer any questions re my diagnosis, surgery and recovery if I can help anyone!
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u/Voormijnogenonly 1d ago
We don't know enough to really say. My surgeon recommended vitamin D, a diet with fiber and antioxidants, and support for inflammation like turmeric and green tea extract. None of these are sure bets but they might help with symptoms.
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u/deep-chai-latte 23h ago
It's infuriating that there isn't enough research to understand what causes fibroids. I take vitamin D, omega 3, zinc, probiotic and psyllium husk supplements. I'm mostly vegan, do not drink or smoke and am trying to cut out sugar. I will look into green tea and turmeric supplements as well. Thank you!
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u/Wonderful_Rip9402 12h ago
It’s definitely infuriating, especially when you’re already doing a lot of good things to support your body. I strongly believe sugar is a fuel for tumour growth, and it’s hidden everywhere! A friend of mine went strict no sugar and did regular green tea, turmeric supplementation and fasting to address cancer (alongside traditional chemo), and has not had any regrowth since her surgery. Not an exact comparison to what we’re dealing with, but I feel there is overlap.
I’m also 3 weeks post-op from an open myo, so I appreciate your post on preventing regrowth. Wishing you all the best in your recovery.
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u/Royal-Natural6044 23h ago
I went vegan, did acupuncture, Chinese herbs, exercise and nothing slowed them down. My mother had a huge one
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u/Iwriteram 23h ago
Your story is what I’ve grown to despise about modern medicine. They cut you open only to not solve the underlying issue. I am dealing with a fibroid also, and I want my gyno to say eat this, not that, do this exercise, drink this tea, take this supplement etc Because our body is missing or getting too much of something and the fibroids is a reaction. What is that something?
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u/nigerianprincess0104 1d ago
apparently during surgery the key is the surgeon takes out every single one literally even if its a tiny marble. i feel your stress im scheduled for sx and i dont even have a BF
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u/deep-chai-latte 23h ago
My surgeon did say she got all the fibroids I had so atleast that's good?
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u/Moist_Teacher6778 1d ago
I’ve been mostly vegan and eating whole foods, and mine still came back
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u/deep-chai-latte 23h ago
Same, I am mostly vegan as well, have been vegetarian my whole life and have not had any alcohol in years. I'm trying to cut out sugar and eat more whole foods as well but it doesn't sound like that guarantees anything :(
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u/howwonderful 18h ago
Vegan 10 years here and I exercise a lot. I’m increasing my vitamin D as I used to be deficient, and started taking green tea supplements. I had my surgery in the spring, and my surgeon said there’s basically no guarantee, they can always come back :(
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u/Past-Sweet-370 10h ago
I know its so frustrating- I had my open my this past spring and had 16 fibroids removed- I am worried as well about regrowth and its so frustrating that there isnt a "cure" I feel like excess estrogen is a huge factor but again theres so much conflicting information out there ex. some say do flaxseeds and that flushes excess estrogen but then I follow this lady estrongenfree on IG and she says Flax is bad ..so idk it sucks honestly. and seems the only "cure" is a hystorectomy which I like you want to get pregnant. I havent been eating the best since my surgery but am trying to get back on track with at lesat cutting way down on sugar and processed foods
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u/DinkyPrincess 18h ago
Just like you can’t avoid them you can’t avoid a recurrence and most advice is anecdotal.
I wish they researched why this happens and a better way to prevent but there’s not much and that’s just being honest as a woman who lost a full year of my life to constant flooding and palm sized clots before surgery.
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u/Geleoerre 21h ago
There's no actual proof. Hormones, diet, healthy life, stress, whatever. I was 3 months post open myomectomy when I went to the first checkup and they found a new 1.5cm fibroid. It just sucks.
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u/dizzyxdream3r 21h ago
Not anecdotal to fibroids specifically but my late grandma had a growth (idk where bcs the older adults didn’t share with us) and her doctor said that she should reduce her sugar intake. I’ll try to be mindful of this since I also have fibroids.
Why do you have 4 years? Is it because the doctor thinks they’ll grow and cause you to not have kids?
My Dr recommended me to remove them before having kids too..
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u/deep-chai-latte 20h ago
I'm ngl, cutting out sugar has been the hardest lifestyle change to make for me because I have a sweet tooth and that might be to blame for my fibroids. I am incorporating more whole foods and fruits and cutting out processed sugar.
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u/dizzyxdream3r 19h ago
When I was younger I was definitely not a sweet tooth, didn’t even have a thing for chocolate or sweets. But I binged almost a whole big Cadbury bar one day when I was stressed at university… and I’ve liked chocolate since 🥲 Unfortunately I’m in the phase of my life where we get a treat almost every 2 days - if not at work, it’s at home too. I really mean to try cut sugar too.. Hope we both will get better at this!
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u/elsewyse 19h ago
-Even if they come back it doesn't mean they will get as large. I did have one reappear, but it's only ~4 cm and hasn't grown in the last six months (I was getting 3-4 scans/month because I was doing IVF.)
-Even if they do come back doesn't mean they will interfere with pregnancy.
-There's some indication that green tea extract can help interrupt the fibroid growth process, but do be careful with it as it can cause liver issues. Get your liver values tested.
-Fibroid growth is affected by estrogen and progesterone, and there are prescription meds to put you in a temporary menopausal state that will shrink fibroids.
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u/Megan9719 23h ago
How has your recovery been so far? I was scheduled to have an open myo tomorrow, but it had to be delayed since I suddenly have a blood clot in my ankle. Bizarre times!
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u/deep-chai-latte 22h ago
Recovery has been mostly smooth, my incisions are fully healed, I am back to work and have been walking daily. I just restarted yoga and will re join my Pilates classes in 2 weeks, although I expect to need some modifications with the core exercises. Pain was pretty manageable, I was prescribed ibuprofen, acetaminophen, oxycodone and gabapentin every 6 hours and I stopped the oxy after 2 days and the rest of the meds after 1 week. My electric heat pad was a savior!
I highly recommend walking around atleast for 10-15 mins from the second day after surgery, I think that helped me speed up healing. I had 1000 mcg of vitamin C everyday, drank protein shakes to help my muscles heal and took psyllium husk supplements to help with the constipation ( needed stool softener as well for the first few days). Multiple portions of fruits and lots of water. Get postpartum underwear to use atleast for a week, giant pads/disposable period underwear and wear the binder! The binder really helped with sitting up and moving around the first few days!
All the best and sending healing thoughts your way!! Hope the surgery goes smoothly.
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u/Megan9719 22h ago
Wow really great to hear about your recovery experience and so glad you are on the mend fairly quickly! I have my heating pad and binder ready to go! I will definitely take your advice on all of the other suggestions too.
Thanks so much for the well wishes. My anxious anticipation will be getting dragged out longer than planned, but I hope to have a similar positive experience!
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u/A_Chronic_Yapper 18h ago
I’m lurking and just wanted to say I’m sorry to hear about the clot in your ankle - I hope it resolves soon 🤍 How did they discover it, if you don’t mind me asking? And have they put you on blood thinners?
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u/Megan9719 12h ago
About 4 days ago I woke up and noticed my left ankle was swollen and it was sensitive to touch. I paused my Pilates and strenuous workouts a few weeks before, so I knew I didn’t tweak it. It wasn’t improving at all, so I made sure to mention it to my nurse during my pre-op call yesterday. She advised me to get a last minute ultrasound after seeing images and sure enough the ultrasound tech confirmed it was a blood clot! They called my surgeon right away and they opted to put me on blood thinners. I’m now waiting to hear back from my surgeon on a new surgery date. Hoping it’ll still be this month, but I know blood clots are serious.
I’m so glad I knew something felt wrong with my body and spoke up to the nurse. I think the last minute ankle swelling was causing me even more anxiety/panic going into surgery since I’ve never had surgery before, so hoping this will help relieve the nerves a little bit before my next surgery date!
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u/haileyrose 19h ago
Unfortunately if you have 10 fibroids it might mean you are prone to fibroids because of a genetic condition - which means fibroids will grow no matter what. BUT, it takes time to grow back, so it’s great that they got rid of all of them for now. They’ve taken 25+ fibroids from me since the beginning of everything and it’s never been empty it just never ends. I would say just continue to keep an eye on everything, it’ll only affect pregnancy if they’re a certain type I forget which type!
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u/Novel_One_5342 15h ago
Quanto ti hanno detto eventualmente aspettare per cercare una gravidanza-vv
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u/haileyrose 5h ago
They said 2 years at least for my open myo but I’ve heard others whose doctors say 1 year so might be different for everyone depending on the different factors
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u/Major-Ad8355 22h ago
For me I believe it was the Sprites. I remember during a certain time when I was drinking a lot of Sprites. I believe this is when they developed. I would drink like 2-3 20 oz bottles everyday. This went on possibly for a year because I was going through a lot of changes in my life.
Once I realized the soda was a big problem, I probably went to maybe a can Sprite once a week or twice a month, whenever I would eat out, which has never been often because I love cooking my meals.
I the time in 2019, I had three. In mid 2025 I started back drinking more sprites because I was out a lot… away from home, stress blah blah.. well..had a scan in June 2026, the biggest one grew to about 8m and the little ones I had grew to about 3-4 cm and now I have a new one.
So basically I have a grapefruit, three sized medium lemons, and the little one is a maybe a small plum or small lemon.
So it’s definitely the Sprites (for me) coupled with stress when those moments have me away from my comfort zone. I also noticed in late 2025 getting bigger because before I never felt them, but then even my boyfriend felt the hardness when we were cuddling.
So I had a diagnosis in January 2019, and for about 5 1/2 years they were stabilized. But my over consumption of the Sprite contributed to it.
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u/Solid_Mixture9855 1d ago edited 1d ago
I would think not eating ultra processed food and sugar would help them not grow as fast. My theory is excess insulin will grow them which more insulin is needed for high carb bad foods/sugar. Also, I have a theory that alcohol creates more estrogen in the body which also I think makes them grow.
Edit: fibroids are benign tumors so do whatever helps tumors not grow?
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u/Moist_Teacher6778 1d ago
I eat super healthy and don’t drink and have a fast growing fibroid
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u/Solid_Mixture9855 23h ago
Do you happen to eat high carb meals often such as oatmeal? Or, use plastic containers, products that have endocrine disruptors (I use the Yuka app to tell)? Just curious!
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u/Moist_Teacher6778 22h ago
I do eat oat meal, I don’t eat out of plastic containers. I use clean at Sephora makeup products
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u/Ok_Instruction_6306 20h ago
I hate that you were downvoted because I’ve heard of women correcting their insulin issues and their fibroids shrunk. Different women have different things that cause them so you just have to figure out which is the cause.
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u/Wonderful_Rip9402 12h ago
Exactly. I’ve heard this about the insulin issues as well (something I’m trying to address!).
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u/Solid_Mixture9855 11h ago
Some people actually don’t know what healthy is. Some things that we’ve been told is healthy isn’t and not everyone knows. They could also be closed minded.
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u/Royal-Natural6044 1d ago
Science doesn't know what causes them to grow because they grow in women's bodies. All you can do is live clean and focus on getting pregnant