Shall I get my period back?

Dr, I am 39 years now but I bleed a lot because of fibroids. I was given three injections, one every month which stopped my period completely for about a year now. Shall I get my periods back? Nusura K

Dear Nusura,

Fibroids are non-cancerous swellings or tumours affecting the womb.

Much as fibroids may not cause any symptoms in many women, and therefore may not always require treatment, in some women they may lead to painful, heavy or prolonged periods or other symptoms requiring urgent medical attention.

The type of treatment for fibroids depends among others on whether one wants to give birth or not, whether one wants the womb preserved, the size or location of the fibroids, the type and severity of symptoms or other related disease conditions found.

For some women with large uterine fibroids and/or having painful and/or heavy periods a treatment by injection such as Zoladex may be given every month to shrink the fibroids, so that they can more easily be removed surgically. Upon stopping the treatment however, the fibroids can come back with more or less the same symptoms.

Maybe you were given this kind of injection which among other side effects may temporarily stop  periods which in most cases return upon discontinuation of the injection.

The return of periods may in some women take longer than expected or not at all depending on whether one was nearing menopause or not (menopause may abnormally come before 40 years), presence of other conditions that may cause periods to fail to return (stress, hormonal imbalance),but with a few women the drug effects may be more prolonged than expected.

Please visit your doctor who gave you the injections so that he/she re-evaluates your condition.