Potential psychological cause for fibroids in "whole-istic" medicine?

For me the psychological effects were noticeable...even a year after my procedure I'm depressed often and mood swings ...its like the fibroids were affecting me psychologically ..even now there is a connection

I do believe there is a link between the mind and the body. If all is not well psychologically then the body can be affected. For me I do believe the fibroids grew and came to a crisis when I was holding a grudge. I had withdrawn from a family relationship. The scan of the fibroids worried me as I didn't know if there was a cancer ( as sister of mine sadly passed from ovarian cancer). I found myself thinking about what was important and who I loved. I resumed that relationship and that person came with me to have the MRI Scan etc. I will not hold grudges in that way anymore. I will try to work through matters or accept people for who they are whilst of course protecting my own boundaries. I think that unforgiveness can cause growths of some kind in the body as we are just punishing ourselves.  Sadly my sister who had ovarian cancer (a more serious growth) did hold some grudges before she had her diagnosis. This is just a theory and what I have noticed it may not be the same for everyone.

There are some writers who as you say think fibroids of the uterus are linked to not feeling loved. In answer to your question I was single throughout the development of my fibroids and when they became acute. Some people are in relationships but they may still feel unloved or even feel they are unlovable. Of course this should be overcome as we are all deserving of love.

Kind regards

Shell   

Dear Fatou,

Thank you for starting this discussion. It feels really helpful for me personally to approach this from a more wholistic, psycho-spiritual as well as physical and biological angle, particularly as I have other chronic health concerns to manage alongside fibroids. I know instinctively that they are all connected and I have been studying Ayurvedic approaches to restoring health and well-being, which I am finding helpful generally. According to Ayurvedic medicine, the uterus is also a woman's creative centre, where we hold all of our creative power, and one theory is that fibroid tumours develop in response to a creative or emotional blockage, which could be linked to fear and/or loss (or fear of loss?). Tumours may develop in an attempt to create something to 'hold' or to 'fill the void' (when we are feeling unheld, emotionally empty or creatively blocked, for example). 

If we do accept this theory, then it does support a more wholistic approach to health and well-being - in addition to taking care of our bodies through optimum nutrition, it's important that we allow ourselves to fully grieve any losses we may have experienced, and to feel our emotions - to honour our sadness and our anger, and to hold ourselves through it. I have found talking to other women immensely helpful, and this forum has been invaluable.

Thanks again for sharing.

Diana x

An addendum to my original post. This is what I think happened.

My second child was born within a domestically violent relationship I couldn’t ignore anymore.

Our first-born wasn’t, I felt, as exposed as this second one was.

The only time his dad wanted to hit our first-born as a baby, a voice I had never known existed in me spoke with such strength and passion and “you walk over my dead body first” kind of scream, that it fully stopped violence towards him. And he cared for his son.

The second pregnancy was much more difficult than the first. I am petite and this second child was huge – as his dad is. I needed B12 injections throughout. And when I delivered this beautiful baby I was overwhelmed with the emotion of gratefulness for two splendid children and the guilt that the father I had chosen for them was not the right one. He came drugged with cannabis at the time of the birth - I am not even sure he stayed throughout.

The domestic violence had escalated over the years. I knew I had to leave.

It is the children who were giving me a strength I did not have to stand up for myself – I always had the strength to stand up for them. And they over-joyed me with their beauty, beauty in its infinite sense. 

And this is probably why I had galactorrhea for possibly at least 8 years after the birth of my second son. 8 years of leaving this abusive man I also greatly loved, through escaping to far away countries, lengthy divorce battles, relationships with other men – many subsequent years of violent physical and emotional abuse from my ex-husband that went unabated.  

It is for the children that I was breaking away from a relationship I could I have died from.

And I think the galactorrhea said something about me nourishing my children in all circumstances and being worthy of life as a provider for them.

And I think the fibroid said something about my womb was occupied and that I would never trust myself again to be pregnant. I hadn’t chosen the right father for them and I had had a termination of pregnancy in my 20s I felt guilty for all my life. It was a form of self-castration. I fell pregnant once around 7 years after my second son’s birth from a man I did not fear, and quickly miscarried . Domestic violence made me choose men who were small-built (except once - he really seemed so kind!) – they did not look frightening although I was less attracted to them than I had ever been for my ex husband.

I ignored the heavy periods and the anaemia, than a check up for a new job made me face reality and I had a scan which diagnosed the fibroid – 6 cm of diameter then.  

The heavy periods got progressively worse over time and took me to casualty with an ambulance twice in these last two periods. I think this has something to do with my second son’s spur growth, deep voice and moustache growing suddenly over the last two months – he is becoming a man.

I think there is something about being OK to disappear now that the children are becoming men. I am not talking of an "active" disappearance of course, but a passive one. 

This is what I saw this morning. I thought I’d share it with you. Thank you for listening.

Thank you Fatou for starting this discussion, I also think it's a very important one.

We live in a world where women/the feminine is undervalued at best and abused at worst. Unfortunately you have experienced abuse first hand but on some level all of us have so it's no wonder that the parts of the body most associated with being female suffer . There is a sense in which they (we) are only valued for our role in birthing and nurturing children. We aren't taught to love ourselves as women, different to men, or live in harmony with our cycles. Instaed we are expected to fit into a masculine, linear way of being. How many women do you know who truly love their cyclical natures with all its powers and understand menstruation as a gift? To truly heal we have to fall in love with being women and our fluid, feminine natures. Falling in love with our feminine natures will help us to heal, to reclaim our power and so start to restore balance to the world.

Love, strength and healing to all my sisters. If you're not yet in love with your cycles take a look at the books Code Red and Wild Power , also the Red School online material.

Thank you Fatou for your reply to my comment, and for your raw and honest addendum to this post. I'm so sorry that you had to go through all of that, and at the same time grateful and humbled by your willingness to be vulnerable, also inspired by your strength and courage.

Reading jessyh's response on this thread too, it does make me wonder how many of us on this forum have experienced dishonouring of our feminine selves through disrespectful or abusive relationships, in our childhoods and beyond, with family members, lovers, partners, organisations, institutions and systems we are part of. I can certainly relate to a lot of what has been shared on this thread. As jessyh suggested, I have been reading empowering literature that is putting me back in touch with my feminine centre (thanks for these suggestions! I would also add Lisa Lister's Love Your Lady Landscape and Wild Feminine by Tami Lynn Kent :-)) and learning to honour my menstrual cycle. I've realised that as I grow older, the linear, driven, masculine-led way of living does not work for me, and as a result, my adrenals are shot to buggery. Now, rather than trying to fit my body into the rhythms of the modern world, I'm trying to fit my lifestyle to match my body's changing needs. It's not easy, but I am already noticing changes in my bleeding pattern, and in my health overall. I know there are no quick fixes here, and adopting a new, more cyclical, feminine-led way of life requires a lifelong commitment to oneself, but hey, if we don't look after ourselves, we can't expect anyone else to, eh sisters?

Much love to you all, and here's to healing mind, body, soul and spirit as we continue our fantastic journeys.

Diana xx 

Fatou, I have never looked up or seen research linking psychosocial factors with fibroids. However, based on the relationship between these factors and health I won't be surprised. Psychosocial factors trigger a physiological stress response that places a high demand on the adrenal gland to produce cortisol hormone. this whole production process uses progesterone as a precursor. In other words, stress triggers a reproductive hormone imbalance (this is why some people become infertile during stressful times.

Since fibroids are hormonal tumors it's possible that stress and fibroi d growth are related.