Cytotec Causes Contractions ... Good to Know Before Taking It

In preparation for my (1) a pelvic ultrasound with transvaginal/Doppler prn and (2) Hysterosonogram, I was given Cytotec to take 24 hours and then 12 hours before the procedure. I was unaware that this drug is given to women to induce labor and causes full-on contractions. Um, I don’t know if I could survive child birth, because I was on the couch sweating in serious pain with a heating pad last night. Dear, Lord, that was no joke.

This morning was the procedure and it could not come soon enough considering the contractions I was experiencing on the Cytotec and the 32 ounces of water sitting in my bladder. I will save you from the details of the procedure since it was very intense. The Cytotec was basically to dilate me so that the doctors could put a catheter into my uterus and inflate a balloon with saline to get good images. Oh, and there was no numbing … just full-on pressure and discomfort. *sigh*

The good news is my uterus, cervix, ovaries and fallopian tubes are all very healthy, which is what I wanted to hear.

I don’t consider this bad news, but once inside my uterus, the doctor found a small polyp the size of ¼ inch. Basically the top and bottom of my uterus are open and this thing is sitting right in the middle, making it hard for the lining to shed monthly … hence why I am having irregular bleeding. My uterus looked like an hour glass with hardly any opening in the middle.

The doctor reassured me that this polyp is benign and very common. It was most likely caused by the post-cancer medication I am on called Tamoxifen, which suppresses the estrogen in my body.

“Although the exact cause of uterine polyps is unknown, hormonal factors appear to play a role. Uterine polyps are estrogen-sensitive, meaning that they respond to estrogen in the same way that the lining of your uterus does — growing in response to circulating estrogen.” – Mayo Clinic 

“Risk factors for developing uterine polyps include: Tamoxifen, a drug therapy for breast cancer.” – Mayo Clinic 

The other good news is that uterine polyps are easy to fix … they simply remove them. I will be having an endometrial biopsy anyway in the coming months, so I will have this little polyp removed, also. They will most likely send it off to pathology in order to be safe. Between having it removed, going off the Tamoxifen in October and understanding that rarely, uterine polyps can recur, I am pleased with the news and how things are progressing.

Next up, stay tuned for the endometrial biopsy and polyp removal …