any ladies with hemangiomas on the pill?? - Liver & Pancreas Disorders Message Board

lourash · 10-06-2008, 09:37 AM

Hi , again ladies! I just wondered if any of you with hemangiomas are on the pill or depo shot or hormone replacement therapy?? Did any of you take them before you found out about the hemangioma. I just wondered if they stayed stable or if they grew or caused problems??

I have known about my 2.5 cm hemangioma for a few years. Birth control was not any issue because my uterus was removed 6 years ago. But now I have recurring ovarian cyst that cause pain and my new ob gyn wants me to take the pill. I have heard that is not safe with the hemangioma. The surgeon I saw about my fibrocystic breasts and papilloma said do not take them. My family doc isn't sure but does see a problem.

I had a ct scan in August due to abdominal pain and it only showed the one spot. In September I had to have another one and it shows 2 very small spots on my inferior part of the liver , they are unsure what they are from. The hemangioma is in the right lobe so I wonder if they are near each other. The doc wants me to wait until the first of the year to get a ct to look at them again, even though they are unsure what they are. Lately I have been having heartburn and a little discomfort , i had my gallbladder out a while back.

So now I am unsure what to do -- if I should go on the pill or not and weather or not I should try to find out what the new spots are. Any feedback would be great , thanks

neens7982 · 10-08-2008, 08:04 PM

Lourash,

My liver doc advised me to go off of them, so I did. Instead, I did a non-hormonal IUD. That was in 2004. So, by Dec 2007, I had two of hemangiomas remain completely stable while one grew from 2.5 cm in 2004 to 7cm by 2007. And that was without being on hormones. How crazy. From many things I've read, there just isn't evidence supporting either way. When hemangiomas have been biopsied post surgical resection, one study showed that they have no estrogen receptors in them. I found this info on medline awhile back. So, I think it is a very tough call. I think if your hemangioma is still small, I would examine its location on your liver and see that, if it did grow, would it press on other structures and cause issues. Mine began to press on my diaphragm and caused severe shoulder pain and it hurt to breathe.

I am planning to try to get pregnant and I still have two hemangiomas on my remaining left lobe of the liver. The doc said we'll just monitor them via ultrasound. But at least they aren't in a spot where they can hurt other structures.

Good luck to you!

katzeyz51 · 03-19-2011, 03:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neens7982

Lourash,

My liver doc advised me to go off of them, so I did. Instead, I did a non-hormonal IUD. That was in 2004. So, by Dec 2007, I had two of hemangiomas remain completely stable while one grew from 2.5 cm in 2004 to 7cm by 2007. And that was without being on hormones. How crazy. From many things I've read, there just isn't evidence supporting either way. When hemangiomas have been biopsied post surgical resection, one study showed that they have no estrogen receptors in them. I found this info on medline awhile back. So, I think it is a very tough call. I think if your hemangioma is still small, I would examine its location on your liver and see that, if it did grow, would it press on other structures and cause issues. Mine began to press on my diaphragm and caused severe shoulder pain and it hurt to breathe.

I am planning to try to get pregnant and I still have two hemangiomas on my remaining left lobe of the liver. The doc said we'll just monitor them via ultrasound. But at least they aren't in a spot where they can hurt other structures.

Good luck to you!

katzeyz51 · 03-19-2011, 03:23 AM

Try avoiding soy products. They contain plant estrogens and I was taking a menopause supplement which contained soy. Henamgioma started growing then and causing symptoms, so I suspect the soy was the culprit.
After a hysterectomy I was on hormaone replacement therapy and it was soon after that my hemangioma was discovered. I stopped taking it as it caused fibrocystic breast disease but the hemangioma didn't cause any problems until recently. I also find anything that is fatty causes me pain, so a low fat diet is advisable.

Good luck.