Roger Harms, M.D., Mayo Clinic specialist in obstetrics-gynecology

When the objective for treating the uterine fibroids is to decrease (menstrual) flow, oral contraceptives can be worth a try. Oral contraceptives consistently diminish the thickness of the lining of the uterus. And fibroids, at least partially, increase the amount of flow with periods (because there is) more tissue to shed. It's much like if you had a cherry and a raspberry of the same size. There would be a lot more skin on the raspberry because of going around all those lumps and bumps. So if you make that lining thinner, you might decrease the amount of blood flow.

Oral contraceptives are kind of (a) two-edged sword, though. You are giving pharmacological doses of estrogen with oral contraceptives. That means more estrogen than you would be receiving from your ovaries, and that could stimulate the growth of the fibroids a bit and that might in the end be counterproductive.

I'd summarize by saying oral contraceptives would not decrease the size of fibroids (and) would not make them go away, and so in that way they are not effective treatment for fibroids. But it may be a method that may ameliorate some of the symptoms caused by the fibroids.

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