Hi TD - not too personal at all! I’ve had two separate adventures with fibroids...
Ten years ago when I was still having periods I had a single 5cm submucosal fibroid removed because it was causing very heavy, long and irregular bleeds. It was a very straightforward procedure and totally worth it because it really helped.
Then last year, three years post meno, I started on HRT (Everol Conti) and began bleeding again. Turned out I had three new submucosal fibroids, 2-3cm or less. They’d grown in the intervening years but had been asymptomatic until the oestrogen in the HRT woke them up.
The initial ultrasound appeared to show a 13.5mm endometrium, which would be quite abnormal for post-meno (and it didn’t pick up on the fibroids), but it turned out to be a false reading due to everything getting squashed up. It was really worrying at the time though.
When I had the hysteroscopy and biopsy to investigate further they found the fibroids and a normal ‘very thin’ (in the words of the gynae) post-meno endometrium, though they didn't give an actual figure. Ironically they considered it too thin and delicate for surgery to remove the fibroids (especially as there are three). But I am now taking a different HRT that doesn’t cause bleeding so all is well and I’m not planning any further interventions.
I wouldn’t consider fibroid removal unless it’s causing symptoms that can’t be resolved in other ways, and normal endo thickness varies widely depending on where you are in your reproductive life and cycle. The important thing is whether it looks smooth and normal, which I think they can pick up on ultrasound.