Re: Severe endo with hardly any symptoms?
From: Caroline (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Sat Sep 28 12:26:24 2002
Hi Heather,
I had a laparoscopy only last week to confirm my endo. I have been a
suffer for years but unfortunately any of the doctors I've seen in
Ireland put it down to severe period cramps or exagaration. I am lucky,
as four months ago I woke with severe pains and irregular bleeding and
because I previously had abnormal smears, I was referred onto an OB/GYN.
Following my laparoscopy, my OB/GYN is meeitng with me to discuss
treatment, which will be in the form of 1 injection every three months
over a period of nine months. The proposed treatment is called
Decapeptyl 3-month, which in effect puts you throught the menopause
(TEMPORARILY) and while you are on the injections a course of HRT is
precribed. I don't know if this is available where you are but it would
be worth researching. I have read up on the side effects and while
there are some which include hot flushes, vaginal dryness, decreased
lidido; these are only due to the blockage of the ovaries during
treatment and the HRT should help counteract the effects. Everything
returns to normal once you stop the treatment. I hope this is of some
help to you. Best of luck with what ever course of treatment you decide
on.
--
Caroline
At Sat, 28 Sep 2002, Heather wrote:
>
>Does anyone know how common this is? I had a laparotomy in August for a
>large complex ovarian cyst with cystic and solid components. Turns out
>the cyst was an endometrioma and I ended up having my left ovary and
>tube removed. After the surgery my doctor explained that I had sever
>endo and adhesions throughout my pelvis. Apparently my uterus is
>adhered to my large intestine as well. I really wasn't too familiar
>with endo but was shocked to find out that I had a severe case of it. I
>started researching and found that the only symptoms that I really have
>are bad cramps and painful bowel movements for two days during my
>period. A couple Advil always took care of it. I'm 28 and have had
>those symptoms for 15 years, so I assumed they were normal. My doctor
>recommended that I start taking natural progesterone right after the
>surgery to control the endo. I had never heard of this treatment so I
>told him I had to do some research on it first. In the meantime I am
>taking continuous birth control pills.
>>From the research that I have done I consider myself very lucky to not
>have many problems with this, as it sounds like many of you have severe
>pain throughout your cycles. At the same time I an having a hard time
>making a decision about treatment. Because I have few symptoms, I don't
>feel like Lupron is right for me. Seems like the side effects would be
>worse than what I have now. Thankfully, my doctor agrees that Lupron
>isn't the right treatment for me. I've done quite a bit of research on
>natural progesterone and have found conflicting opinions on it. Seems
>like most doctors really shy away from it, but I think it might be the
>right treatment for me. I'm going back in a few months to discuss it
>further.
>I have found some excellent information on it in this forum. I wanted
>to thank you all for the great information and links.
>
>--
>Heather
>
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