Re: Advice to Help Insomnia from Lupron
From: Sarah (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Fri Apr 11 13:46:58 2003
What is the Lupron supposed to be doing for you? Did your doctor try to
cut out the endo during your lap? If not, you should see a doctor who
will. Especially if your doctor is using Lupron to try to reduce your
endo - Lupron does not do that - it only makes it shrink for a while.
Is the Lupron for pain relief? You can only stay on it for 6 months max,
so it's not a longterm solution, and Lupron does not fix anything
permanently, so what point is there in going through the side effects?
Sometimes people give endo patients Lupron after surgery if they plan to
try to get pregnant right afterwards, but you're not trying to do that,
so what is the point?! It sounds to me like you're being punished for
nothing.
As for the addback, that means that you will have some hormones in your
system. That will help with side effects, but possibly bring back endo
pain if you've had that.
My advice would be to get a second opinion from an endo specialist who
does not believe that Lupron is the Wonder Drug for all time! It doesn't
sound like anyone's even listening to you.
At Thu, 27 Mar 2003, Juliette wrote:
>
>Thank you so very much for your advice. I will definitely follow your
>suggestions. I am going to call my doctor tomorrow and make an
>appointment and discuss these options with her. When I brought up the
>problems I am having with depression the asst. in my dr.'s office said
>that it was probably just a lack of sleep that will cause those things.
>When I told her that I've had a few bouts with depression before and was
>afraid of that again. She just dismissed it and said that it was
>probably just that I need to get more sleep. But, the emotional and
>mental health is what really scares me. I have not been on medication
>for depression in about five years but I may need it again. Once again,
>thank you for your encouraging response, and I wish you the best!
>
>At Thu, 27 Mar 2003, holly wrote:
>>
>>i'm getting my third shot in two weeks. so far, i've had lots of hot
>>flashes, but they are tolerable. the insomnia really bugs me though. i
>>use the weekends to catch up on sleep. also i lie down for 30 minutes
>>right after work, no matter what. i set the alarm, so i'm not there all
>>evening. it does refresh me. even if i don't sleep, at least i'm
>>resting.
>>
>>i was diagnosed with depression and OCD 3 years ago. the lack of
>>estrogen has really caused many problems with both. my doc raised my
>>zoloft dose, gave me wellbutrin, i'm seeing a counselor even. if i'm
>>not feeling better by next wednesday, my doc won't let me get my third
>>shot. he doesn't want to take any risks with my mental health. the
>>wellbutrin seems to be helping more than the zoloft. and the counseling
>>is going all right also. my counselor and my doc reminded me that i
>>went through "the change" in a few weeks compared to several years like
>>most women do. so that explains a lot of the emotions.
>>
>>talk to your doc about getting addback. it's aygestin (norethindrone
>>acetate). it helps with the side effects. like i said, the hot flashes
>>are tolerable because of the aygestin.
>>
>>also talk to your doc about the depression. wellbutrin actually is a
>>pretty good med. i felt horrible because i had to resort to meds to
>>help me, but they are telling me it's probably only going to last
>>throughout the lupron. then i probably won't need it.
>>
>>i don't know if i helped or not. but i do want to encourage you.
>>
>>At Thu, 27 Mar 2003, Juliette wrote:
>>>
>>>Hello...I am new to this forum. I was eagerly searching the web for
>>>some sort of message board of women and their experiences with endo and
>>>happened upon this site. I was diagnosed with endometriosis after a lap
>>>in December 2002 discovered Stage 4 endo. My doctor told me prior to
>>>the surgery that if endo was found that she would put me on Lupron. She
>>>said that it was a wonder drug and in her opinion one of the best drugs
>>>for treatment of any condition to come along in the past 50 years. I
>>>had read a lot of very negative things about Lupron on other web sites.
>>>But I figure that she is the Dr. and she knows best. And maybe she
>>>still does. But all I know is that this Lupron is going to drive me
>>>crazy, literally and figuratively. I just had my third shot at the
>>>beginning of March and am due for a fourth in a week or so. After the
>>>first shot I noticed absolutely nothing different. I thought that it
>>>was great and that I was one of the lucky ones who had evaded the
>>>dreaded side effects. Yet, some time after the 2nd shot, I began to
>>>have the hot flashes, and insomnia. I have not slept in over a month.
>>>Someone in my Dr.'s office suggested chamomile tea, valerian, and
>>>Benadryl. I think that I am going to overdose on Benadryl and it
>>>doesn't help me sleep. It just makes me feel groggy and drugged the
>>>next day. And Sleepytime tea and valerian do nothing to help. And now
>>>I am beginning to feel depressed. I suffered clinical depression a few
>>>years ago in college and so I know what it feels like and do not wish to
>>>experience it again. Also, I have memory loss, and confusion,
>>>irritability, anxiety, and drastic mood swings. I just started a
>>>demanding new job that I worked really hard to get and I don't want to
>>>mess it up with these emotional, physical, and mental problems. I am 26
>>>years old and single. I am not about to have children anytime soon. I
>>>am not involved in any relationship at the moment and my doctor said
>>>that I needed to get shopping for a man soon or else it would be too
>>>late to try to have kids and it may very well be too late now. I know
>>>this is extremely long. But I just wanted to post it in case anyone has
>>>any advice or just to put my experience out there. Thanks
![[ endo@obgyn.net ]](../../images/endo_at_obgyn.gif)