|
Re: Going to a naturopathic doc to find alternatives to Depo...
From: Angela (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Thu Aug 21 22:41:21 2003
I also had chronic UTI's/yeast infections, and when I was having my
annual pap, I told my doctor about the abdominal pain and pain during
sex. He did an ultrasound and found a golf ball size cyst on my ovary.
We waited a few months to see if it would go away. It didn't so I
scheduled a lap. During the lap he found the endo (Stage IV), and he
had could not separate the cyst from the ovary and took my ovary. I
then went on Lupron for 6 months-and like you will never do it again.
Thankfully I had just finished college. So after 6 months of Lupon, I
went on Depo. I hated it, was gaining weight, and spotting all the
time. When the pain started coming back, I said enough. My doctor
switched me to birth control pills with low does of estrogen. I took
these non-stop so that I would not have a period, since that is when the
pain is the worst and estrogen is what makes the endo grow. It works
pretty good, after about 3 or 4 months I would start spotting and would
stop the pills for a week and have a period. After 1 1/2 years, the the
pain started getting unmanagable again. I had another lap to "clean up"
the endo spots. I went back on the continuous birth control pills and I
was spotting all the time. After trying several different kinds of bc
pills and not being able to deal with the side effects of not having
estrogen, i gave up. I have not taken any meds (other then the
anti-depressant I was put on shortly after the 1st surgery) for 4
months. The pain has been managable with over the counter IB proffen
and Naproxen. My mood has improved. But I just got another UTI so I'm
starting to worry. I would like to know how your appt. goes.
At Thu, 21 Aug 2003, Jodi wrote:
>
>Hello all,
>I'm new to this site, but not to endo. Here is my story and why I'm
>seeking naturopathic doctors now and maybe it will help some of you
>folks make better decisions where doctors are concerned.
>
>Since my Sophmore year of college(roughly about 5 years ago), I was
>getting chronic UTI's. I just kept being put on antibiotics! I went
>through a year of this. Then, I developed pain and pressure on my left
>side for a while. I was told that I had a cyst. My doc did a
>laporoscopy to remove the cyst. I went in for a follow-up thinking he
>was going to tell me that all was good, but instead, he said that while
>he was in there, he found the endo. It was sitting super-close to my
>ovaries. He said that because of the proximity to my ovaries, I
>couldn't have the endo removed surgically or with lasers. He
>immediately put me on Lupron and since I was only 20, I didn't have the
>sense to research it before I went on it. I know that there are 20 year
>olds on this site with a better head on thier shoulders and I commend
>them for taking control of their bodies at that age and researching this
>drug befor taking it. Anyways, the Lupron made life at college hell! I
>had hot-flashes, mood swings, and depression. Plus I was tired a lot
>and had pain where the injection was administered. So that lasted 6
>months and I did poorly in school. AFter all that, I went on the pill
>(Ovcon 35) to "keep the endo small" if it did come back. I was fine for
>a few years. Then I started having severe pain in my left side near my
>ovary. I automatically assumed it was the endo and so did my doc. She
>put me on Depo. I HATE DEPO!!!!!!!!!!!! It's making me so sick. If I
>don't get it on time, I throw up and I feel aweful and then for the
>first week after the shot I feel sick too!! After a month of being on
>Depo and not feeling any relief, Doc told me that I may have
>Intersticial Cystitis. I had a procedure done to look in my bladder and
>sure enough, there it was! So my urologist tried to put me on Elmiron,
>which made me tired and I think made my hair thin out a little. I took
>myself off of the Elmiron after seeing a IC specialist. Now I just deal
>with the symptoms. The reason being is that the Elmiron only works in
>35% of patients and only after 6 months of treatment do you begin to see
>results. My issue with this is that sometimes the symptoms of IC go
>into remission so I'm wondering if this 35% is just being helped on
>their own. I told my GYN this and that I didn't want to be on Elmiron
>and she told me to listen to the urologist and to "not go granola on
>her"!!!! I was ANGRY!! Then, a few months passed and I started
>experiencing severe pressure on my left ovary again. So I go in, have a
>cat-scan and an ultrasound and finally am sent to a tummy doctor to have
>a pleasant tube stuck up my bum to find that I also have IBS!! I have
>been told that the 3 are often found together. My IBS doc is great, but
>the IBS is now the least of my problems. I'm stuck with the symptoms
>because the Elmiron, I believe, is a crock. I'm stuck with the horrible
>side-effects of the Depo, not knowing if I will have severe Endo pain if
>I come off of it, and to top it all off, I have no support from my
>doctor! I went in because I found a lump in my vagina when I was
>washing. I told her that I have washed myself the same way for 18 years
>and that I never felt the lump before. She couldn't feel it and then
>told me that it must be a swollen clitoral gland. Then she asked if I
>was depressed and basically called me a hypochondriac. After waiting 5
>days for an appointment for her to check this lump and after worrying
>sick for 5 days that it was cancer or something, she called me a
>hypochondriac. That was the first time that I had gone to see her and
>she didn't find something! It turned out to be an in-grown hair. I know
>this because it went away and my sis told me that she had something that
>sounded like the same thing. I can't talk to my doctor about coming off
>of the Depo because she just calls me granola. I'm so sick of US
>doctors. My doctor also told me that I'm gaining weight, not because of
>the Depo, but because I am vegan and eating carbs. There is no way that
>I can be gaining weight by basically cutting fat out of my diet. I eat
>very well and I've always had a high metabolism, but after starting the
>depo, I've gained 8 pounds so far! My doc has no idea what she's talking
>about and it's caused me great frustration. I found out from this site
>and others that Lupron doesn't get rid of Endo and that it may be used
>to manage pain, but I didn't even know that I had it and wasn't in any
>pain. My doc said that because it was found at such an early stage that
>the Lupron would get rid of it. I'm just so frustrated, so, I'm going
>to a Naturopathic doctor in 3 weeks. She's going to help me come off
>the Depo (which I'm scared about because if I'm more than 11 weeks since
>my last shot, I get really sick) and then she's going to treat the cause
>and the symptoms. I'm excited about this and I will keep you all
>posted. I guess this was more of a venting process than a helpful essay
>on how Lupron effected me, but I'll just add this. I am finally able to
>lay on my right side again after 5 years of having a numb, tingling, and
>sometimes painful hip from where they put the Lupron injections. Years
>after the injections, I was still in pain. If it does not get rid of
>Endo, don't use it. If you are in a great deal of pain, then I guess
>it's an option for you, but it will come back. Right now, I'm not sure
>if the pain that I experience is the Endo, IC or IBS. I'm just so
>stressed about all this. I am constantly aware of my left lower
>abdominal area, either because of pressure or pain. I'm lucky that the
>pain isn't bad...yet. It's frightening. I'm going to try alternative
>medicines and see if it helps. The new Naturo-Doc says that she has
>successfully treated women with my issues so I'm hoping that I can be
>added to her success stories. I will definitely let you all know how
>well the treatments go. Sorry I rambled and for anyone who took the
>time to read my whole story, thanks for listening.
--
angela-d@cox.net
|
|
![[ endo@obgyn.net ]](../../images/endo_at_obgyn.gif)