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Re: Dr pushing for Lupron after lap due to blocked tubes - how does he know they are blocked?
From: anonymous (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Tue Jun 15 05:10:48 2004
Wow....you're story is very moving. Congratulations on your new baby.
I'm sorry you had to go through all that to get there. Hopefully the
second time around is easier. I'm hoping hubbie and I dont have to go
through all that. I had an HSG in February prior to my surgery in
April. Hopefully, that will do the trick. There's nothing scarier than
the thought of having an ectopic. Good luck to you sweetie.
At Tue, 15 Jun 2004, anonymous@obgyn.net wrote:
>
>Hello there,
>I am 28 years old and been diagnosed with endometriosis for 9 years. I
>have been through a multitude of treatments for it. At 19 I was keeling
>over in pain from menstrual cramping, I decided to seek the assistance
>of a ob/gyn. He told me I had endometriosis and immediately put me on
>Depo-Provera injections. That made life worse! It did not shrink the
>lesions and adhesions but made me feel horribly. I gain a lot of weight
>from it as well. That doctor retired shortly after he began treating
>me, so I needed to find a new ob/gyn.
>
>So on to the next of many physicians. This doctor ordered a laparoscopy
>and hysteroscopy to see exactly what was going on. So he went in and
>discovered indeed I did have what I claimed to have and cleaned house so
>to say and then put me on a mild birth control which again did not help
>and the pains came back, he changed my birth control to a higher dosage.
>Still not working he basically told me it was in my head. I was furious
>because I knew this pain was not in my head.
>
>So on to my 3rd physician. Wow he too didn't believe me and ordered a
>lap and hysteroscopy and found the same as the previous doctor. He put
>me on the new endometriosis treatment Lupron. Wow yeah bad things here
>too! Although it took away the painful cramps, my sexual libido dropped
>to nothing, I gained lots of weight, had tingling in my legs, and was
>told that it would be hard for me to get pregnant if ever. Well yeah!:(
>Just what a 23 year old bride to be wanted to hear right??! So I did a
>series of treatments of lupron and just could not take the side effects
>nor would my insurance pay for the injections, which I had great
>insurance at that point. I stopped the treatments and I was going to
>start a birth control pill again, but before I could start them I had a
>little problem. I was bleeding for 3 days very strong with what I
>thought was my period. Well I went to the hospital where they couldn't
>understand what had happened to me, they actually though that my fiance
>had beat me. I was floored when they asked me that about this man! So
>they took me back and monitored me for about an hour and ran a bunch of
>tests, including blood. Well they came back in to check on me and
>casually said "Well, we are going to have to run an ultrasound to see if
>the baby is alright" I was shocked and I stopped the nurse and said
>What!!! I am what?! and she said 'you didn't know you were pregnant?' I
>said uh no. She said well you are and we have to make sure the baby is
>ok.
>
>So an ultrasound was done. They said that it looked like I was having a
>miscarriage and they couldn't find the baby. Maybe cuz it was too small
>i was told. My orders were to go home and be on bed rest and follow up
>with my regular doctor in 2 days. So after bed rest I got to see my
>doctor, where I am told that I am still pregnant and that the baby will
>probably be ok if I take it easy. Mind you I am still bleeding. About
>7 visits back and forth to my doctor and being told everything is
>looking good and my Hcg levels continue to climb. WEll as my finace was
>literally walking out the door I started screaming in pain. We called
>my doctor on call and he said go to the hospital immediately. So we
>did. They took me back and accessed me right away. They put me on a
>demerol iv. So I was in and out. They took me back to xray and found
>that I had was having an ectopic pregnancy. So I sat in that emergency
>room for 6 1/2 hours before they set me up for a surgery to remove the
>pregnancy from my tube. And the story gets worse! I sat in a preop room
>for another 1 hour and then it happened. I sat up in my bed like the
>exorcist, my eyes were wide open and I couldn't stop saying oh my god
>over and over. The nurse came in and gave me a big dose of Demerol
>stat. So I went in to the operating room right away. My tube had burst
>from the ectopic pregnancy that was 8 weeks along and the tube was
>unsalvageable. So I had a salpingotomy on the left side, leaving me
>with 1 tube and endometriosis, and a 38% chance to have a child.
>
>I felt betrayed by that physician so I had to find a new one. I did. I
>found a doctor who said that all of the treatments I have had were not
>researched for my case and just generalized treatments with no
>individualized thought. At this point I wanted so badly to be pregnant
>again so we tried and tried with no luck. So I was put on Clomid. I
>got pregnant and had a miscarriage immediately after finding out. We
>tried it a second time and i got pregnant again and lost it again
>immediately. He suggested that I wait a while and give my body a chance
>to heal.
>
>During my healing I realized that my relationship had fallen apart
>because of all of the troubles and ups and downs of this disease. He
>and I both had given up. So we parted.
>
>My doctor wanted to do a test on me a couple of months after we parted.
>I was up for it, just to see what progress my body had made. So my
>doctor ordered a hysterosalpingogram, which shows if there are any tubal
>blockages by injecting a dye that shows the radiologist all of the
>pertinent organs. My doctor told me that it was still there and quite
>bad. He told me that chances of pregnancy might be out of the question
>forever. I was told this now at 25.
>
>So I was having a pity party and had some fun with my friends. Well I
>ended up sleeping with a guy, which I had known for years. He knew my
>situation and we both figured that things were ok to go ahead
>unprotected (I know it isn't a good excuse but, i was drunk and just
>went with it).
>
>Turns out I got pregnant from that night. I went to my doctor
>immediately to confirm this and he was absolutely amazed. In going over
>my options, we decided that this may be my only chance to have a child.
>So I went for testing and they found that my progesterone levels were
>low and so I was put on progesterone suppossitories. That didn't get my
>levels up enough so I gave myself a shot of progesterone once a day for
>the first 12 weeks to insure my placenta would attach and stay intact.
>So I did and everything was going good. At about 6 1/2 months of
>pregnancy I went into pre term labor, they put me on brethine to stop
>the contractions. The brethine ended up giving me costal condritis,
>which is the swelling of the chest wall. I was ok but a little
>perterbed. So things progressed and so did the borderline pre
>eclampsia. Yes I was a lovely mess but pregnant none the less. The
>father and I weren't getting along and decided that we can better parent
>if not in a relationship together.
>
>My due date was July 16th. By July 1st I was done being pregnant and
>just wanted that baby boy out. So my doctor induced me due to the high
>blood pressure. After 10 hours of induced labor and contractions, I was
>sent home for failure to progress, I didn't dialte past 3. So the next
>morning I go to a local food place and get myself some breakfast. WEll
>later that afternoon, I found myself vomiting and having diahrhea approx
>every 4 minutes. So back to the hospital I go! I am in there for about
>6 more hours then sent home.
>
>My doctor sugggests another try at induction on the 10th. Ok so back to
>the hospital I go. I go tin and the potossin was started. My body
>refused to dilate. So at about noon my doctor came and broke my water.
>After crazy back labor and 10 second apaprt contractions, my doctor
>comes to do his evening rounds at 9:30 pm.(mind you , I have been at the
>hospital since 4:30am). He has already called on my progress about 10
>times. He comes in, does his exam and says "Honey, you aren't anymore
>dilated, your cervix is swelling shut and baby is face up. I think it
>is time to do a c-section" I was ready at that point to just get it over
>with. So I was wheeled in for an emergency c-section, my son was born
>at 10:25pm.
>
>My little miracle!
>
>So in talking to other women with endometriosis, we all discovered that
>we had something else in common! We had all had the HYSTEROSALPINGOGRAM
>procedure and all of us had beautiful babies!
>
>But let me tell you it doesn't go away once you havea baby! My son is
>now 2 and it has come back again. I am going to go back to my doctor to
>suggest treatment so that my new husband and I will be able to have more
>children.
>
>But ladies please whatever you do.....Don't give up and do your
>research. Make decisions based on what is best for you and what you
>feel is ok. It has been a crazy ride but I finally feel complete, and
>having more babies is just that much more complete! If you have no faith
>in your doctor, move to another until you find one that you do have
>faith in. Hang in there and take things one day at a time.
>
>At Mon, 14 Jun 2004, Tricia wrote:
>>
>>hi, there is a bunch of pictures on the endo zone go to: Image Library
>>and you can see what a blocked tube looks like.Tricia
>>
>>At Mon, 14 Jun 2004, ConfusedinEndo wrote:
>>>
>>>Hi everyone
>>>I am trying not to make the mistake of blindly trusting my dr. I do
>>>trust him and like him a lot, but I don't want to be a fool, so...
>>>He says that I need to do Lupron or Depo because my tubes are blocked
>>>and the lesions need to be shrunk down. He is pro Lupron because it is
>>>the only drug that has, in his experience, eradicated the shrunken
>>>lesions altogether (while Depo just shrinks them). He does say I can do
>>>just Depo if I insist, and that hopefully pregnancy after Depo would
>>>sort of 'correct' the endo (yes I know it can come back post-preg).
>>>So, my question is, how does he know the tubes are blocked? Could he see
>>>them while he was doing the Lap? He said he could not laser my tubes
>>>because he would have destroyed them.
>>>I have never been pregnant (even though I practiced some very slack BC
>>>with a former long-term boyfriend) so that indicates I'm not
>>>hyper-fertile like some of my friends seem to be.
>>>And my husband and I do want to start having children in 2 years (i'm
>>>27).
>>>
>>>The Dr.'s ideal course of treatment is up to 6 months of Lupron followed
>>>by Depo up until the time I try to conceive (to keep my estrogen down
>>>and protect whatever good the Lupron has done). I am not thrilled about
>>>taking TWO powerful, side-effect riddled drugs, so I need to decide
>>>which one. Any pro/cons out there for Depo would be appreciated.
>>>A post I made recently re: Lupron was kindly answered by lots of you
>>>gals and I think I am pretty aware of that end...although more Pro
>>>stories if they are out there would be comforting!
>>>Thanks all
>>>Elle
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