Re: Pain increase after seasonale? Please help!!
From: ABC (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Fri Jul 14 16:51:05 2006
Thank you so much for sharing your experience Alyson..
I have some more questions for you though...I hope you'll take the time
to answer them...
1. Did you feel it was worthwhile to be on seasonale ? It seems like it
just aggravated the disease...are you on it now? Basically, my doctor is
recommending I stay on it for atleast 3 months before giving up..but the
way it is now...I can;t function without a pain killer :( and earlier I
was managing great without anything at all...
But its just that my doctor totally feels that it cannot be caused by
seasonale..I respect my doctor and so I don;'t want to give up midway..
2. The next step for me would be a laparoscopy - since you have had
one..do you think they help...I would much rather live with my original
pain...it was a mnior annoyance comapred to what I am going through
now..and I feel like kicking myself for going on beliveing that
something is wrong - getting all those tests done -which show nothing
anyway - and messing around with my hormones..my periods were regular
too before this..is it better to leave this disease untouched rather
than trying to cure it..I am not even sure I have it to start with!
Sorry if I am sounding paranoid...but I really need to talk to somebody
and make a good decision here..
Thanks a lot!
Anna
At Fri, 14 Jul 2006, Alyson wrote:
>
>Anna,
>I'm not sure how much help I can offer other than my personal
>experience.
>I was diagnosed a couple of years ago via laproscopy. I started seeing
>my doc b/c I only have about one period a year when not on the pill and
>started having pains (quick little sharp pain, nothing crazy)that I
>associated with my ovaries. Now when I was on the pill and having a
>period they weren't pleasant, but certainly not bad (as you said, very
>bearable). She figured out that I have polycystic ovary syndrome (hence
>no period) and put me back on Ortho Cyclen. I was still having the
>pains, so she decided to do a lap to look for endo. She found endo on
>the back of my uterus and the sacral ligament. After the diagnosis she
>thought it would be best to put me on Seasonale to decrease the number
>of periods. I had a bit of cramping and spotting the first couple of
>months. When I had that first period though I thought I was going to
>die. I had never experienced anything that horrible. I stayed on the
>Seasonale for about a year and every period (only 4, but still...) was
>excrutiating, knocked me to the ground. Like I said, my periods before
>that were pretty normal. She insisted that the endo could not be
>causing the pain because she had removed all of it a year prior and she
>didn't think there was any way it would have continued to grow while I
>was on the Seasonale. I sought a second opinion. He suggested surgery.
>At that point I was so miserable I jumped at it. He went in and found
>my pelvic cavity "full of disease" (his words), including an Orange
>sized endo implant in my hip. My ovaries were involved, uterus front
>and back, sacral ligament, pelvic and abdominal wall, and the hip area.
>Quite a drastic difference since the surgery a year prior.
>Ever since that first surgery and the Seasonale I have had chronic
>almost daily intense pain that now includes my sciatic area on both
>sides. I don't know why that is and am not saying that it was caused by
>the Seasonale, only that it is completely possible to still experience
>the pain and symptoms while taking it...and for the endo to continue to
>grow. I have also wondered about the idea of the estrogen in bcp's. It
>had occurred to me (and I have no idea or proof that it is true) that
>something about the hormone levels in the Seasonale did not agree with
>my endo. If you continue having problems with it, ask her about Yasmin.
>Some women I've talked to here have had better luck switching to that
>after having problems with Seasonale.
>Feel free to e-mail me if you want to pick my brain about it at all. I'd
>be happy to help if I can.
>Alyson
>
>At Fri, 14 Jul 2006, Anna wrote:
>>
>>Hi ladies,
>>My doctor suspects endo because I ahve been having severe pain on my
>>left side on and off for more than a year..I earlier thought it was
>>related to my colon in some way..but all the tests are normal so far
>>(touchwood!)..I have been on seasonale for about 1.5 months...I did not
>>have any major side effects except nausea in the morning - but my pain
>>which was cyclic/periodic before has really shot up and I am now in pain
>>everyday...my legs and hips pain too...which was not happening before..I
>>am wondering if the seasonale caused this? I must mention that I ahve
>>been under a lot of emoitional stress a month ago and am also taking
>>anti-depressants (I started these 2 weeks after the seasonale) I asked
>>my Doctor and she said seasonale cannot cause endo to become worse -
>>maybe it became worse due to stress and is now out of control and is
>>suggesting surgery...I want to avoid surgery right now becuase I am
>>dealing with some tough times as it is ...becasue really before the
>>sesonale _ my pain was very very bearable..Hasanybody had such an
>>experience with Seasonale? I don't have any spotting etc..I read that
>>endo feeds of estrogen and OCPs actually contain estrogen - so is that a
>>possibility? Not sure....will really appreciate any response...please
>>help!!
>>Thanks,
>>Vibha.
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