Re: To JoCee re: The Seasonale Issue - To JoCee
From: Alyson (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Mon Jul 17 07:26:31 2006
Oops, that last post was for you. I forgot to change the tag line!
Alyson
At Sun, 16 Jul 2006, JoCee27 wrote:
>
>Hi Alyson.
>
>In response to your questions about how I deal and live with Endo and
>PCOS is pretty much this: pain meds, diet, and surgery. Endo and PCOS
>are incurable conditions that not only cause pain, but they can take a
>toll on your life changing you, changing your style of life, and
>changing the way you look at life as a whole. The only way to end PCOS
>is to have a hysterectomy.., obviously. The Endo problem is not that
>simple. We all wish it were, but it's not. A hysterectomy only
>subtracts from the Endo problem by taking out the things that Endo can
>adhere to. After all of the female parts are removed, the Endo still
>remains, it just finds new things to grow on and adhere to. The only
>successful ways of treating and dealing with Endo are 3 things:
>
>(1) Surgery
>(2) Diet
>(3) Medication
>
>First, we look at surgery: getting the adhesions removed. The surgeon
>goes in and removes all or most of the Endo that he or she can, and we
>wait a couple of months or a couple of years to turn around and have it
>all done again. Second, we learn what foods and products we put into
>our body that causes Endo to grow at a much faster or thicker rate. So
>by that statement we are just learning how to control t
he growth rate of
>Endo by the food and drink in our diet because some things we eat and
>drink, as we already know, can cause an Endo flare just as easily as it
>can cause Endo to grow. Third, we're looking at medication, and I'm not
>talking about birth control pills, hormone injections, or any other
>drugs on the market that is promised or believed to stop or slow Endo;
>I'm referring to pain medication. This should be a handy little bottle
>of potent prescription pills that get you through the times when your
>disease is telling you, "Hey... I'm not going to let you be you today.
>I'm going to make you lay on the couch and cry your eyes out, yell at
>your kids, snap at your spouse, cancel your plans, put distance between
>you and your friends, let your house stand at a disaster, and make you
>watch as your family goes to the freezer for yet "another" microwave
>dinner, while everyone else you know is having fun socializing, living
>life without you, all the while making mention of your name to say that
>'once again she's not here' and eventually they'll all go on with their
>lives while I've stopped yours."
>
>I'm not allowing my body to ingest another pill that is promised to slow
>the rate of Endo and "fix me" just to deal with the side affects or the
>affects of getting the drug out of my system because "woops!" the doctor
>has realized that this medication is no longer successful or is just not
>working for me. I'm tired of the diarrhea, the headaches, the vomiting
>and/or nausea, the fatigue, the cramping, the irregular or long lasting
>periods, the dry mouth, the itchy skin, the mood changes, the out of
>whack sex drive, the constipation, the frequent urge to urinate, the
>drowsiness, the insomnia, crying at the drop of a hat or lashing out at
>the drop of a dime, or the tender breasts to get the medication IN to my
>system or OUT of my system, just to deal with the same end result
>everytime which is: IT HAS DONE NOTHING TO HELP ME WITH ENDO! Having
>surgery makes me sore and tender for a couple of days: so what. Taking
>pain medication to get through the bad days might give everyone else the
>idea or assumption that I am an addict: so what. Watching what I eat to
>control the rate of growth of Endo may or may not be the best thing
>since sliced bread: so what. At least with these three options I'm not
>dealing with any side affects that I mentioned before that make my life,
>and the lives of those around me, miserable. And while everyone else is
>going through medication after medication putting up with the diarrhea,
>the bloating, the nausea, the vomiting, and all the other things that
>come and go with every medication that comes and goes, I'll still be
>right here doing what I've been doing all these years: the best I can.
>:) This is not to knock anyone who takes medication for Endo and PCOS or
>any other female repro. problems, this is simply just me realizing that
>after all this time and after all this medication, the only truly
>successful way of living with Endo is to minimize the pain and keep
>going as best that I can for myself, my family, and my life.
>
>JoCee
>Endo Sisterhood Support Group
>http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/EndoSisterhood/
>
>Law & Crime
>http://redraven.iblogs.com/
>
>At Sat, 15 Jul 2006, Alyson wrote:
>>
>>Hi JoCee,
>>I read your response to Anna regarding seasonale because she and I had
>>been discussing our experiences earlier. Sorry to nose in, but some of
>>the things you mentioned really hit home with me.
>>As I discussed with Anna, I have PCOS and rarely had a period when not
>>on bcp's. I started them my freshman year in college due to an
>>excessive month long period (my only one that year) and stayed on them
>>throughout college. I went off of them about three years ago and thus
>>ceased having a period, but started having this "ovary pain". From
>>there I had the surgery, endo diagnosis, and then Seasonale.
>>When you said that being on hormone therapy can be like throwing fuel on
>>a fire it was like a smack upside the head! (in an awakening way).
>>Anyway, it brings me to the point that not only was the Seasonale a
>>horrible experience for me, but my disease spread rapidly that year, and
>>I have been on increasingly intense hormone therapy ever since....with
>>absolutely no relief and extreme chronic pain. I have been kicking
>>around for some time the idea of quitting putting this mess into my
>>body. So, I guess I was wondering (if you don't mind sharing) in light
>>of what you have learned about the hormone therapies, what you do to
>>manage and treat your endo. I would really appreciate any information
>>you feel comfortable sharing.
>>Thanks,
>>Alyson
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