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Re: b/c continuously--reply to erica
From: Tara (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Mon Jan 8 00:45:19 2007
Erica,
That is exactly what I'm going through! I've never been on lupron so I
will keep what you said in mind. I defintely need to talk to my doc
about the migraines because I had a history of them anyway, and it seems
to have intensified them to the point where I can't function. I do eat
very healthy as I am hypoglycemic, so I dont eat much suger, no
caffeine, very little red meat, and a lot of vegetables. I drink soy
milk instead of dairy milk. Hopefully that diet has assured that it
isn't worse than it already is. I have the same concern that you do
about the surgery. It seemed I have a lot of endo and they were about
to laser out a lot, but not all due to the tissue location. And the
pain has almost gotten more intense since the surgery, but in isolated
locations. I take breaks from the pill every 3-4 months, depending on
my pain and bleeding. I currently take tri-nessa, which is
orthtricyclen. Sometimes I have to take either codine or lortabs to
deal with the amount of pain I'm in, but I was wondering if someone knew
of something better. I don't want to get addicted to the pain
medication so I use it sparingly, but sometimes its my only choice. I
have the same hesitation you do --I know its not good to do, but
sometimes thats the only choice to get through the day.
At Sun, 7 Jan 2007, Erica wrote:
>
>Tara,
>
>I think what you and I find is that yes the birth control pills help
>with the pain but at some point they do cause the hormones to level off
>and thats when the break through bleeding occurs. The problem with the
>bleeding for me and what I hear you saying is that it does not get
>resolved on its own and will continue until estrogen is added (via a
>patch for me) or a break is taken from the pills. Of course this is
>defeating teh purpose somewhat because the estrogen then feeds the
>endometriosis but then again continuous bleeding is not good and can
>cause alot of the symptoms you and I have related to increase in
>bloating and nausea, etc. I've recently had a terrible experience with
>Lupron and will most likely be going back to trying cbcp once again.
>I've never upped my dosage and I agree with those who stated that your
>migraine headaches may be due to the increase in the dosage. I've had
>migraines in the past and I know how debilitating they can be-not sure
>I'd be up for that. Question though, have you tried any changes in your
>diet? I did have some success with decreasing my pain when I decreased
>my caffeine intake, sugar intake and dairy consumption. It may be
>something you might want to look into if you haven't already. I like
>you have had surgery (2) and it really did not significantly reduce my
>pain and you really have to wonder how much more scar tissue is being
>created as well. How often do you find yourself needing breaks from the
>pill? And what pill are you currently on? Just curious... Oh and to
>answer your question about pain pills I've been on them for about 2
>years now mainly Vicodin and Percocet-Motrin does absolutely NOTHING to
>touch my pain. Occasionally I take Darvocet when its not too bad. But
>to get through the work day I often require Vicodin or Percocet. Of
>course I know this is not a good thing to do but until I can get my
>symptoms under better control that is the only thing I have found that
>works for me.
>
>At Sun, 7 Jan 2007, Tara wrote:
>>
>>D,
>>Thats interesting--of course most of my information comes from my
>>doctor. Yes the b/c pills are suppossed to help, but it still cause
>>some problems..ie side effects. I didn't know that about estrogen, I
>>will definitely talk to my doctor about that!! I tried not taking breaks
>>but I have continuous break through bleeding and the cramping, nausea,
>>etc I talked about. The way it was described to me is that the hormones
>>can sometimes make women with endo levels "off" unless a break is taken
>>from the pills. What happens is the lining of the uterus is at an
>>in-between stage, which is different than what women without endo go
>>through with their menstral cycles. I did have the surgery, and it did
>>help a lot but I'm still having a lot of pain and problems. Thanks for
>>the info!
>>
>>At Sat, 6 Jan 2007, D wrote:
>>>
>>>Hi Tara,
>>>
>>>I've never heard that women with endo "normally" get pms, nausea, etc.
>>>from taking birth control pills - at least not any more than women
>>>without endo. The pill is supposed to help with those problems! Women
>>>with endo often do have those problems, but they are more commonly
>>>caused by the disease itself and perhaps exacerbated by the BCPs.
>>>
>>>I'd be careful about increasing the hormones - the estrogen in BCPs can
>>>cause migraines. It's not necessary to take a break from the pills
>>>every 2-3 months, and since the breaks seem to bring them on maybe you'd
>>>feel better without any breaks at all?
>>>
>>>Have you had surgery to remove your endo? I feel a bit like a broken
>>>record, but having your endo excised by a specialist is the most likely
>>>to bring lasting relief. Birth control pills help some women to some
>>>degree, but few get excellent results - I sure didn't.
>>>
>>>Best,
>>>D
>>>
>>>At Fri, 5 Jan 2007, Tara wrote:
>>>>
>>>>Hi all,
>>>>I'm having the exact same problem that Erica has..its very intense all
>>>>over pain, cramping, bloating, headaches, aching, ect. I usually can't
>>>>work in this state when I have to take a break from the b/c pills. Again
>>>>according to my doctor, this is normal in women with endo to have
>>>>constant pms side effects, nausea, bowel related problems, cramping, and
>>>>break through bleeding while on the pills. My doctor suggested going on
>>>>a higher dosage of the b/c pills to solve the problem, so next month I
>>>>am going to try that. Does anyone take pain medications to help with
>>>>the pain? I also have severe migraines throughout the month, and its
>>>>intensified when I have to take a break every 2-3 months and have my
>>>>period. Curious if anyone else has that same problem. I've been on b/c
>>>>pills for 6 1/2 years now. I was also just curious if anyone else has
>>>>tried the higher dosage of b/c pills and if it helped. My doctor also
>>>>put me on estrogen for a week to try to help with the severity of the
>>>>side effects. Has anyone else done that? I'm not sure if it worked yet,
>>>>because I was only on it for a week, and the break through bleeding
>>>>didn't stop, so I'm on a "break" from all hormone pills right now--and
>>>>paying the price!
>>>>
>>>>Thanks,
>>>>Tara
>>>>
>>>>At Thu, 4 Jan 2007, Erica wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>I was previously on cbcp for about a year. Yes I did have side effects.
>>>>>I was frequently nauseous from time to time while on them. The bloating
>>>>>I attribute more to the endo and bowel related problems. Breakthrough
>>>>>bleeding was a big problem for me. I could usually go about 3 months
>>>>>before I would start to bleed. An infertility specialist I was seeing
>>>>>told me that this is very common that women often need a break about
>>>>>every 3 months from the pill to have a period so the bleeding will stop
>>>>>on its own. My problem was that when I did that my period was
>>>>>excrutiating. I thought I dont' know if I could do that every 2-3
>>>>>months b/c I was having to miss work the cramps and bleeding were so
>>>>>bad. Then again everyone is different and you may not experience it to
>>>>>that degree. Good luck.
>>>>>
>>>>>--
>>>>>Erica
>>>>>
>>>>>At Wed, 3 Jan 2007, Shannon wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I am 48,and have endo..have been on the bc pill continously for 3
>>>>>>months...are there any side effects that anyone knows of??? such as
>>>>>>continous cramping..bloating...breakthrough bleeding... am really
>>>>>>wanting to know..thanks..please someone reply...
>>>>>
>--
>Erica
>
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