Re: The Cause of Endometriosis... PLEASE TAKE A LOOK flagirl
From: andrea (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Thu Jul 12 00:19:07 2007
Yes, the pill may NOT have caused your endo, but my doc says the pill
keeps it at bay inside you uterus and that's why you bleed less, but in
the meantime, it reacts differently to the estrogen outside your uterus
and still grows.
You could have just started off being estrogen dominant before the pill
though. We will never know, because the docs put us all on the pill
before even testing our hormones to see if they could be corrected.
If you had hot flashes at 30, which I did too, your SHGB (sex hormone
globulin binding) will be all screwd up. Mine was a 253, when it
should've been around 18-114. Now it's 78, and I feel fine. When it's
high like that, it means your hormone receptors are blocked and you are
having menopause symptoms. It sucks!
Here is a link to of what hormones to have tested if you want:
http://www.fertilityplus.org/faq/hormonelevels.html
At Wed, 11 Jul 2007, flagirl wrote:
>
>Interesting! I have thought for a long time that I'm estrogen dominant.
>
>There is a lot of consensus in the medical field that estrogen plays a
>major role in endometriosis. I was on bcp for 12 years, but this was a
>"low dose" pill in which it was mostly progesterone and very very little
>estrogen. I had no pain while on this pill.
>
>Regardless, my endo symptoms began years before I went on the pill. My
>mother and sister also had/have endo, so it's either the endo that is
>hereditary or else it's the estrogen dominance that's hereditary and
>made us more susceptible to endo. Either way, it's not the pill that
>caused my endo. Fortunately, the progesterone dominant pill and lack of
>real menstrual cycles (which is when the endo flares) really suppressed
>my endo and kept it at bay for a long time.
>
>Now that I've been off the pill for a few years, I have excrutiating
>periods and also bad pain between periods. It's not acceptable to me to
>only end the "between periods" pain. It's not acceptable to me to have
>to take painkillers and stay in bed for 2-3 days during my period.
>Therefore, I'm going the aggressive route and having a lap, where the
>doc is going to excise all that he can. We're also trying to have
>another baby and most likely my tubes are blocked from endo and there
>are adhesions, etc., and hormones aren't going to fix that.
>
>I've had a baby and had my progesterone tested early on in that
>pregnancy, and it was perfectly fine. Never had my estrogen tested, but
>like I said I've thought for a while I'm estrogen dominant (hot flashes
>in my early 30's!) and would be curious to confirm that. Thanks for
>giving me food for thought. I'll definitely run this by my doctor (who
>is an endo specialist and is fabulous!)
>
>At Sat, 7 Jul 2007, andrea wrote:
>>
>>I would like to tell you all what I have experienced with my endo and
>>tell you all what I know NOW, all these years later...
>>
>>First, I want to ask, How many of you have EVER HAD YOUR HORMONE LEVELS
>>TESTED? A doctor who finally cared enough 4 years ago tested mine and
>>this is what he found....too much estrogen, and nearly no progesterone.
>>Being on the pill for 17 years caused my estrogen level to sky-rocket
>>and I'm sure contributed to my endometriosis growth and terrible
>>symptoms.
>>
>>Here are the side effects of too much estrogen in your body:
>>
>>I HAVE HAD 19 OF THESE SYMPTOMS and still have some, HOW MANY DO YOU
>>HAVE???
>>
>>•Endometriosis
>>•Blood Clots
>>•Elevated Blood Pressure
>>•Fibroid Breasts
>>•Infertility
>>•Irregular Menstrual Flow
>>•Uterine Fibroids
>>•Breast Tenderness
>>•Mood Swings
>>•Uterine Cancer
>>•Hair Loss
>>•Depression
>>•Weight Gain
>>•Migraine Headaches
>>•Spotting
>>•Breast Cancer Risk
>>•Insomnia
>>•Inflammation
>>•Abnormal Pap Smears
>>•Fluid Retention
>>•Cramping
>>•Vaginal Dryness
>>•Thyroid Imbalances
>>•Decrease in Memory
>>•Low or No Sex Drive
>>
>>I was put on the pill at 17 to "help" my periods from being so painful -
>>that was 20 years ago. After all this research, trying medicines and 10
>>OBGYN's later, I discovered 4 years ago that my body was deficient in
>>PROGESTERONE. My regular doctor, NOT my OB, decided to test my hormone
>>levels because no doctor had ever tested them before! I never knew that
>>my regular doctor knew about hormones or could also do my paps, so I was
>>ecstatic when he offered to finally offer me some hope and help that I
>>could not find with ANY OB that I had been to.
>>
>>My results came back....hormone levels shot to hell, all messed up, yet
>>no doctor had ever suggested to check them. My progesterone was only a
>>2, when it should have been around a 20-30 and my estrogen level was
>>through the roof! Did all those years of being on the pill make me
>>Estrogen Dominant (way too much)? Cause my Progesterone level to
>>plummet? I really think NOW, from the very beginning, that my body may
>>have been just naturally low in Progesterone and Progesterone was ALL I
>>NEEDED to help me feel better.
>>
>>What if ALL OF US with endo just had too much estrogen given to us (BC
>>Pills), or our hormones just needed balancing? I tell ya, I've put A LOT
>>of crap in my body and spent THOUSANDS of dollars trying to feel better
>>all these years and NONE of it did a damn thing!
>>
>>Estrogen or estrogen dominance is what makes endometriosis grow. So why
>>the hell are doctors putting us ALL on the pill which makes our estrogen
>>levels higher? Or estrogen for "ADD BACK THERAPY???" My endo had 20
>>years to grow, spread and flourish and I think if I would've taken the
>>progesterone that I'm on now back then, it would've stopped it in it's
>>tracks right then and there! Progesterone suppresses estrogen. We don't
>>need to stop our periods or kill all of our hormones in our bodies to
>>get relief, just balance our estrogen and progesterone!
>>
>>Don't get me wrong, I'm not completely healed by any means. I get 2-3
>>days of excrutiating pain and high fever with my period and want to cry
>>and scream. I have to take 10mg Lortab on those days and can't work. I
>>have endo everywhere, my specialist thinks. But, most of my other
>>symptoms that were so awful all but went away a few weeks after taking
>>the bioidentical progesterone 4 years ago. My breast fibroids went away
>>or shrunk, my mood swings diminished, less days of pain, my fatigue went
>>away, I quit getting yeast infections, I felt so much healthier.....so
>>many other things. AND, no nasty side effects either!! I swear on my
>>life this has saved me so much pain and anguish.
>>
>>I will keep posting about this because I think this could help so many
>>people, like it has helped me. You have to get a prescription for it,
>>but it is covered by insurance. You will pay a co-pay for it. You have
>>to get it at a compounding pharmacy and it is made by a pharmacist who
>>specializes in hormones. It is ALL NATURAL and made from yams and
>>soybeans! Most conventional doctors WON'T prescribe it to you because
>>they either one, don't know ANYTHING about it, or two, they won't make
>>ANY $$$$ from it! If you have any questions about this, please ask me -
>>I want to help. I want all of you to have some hope, because IT IS out
>>there!!! Andrea :)
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