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Re: Anyone else trying alternative medicine treatments?

From: T (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Tue Jul 24 13:23:42 2007

Hi, I have tried several alternative therapies for endometriosis and have had luck with dietary changes to manage pain, and exercise, especially yoga and meditation, to help me keep my head on straight. My endometriomas kept growing however, and I have had to have two laparoscopic surgeries and one ovary removed. Six months ago, I started taking bio-identical progesterone, which resulted in the shrinking of my endometriomas. Other positive side effects have been a decrease in pain, fat (not weight) loss, regaining control over my emotions and thought processes, return of my memory (or at least how I remember it...), and more energy!!! The negative side effects have been a bit of a mess (I use the vaginal suppository form of the perscription) and a return of my libido (not sure what to do with it anymore...).

Please note that bioidentical progesterone is NOT the same as a synthetic progestin or the creams that you can find in the health food stores. This progesterone can only be obtained by perscription and is available through compounding pharmacies in the US and Canada. Many doctors may not be willing to perscribe this, as it is still viewed as an alternative therapy and is mostly used to treat postmenopausal symptoms. Try the following web searches for information "compounding pharmacy" and "natural progesterone, endometriosis". As with everything on the web, try to make sure that the source of your information is reliable. There are a couple of doctors, one in California and one in Toronto, who specialize in bioidentical hormone treatment and have a lot of information on their websites. Your best bet may be to find a compounding pharmacy nearest you and give them a call.

I did a fair bit of research before I started this course of treatment and have concluded that (for me) this was the lowest risk alternative of all the drug treatments I could try. I should note that the first month or two of treatment were interesting, and some symptoms got worse before things leveled out and the endometriomas started shrinking. I am now taking a supressive dose of the progesterone in the hope that the endometriomas disappear completely. Here's hoping that I can avoid further surgery...

Best of luck with your search for an alternative.

At Mon, 23 Jul 2007, Kelly wrote: >
>I also have stage four endo with my last laparoscopy and removal of
>implants on the 12th March. I was diagnosed back in 2002 and had my
>first surgery at the end of 2004. Pain has always been a huge issue for
>me as well as mid cycle bleeding.
>An increase in distressing symptoms led to the recent surgery. Two
>weeks post surgery I was dissapointed to find that the pain was
>becomming more pronounced. I bought a book on dietary changes to
>improve endometriosis symptoms and put the ideas into practice. I have
>found that by eating the foods recommended and avoiding the
>inflammatory/problem foods I am free of constant pain. My specialist
>has decided not to put me back on the heavy duty hormonal drugs like
>Synarel, Duphaston and Dimetriose (which I had been on previously) as I
>seem to be getting reasonable suppression. The principles with diet are
>commonsense and although I miss some foods, I do not miss the pain. My
>specialist seems confident that I will need further surgery, but I hope
>to prove him wrong!
>There are definately other remedies worth trying. They may not all work
>for you, but are worth a try to combat the disease.
>
>At Wed, 18 Jul 2007, Becca wrote:
>>
>>On May 3rd I had my official diagnosis of stage four endo with a
>>laproscopic surgery. I tried Lupron shots earlier in the year before
>>relenting to a surgery. I firmly didn't want to go back to the hormones
>>after my surgery. My surgeon is so-so. Since my surgery, I've had the
>>most horrible pains and feel exhausted most of the time. My sweet
>>husband found me this forum to read so that I wouldn't feel like i am
>>the only one going through this disease.
>>Why do we do have to do these surgeries? I'm scared that I will need
>>more of them as I read the forums. Although, I've been dealing with my
>>lower abdominal pain for the last 5 years, I still have managed better
>>than before my surgery. I just wanted a diagnosis. Now that I have
>>one, I can't seem to regain my energy.
>>Now I am trying a chinese herbal formula and doing acupuncture but my
>>surgeon is scaring me that I would need a more complicated surgery
>>(saying that they'd have to use a bladder bag?) if I don't go back on
>>some type of hormone treatment, Lupron or birth control pills.
>>Has anyone here ever felt better by not going on the traditional hormone
>>treatments?

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