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Pregancy as a cure response (long)From: Lorianne (anonymous@obgyn.net)Sun Jul 26 23:57:16 1998
Dear Margaret, Are you new to this forum? It sounds like you might be. WELCOME! I've had endo since I was 8, was diagnosed/confirmed by surgery at 19. I've tried most every mainstream drug therapy without success, meaning that I experienced side effects which caused me to discontinue OR I braved the side effects for the duration of the program and found that the side effects are now permanently with me. (Even though that one therapy Danocrine/Danazol was given to me nearly a decade ago, the side effects persist. My doctor said they would go away in time after stopping... so, believing that, I continued even when they got worse and worse.) And after each and every therapy, the symptoms returned once I discontinued. Unfortunately I also wanted children, so staying on some of the therapies were contraindicated for that. I was engaged to be married and was told I would need to prepare my body for child bearing by getting out toxins, etc . So I went on a surgery splurge. Surgeries have been the most helpful in the elimination of my endo pain; however, since I have a sometimes dangerous intolerance to general anesthisia, I must have these laser laprotomies and laproscopic surgeries under epidural means. However, I then trade one pain for another because my vertebrae ache for months after an epidural. This ache is constant and long lasting. Once my back feels better from the epidural, my endo comes back!! My endo discomfort is less than ten days of discomfort with four/five days of varing degrees of pain. And the surgery only gives me six months or less, like a couple/three months of pain relief before the pain returns With A Vengeance! So I've been stuck... and was told I would require extensive fertility program work to get pregnant. I was so desperate, so I followed a midwife's suggestion to try an herbal cleansing program (still searching for those notes and recipes, folks... some of my moving boxes are unlabelled except for which room in my previous house they were packed from; it has been frustrating!) followed by a hormone balancing herbal program. It helped some with the symptoms, but I wanted more instant relief. Anyway, I was told to be patient, which is hard to do when you are suffering, and also was told that it could take two, maybe three years until the most improvement would be observed. There were no guarantees. But I tried the program and stopped midway through my eighth month. I was PREGNANT! Boy did that surprise me!! I wasn't married yet!! I was engaged, but my wedding wasn't to be until June! My fiance (husband now) and I didn't use any other birth control because we were told it would be difficult to get pregnant, and fertility treatments were going to be needed. Even my ob/gyn was shocked. You see I had one ovary that was in good shape, but had a kinked, coiled, stretched and scarred-up fallopian tube... and although the other tube was still in fairly good condition, my ovary was such a disaster that my doc had to remove half of it. I've been pregnant and nursing (six months nursing plus with each) every year since Fall of 1993. These were glorious years for me! No endo symptoms AT ALL. Each of my three pregancies were easy, not even morning sickness! and all labor and deliveries were medically uneventful*, and every child was born without any anesthesia... the last two were delivered at home by my husband with the help of a certified nurse midwife who has a master's degree in medical science with obstetrics as her specialities. (* For my second pregnancy, I was carrying fraternal twins, but lost one at 6 1/2 weeks gestation and had a subchorionic tear in my endometrium where the twin had attached and then detached. After that healed, I carried my daughter to term and experienced the most gentle, relaxed labor in my bathtub and bedroom and had the easiest delivery at home in my bed (which my grandmother used to give birth to my father!) with candle light and instrumental music. I use the Bradley Method.) I was told by my many doctors that pregnancy is a cure for endo, and at that time in my life, I thought YEAH buddy... I'm free from endo! BUT, I'm now 13 months post partum from my third child, and it was early this year that endo began to rear its ugly head again. Each month got progressively worse. Until one month I went to the ER presenting with labor contractions, yet I wasn't pregnant but menstruating. After seven hours of tests and morphine. I was released with a diagnosis of severe dymenorrhea and two prescriptions for narcotics. No appenditis, no ectopic pregnancy, no ovarian cysts threatening to rupture... I felt foolish because I was so certain my life was being threatened by something like that. Well the endo is back and it was in full swing. So, in May, I started researching the ettiology (origin) of female reproductive diseases and then hormone balance and therapies used to attain hormone balance. You see I still thought I was "cured" from endo at this point and I was actually hoping it was some other more easily correctable problem. But, my obgyn saw me for a follow-up appointment two weeks later. (The day after my ER visit, his office made room in the schedule for me to see him that next day... but as I arrived, there was an ambulance at the entrance of his office. You can imagine my surprise when it wasn't a pregnant or otherwise woman being wheeled out, but the doc himself!! So, I was told to reschedule for the next day, pending on what was wrong with the doc. He ended up with an appendectomy, so I had to wait two weeks. I didn't want you think my doc wasn't taking my pain seriously.) Now it is important to note this doc has never treated ME for endo before now. My endo doc that did all the surgeries moved her practice to another state to be nearer her retired parents. So, without any background on me other than my last two pregnancies^ he diagnosed endometriosis. (^I saw both a midwife service and him for the last two pregnancies. I fired my first OB (with my firstborn) while I was on the delivery table for PROM (breaking my water) against my wishes because she wanted to apply an internal contraction monitoring device and infant scalp monitor which screws into the head of your baby. She knew from my birth plan I didn't agree to that as a routine procedure. And there was no evidence that my labor was in trouble. Anyway, she wanted to check my dilation progress, so I let her and without asking she said, "I'm going to break your water to speed up this delivery." and she did before I could stop her!! I fired her on the spot. It was embarrassing for the nurses because she was the head of obstetrics in that hospital. But they found I didn't need a "doctor" I was content with just the head nurses attending as another doctor was found for observation and for any necessary intervention. My baby was born naturally, no episiotomy and I left the hospital the next day. I was the only woman on the ward who did not have an epidural or something to help with the pain.) Quite frankly compared to kidney stones (I've had many) and endo, natural birth is less painful... but still very painful, however so rewarding. During my research of hormone balance, I came across some literature regarding progesterone. (I'm skipping that story.) I asked my doc for a prescription (He originally wanted to treat me with birth control pills BCP.) and he said, "Sure give it a try." So I am. I've only been on it for a month, so it is too premature to make any conclusions. I am having a good experience with it so far. My last menses was not as bad as the previous one. And, although I am not using the progesterone transdermal cream for total reproductive suppression (like Danocrine/Luprone, et al.), it can do that as well. I am using this cream because I am at my wits end (I am so tired of all the temporary fixes of both surgery and mainstream pharmaceutical programs with all the horrible side effects) and my husband and I still would like two more babies. Progesterone is absolutely safe for pregnancy, (in fact, it is used to prevent some miscarriages) so if I do conceive accidentally (the first three were unplanned and we prefer to plan the next two), I have no worries about contraindications. And, according to what I heard and seen so far, I can remain on the progesterone cream for life. I can also use the progesterone cream to help me conceive when we are ready to expand the family again. Plus there are numerous other benefits to it use. So there you have it from one person's experiences. I hope some other ladies will tell you if they have had any success with pregnancy being at least a temporary method of relieving endo. Each of us is physiologically different, what works for one may not work for another. And some people have had good or tolerable experiences on the drugs; however, they generally aren't used if you are trying to conceive. You didn't say if you were trying to have a baby now or trying to conceive now to escape endo. And since I didn't need a fertility specialist, I don't know tht angle. If you are willing to wait for a baby, you have more possibilities. But please research the drugs and natural options. Some of the effects of the drugs are long lasting and we simply don't know every nuance of their effects. I wish I had started off with non-invasive tactics first, then worked up to the stuff that harmed me. If I had done it that way, who knows, may be I never would have tried the Danocrine and would not be so sad about what it did to me. I wish for you a speedy discovery of fact finding through education and interaction. I offer you the suggestion to not allow discouragement let you loose hope. WE at are here to listen and offer our support as well as tell you our personal experiences. Don't hesitate to ask questions.. And ignore any disagreements among us; they are only based on misunderstandings of intentions, motives and meanings. And let's face it, we are women, and we are "sisters" in endo and sometimes get emotional. For instance, we experience frustration sometimes, like during circumstances that influence differing opinions and, of course, because of the confusion of this puzzling disease. Above all we offer so much to each other through our sharing. Sunshine, Lorianne -----Original Message----- From: anonymous@obgyn.net [mailto:anonymous@obgyn.net Sent: Sunday, July 26, 1998 6:08 PM To: anonymous@obgyn.net Subject: Re: Good doctors I would be interested in finding out more about different treatments of endo. Sometimes, I think that the doctors aren't always informed well enough. I have endo. But I am trying to get pregnant. So, my doctor told me that there isn't anything that he could do for my pain. I just need to get pregnant. I find that hard to believe. What do you think? Thanks. Margaret
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