Endo/Adenomyosis?

[Hayley723]

I just went to gyn today...didn't get to far as usual-she actually told me I was her last appt. and she wanted to get the hell out of there!! Nice huh! Anyways, she gave me stronger birth control pills to try to see if it helps the pains and random periods I'm getting, but she said she thinks I have endo or adenomyosis, but if the pills stop the pain then I'm fine we can leave it at that. Otherwise she wants to do a lap. My question is if it is either one of those things (esp. endo) will it ever affect my fertility~I want another baby and she said since I got pregnant once with out any problems I'll be fine-is that true. But don't both these things get worse with each period? She also suggested trying depo-lupron I think she said...what will that do for me? What can be done to diagnose/treat adenomyosis? Any info is very much appreciated!!! Thanx!!!!!

[juliesmom]

I don't know anything about adenomyosis, sorry.  As far as the endo affecting your fertility, how old are you, have you ever had a lap and if so, what stage did they say your endo was?  I suffered for about 10 years before I had a surgical diagnosis of endo and by that time it was already stage IV.  If yours is stage I or II, you need to get it under control pronto!  I waited and now my RE tells me that it's too bad to be able to conceive naturally and IVF is my only choice.  Endo emits chemicals into your body that, to put it bluntly, pretty much repel sperm and make a bad environment for conception.  IVF allows you to bypass all of those issues since the embryo is implanted directly in the uterus.  So, to answer your question, endo does not make you infertile, it just poses a lot of challenges when it comes to getting pregnant.  Don't give up hope :)

There are 2 drugs you could be talking about, Lupron Depot and Depot Provera.  Lupron puts your body in to a false state of menopause, depriving the endo of the estrogen on which it thrives, therefore growth is stopped and possibly the endo that's already there will shrink...it won't go away though, the only way to get rid of what is there is to do a lap.  Depot Provera could also be used to treat the endo since it's a birth control and will also supress the estrogen, much like common bc pills.  I have a friend who is using Depot to control her ovarian cysts, with great success.  Lupron has the normal side effects of menopause, but when you quit taking the injections the side effects go away.  You'll get an injection once a month at your doctors office.  I've had 2 rounds of it, 3 months the first time and 6 months the second.  The thing about Lupron Depot is that it's very expensive, like $500 a shot, and insurance is reluctant about paying that unless you have a surgical diagnosis, and preapproval.  If your insurance approves it, you'll just have your prescription co-pay.  You'll probably have to go to the pharmacy first and get the prescription, then to your doctor for the shot.  If the stronger bc pills don't help your pain, I suggest you go ahead and do the lap...it's better to have the peace of mind afterwards because you know for sure what you're dealing with then.  Good Luck!
Shelley

[Hayley723]

Thankyou-lots of info!! What does dept provera do to you, do you know of any side effects and does it stop your period or no? I'm afraid like you said if it goes untreated for too long with out us knowing exactly what it is, then it will be harder to get pregnant and I don't want to take any chances if it's something I can prevent. I see what other people like yourself go through and I just can't imagine what it must be like and how you stay strong everyday! I don't think I could do that....lots of props to you!!! I have a question unrelated.....with endo do you get sharp shooting pains in your butt/bowels during your period? Also, are you saying in order to get either shot or at least the lupron that you have to have a lap first to verify you need the shot in order for insurance to pay for it? Thankyou soo much for your info!!

[juliesmom]

Yes, I do have bowel pain, and trouble going to the bathroom...it sucks!

What I meant was that you'll have much less trouble with your insurance if you have a surgical diagnosis of endo and choose the Lupron Depot as your course of treatment...at least that was the case with me.  The Depot Provera is probably not a drug you'd have that problem with as it is a common form of bc and lots of people use it.  You don't have to have a lap, but with your symptoms I'd suggest you do ahead and do it...if found early endo is much more manageable.

[Hayley723]

Ok..what do you think about if this next pill she gives me thats stronger, if it gets rid of my pain/period issues, do you think I should still do lap or will the pill keep everything under control until I have a baby. I'll still be getting my period so does that make the issues worse and possibly difficult to get pregnant when I'm ready? If that question makes sense!!

[juliesmom]

If she's giving you this pill as a treatment to possible endo you should not be having periods at all.  She should have put you on them continuously.  When your cycle comes to the point that your period should start the estrogen in your body is at a very high level, you don't want that.  Endo needs estrogen to survive so you want to supress the estrogen.  Call and ask her if you can try taking them continuously and not have periods.  If you have less or no pain when you take them all the time and don't have periods it's a pretty good indicator that you do have endo.  If you continue to have periods the endo will continue to grow and if you're stage I now, depending on your case, you could be stage IV eventually and be in the same boat I'm in.  If I were you, I'd call her today and tell her that you want to try taking them every day, skipping the inactive pills...if she agrees she'll need to give you a prescription stating that and the pharmacy will probably have to call for preapproval before they can give you a refill, it will look like you're getting them too early and they'll want to know why.

[Hayley723]

Ok.....so I'm assuming not getting my period will keep me in a safe zone for getting pregnant in the future!? Sorry, I just want to be thorough and make sure I understand everything exactly. Thankyou so much I think I get it all now haha!!!

[juliesmom]

That's pretty much it, your best bet is to have the lap, get rid of what's already there and go on a continuous course of bc until you're ready to conceive.  The bc will help to keep it at bay.

[Kay0201]

Hi if I was you I would def talk to your doctor about doing a lap because it is better safe than sorry. I had mine done when I was 17 and the doctor found I had endo pretty bad, don't know what stage it was, I never knew there were stages of endo until I joined this web site. Then I was put on birth control and a shot I had to take for 4 months was not for sure what the shot was until this web site as well at the way people are talking it is the lupron shot. Then almost a year later I had forgot to take my birth control and had gotten pregnant after the doctor said I might not be able to have a baby and I was so gad. But if you wait to late you may not be able to have another baby if you want to. Because endo can make it hard to get pregnant if not impossible to get pregnant if not caught early. So you may want to talk to your doctor about having the lap done. I hope I was of some help. Good luck
Amanda

[Hayley723]

Thankyou...I keep thinking that as well, if I don't catch it now it may be too late. Especially since I still get my period on the pills. She told me if I already had a baby then I'll be fine, but based on how fast my symptoms came and how they are persisting, I keep wondering. Who knows, maybe it's spreading very fast for some reason, they say every persons case is different! I also just started to get extremely sharp (knife-like) shooting pains from my rectum area to my left ovary area, which is where I've had constant pain for months now. I'm stumped and will be VERY pissed if they put it off too long! But thankyou for your info!! Everything helps...did you notice any difference in pain, etc..after you had your baby?

[Kay0201]

Well I don't know how true it is when your doctor says if you have already had a baby you will have no problem having another one because my oldest sister when she had her first son he was premature and died after a few days she had problems during her delivery and she found out she had endo but a few years after that she had taken fertility drugs to get pregnant and was lucky to get pregnant again but some time after she had a hysterectomy. Well after I had my daughter I decided I wanted to get the depo shot instead of the pill because I did not want to get pregnant again (I can't remember to take the pill). So I never had a period for 3 years, but still had a lot of back pain, until here recently I decided to have the IUD merina (spelling ?) put in Feb 2006 and did not have a period but in Jan 2007 I started having periods with heavy bleeding so bad I had went to the bathroom one day and when I pulled my pants down before I could sit on the toilet I had a clot of blood come out of me and hit the floor the size of the palm of my hand. Before my periods end my blood gets dark almost black and has a very bad order so bad it smells like a dead animal. So I am needing to get to my doctor and get things checked out because I think it is my endo. I am having a lot of back pain but I am not for sure if it is because of my disc in my back (I have had 3 back surgeries) or endo. Plus when I am on my period I hurt very bad and sometimes during sexual intercourse. Well I hope I was of some help to you.
Amanda