There has to be a resolution

[strongfemale]

I have been suffering with endometriosis for years now. I have surgery the day after thanksgiving, this will be my third. I am tired of taking medications that sedate me because it only works for 30 min and then I am back in severe pain. Does anyone have any suggestions? I am looking for any advice. Tried a couple of pain management clinics and they stated they use meds inorder to control the pain!!!! Im confused? I want to find other ways inorder to find me relief, not medication!! So could you please help, I am willing to listen to anyone who has been through this or currently going through this now. Thanks and have a great day

[kimshaver10]

Silly question but how do you know if they are on your bowel?  I had my lap done on Sept 30th and just in the last week am not able to pass a bowel movement (I can get a little soft stuff out but that is it)  My abdomin is bloated, I feel full when I am hungry, I feel like I have to have a bowel movement but it just won't all come out!  I started having dull aches in my lower abdoman along with some sharp pains too (they also radiate to my back and also down into my hips)  The last four days I have vomited as well.  Does anyone know what could possibly be going on?!!

[designgyrl0112]

Just another thing you and I have in common.  I'd rather throw up every day of my life than have lupron again, or not have my hysterectomey. The hysterectomy cured the horrible pain, etc... I still have some adhesion problems but I can put up with that compared to what I had to deal with before.  

[Jaybay]

Hysterectomy was the only thing that finally got rid of the endo for me.  I waited waaay too long hoping to eventually conceive, but of course that was not to be.  I was almost 40 when I had the surgery - just the uterus and cervix was removed so I still have my ovaries and tubes.  Surprisingly enough, most docs recommend removal of the ovaries when endo is present since it needs estrogen to thrive.  By then I was in permenopause anyway so maybe the endo would have died off even without the surgery.  Who knows?  All I can say is that, as scary a proposition as surgery was, I should have done it years earlier.  Don't miss that equipment one bit!

The way your case is approached depends on your goals.  If you still want to have children, that's a game-changer.  A common approach is to do a laparoscopy and get rid of as much endo and adhesions as possible.  That is followed by a 6-month course of lupron (or some other similar) hormone to throw you into medical menopause) to starve off what is left.  THEN you have about a 3 to 6 month window to try to conceive, usually with extra hormones like clomid to increase your chances of conception.  All those hormones will turn you right on your ear and your poor husband (and everyone else in your life) won't understand why you're an emotional wreck.

If you can't face hysterectomy yet, about the only effective therapy is surgery and lupron.  Me, I'd rather roll through a bed of burning coals than touch lupron again, but some women have little or no side effects.  You won't know until you try it.

Another big problem with endo is the associated scar tissue, or adhesions, that form.  If they glue loops of bowel together, you live with partial bowel obstruction that may eventually go to full obstruction necessitating emergency resection surgery.  Like endo, adhesions don't show up on imaging studies, so the surgeon won't know what he's facing until he's inside your belly.  Adheliolysis can be a long, tedious process depending on how much scar tissue is present, and what structures it is glued to.

I've lived with adhesions for over a decade, and honestly, the pain meds just don't do much except for the very worst days when I'm more obstructed than usual.  If bowel adhesions are part of your problem, try going on a liquid diet for a few days and see if it makes your symptoms better.  Yeah, I know it sux, but a regular diet is impossible with bowel adhesions, and it IS possible to maintain good nutrition with liquids.  Anything with non-soluble fiber will lay me out for three days, so I can't eat many of the foods I really love like some fruits, veggies and bread.  

You've got some treatment options, but they all depend on what your ultimate goal is.  Pain meds alone won't help - or at least, not much.

[designgyrl0112]

To you both:

I had Lupron and it became a huge mess.  I had it three times and the last time I had it I had to have a lap done to stop bleeding (yeah, really.)  I want to tell you both that I know EXACTLY how you feel. I had six laps, and had one ovary removed due to endometriosis and adhesions. What finally happened was that my ovary started to hemmorage and they did a hysterectomy.  IT was the BEST thing that ever happened to me.  I have it three years ago and haven't had one pain since.  They took everything away and it's been wonderful. I was young 35 but it was well worth it.  My advice to you guys out there, if you've had children and want no more, find a obgyn that is willing to do the surgery, if you want children and are of age, then I'm very sorry you will have to just put it off.  But, I also want you to know that it may happen to you what happened to me.  I had a cyst that grew on the one ovary and then started to bleed and I had no other option, but like I said, I wish I would have had it done five years ago.  All the pain and medication, and ER visits and obgyn visits, surgeries, were totally unnecessary.  Please let me know how you guys are doing, and please feel free to email me if you have more questions.  I'm here for you.

Karen

[kimshaver10]

I have experienced the samething that you are...it is misrible!  I had my 3rd lap done two weeks ago for endo, they discovered no endo this time.  I had severe adhesions, my overies were attached to my abdominal walls and my utures as well but they were unable to detach it.  I am in just as much pain now as I was before.  It is so frustrating b/c the meds work at 1st but then you need more and more to half way stay pain-free...If you find anything else that works let me know!  Have you done lupron?  I basically refused it b/c I have some friends that did it and they said it was awful and didn't help!