Zoladex?

My hysterectomy is not yet scheduled. My doctor wants me to have a zoladex injection and then wait a month for the cabbage ball sized fibroid that I have to shrink. That way he can do the surgery laproscopic. Does anyone have any experience with Zoladex?

He first mentioned Lupron, but my insurance will not cover that. Still trying to see if they will cover the Zodadex.

Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated.

Thanks!

I can not help you on the Zodadex. But I did have Lupron. I had the good and the bad. hotflashes, nightsweats, and (what was the other????)oh yea memory loss. the good was no peroid. I wish I could be more help.
Wish you the best.
Jenn

I had a one time shot in December of Lupron. It did little to nothing for my fibroids but did wonders for my wallet, ugh, in the wrong direction. That stuff is WAAAAY expensive. Having said that, I am glad that we did try to shrink the fibroids. Anything I can do to help make my surgical experience better is a good idea in my book. I also have not had a period since the shot! Woooo hooo! I know my fibroids are large (couldn't say exactly) and are in a bad spot (at the/a uterine artery) and I am still scheduled for a lapro, with the small possibility that he will have to open my abdomen.
Sorry, I don't know anything about the other drug you mentioned. Good luck!

Hugs
Kathy

I have experience with Lupron. And yes, the injections are very expensive (and some-what painful). I'm thankful for my insurance and it paid 90% towards the cost (still cost close to $60 each).

Did your gyn do a transvaginal ultrasound? Mine did. Thats how he knew my uterus and fibroid were too large at the time for him to perform an LAVH on me. The uterus at that time was 14-week sized. I had 4 Zoladex injections (Sept., Oct., Nov., and Dec., 2004). Before the 4th injection a second ultrasound was performed. Uterus and fibroid still a little too large, so I received the 4th and final injection. (Boy did it leave a bruise!) Uterus was at 10 and 1/2 weeks then and gyn felt it would shrink with the final injection at the beginning of Dec. in order to perform an LAVH on Dec. 28. Surgery was performed as scheduled with no complications. And no complications during initial recovery. All I had was a little granulation about 5 months after my hyst.

So, yes, the Zoladex did work. I had my last period about 11 days after the first injection. Started having hot flashes about 3 and a half weeks after the first injection--gyn prescribed agestyn to stop those. I didn't have any night sweats or memory loss (lucky in that regard).

I hope the insurance company will pay a substantial part for your Zoladex injections, and that the Zoladex will enable you to have your hyst laparoscopically.

Good luck to you!

Carol

	Quote:
Originally Posted by Iamreadynow My hysterectomy is not yet scheduled. My doctor wants me to have a zoladex injection and then wait a month for the cabbage ball sized fibroid that I have to shrink. That way he can do the surgery laproscopic. Does anyone have any experience with Zoladex? He first mentioned Lupron, but my insurance will not cover that. Still trying to see if they will cover the Zodadex. Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated. Thanks!

I took 5 Zolodex shots, but for a different reason. We tried it because I have endo and adeno. We were trying to stop my pain. It worked for me! After 3 shots, my dr told me my next option was a hyster. I did 2 more shots while we scheduled my hyster. I had a LSH/BSO on feb 7th and I feel like a new woman. The shots are pretty nasty~they put a capsule under your skin in your stomach~just make sure they don't pinch the skin when they do it. The instructions say to do that, but when they do~IT HURTS!
If you have anymore questions~let me know!

BTW~my insurance statements say that each shot was over $600! Per shot!

Thanks for the info. I am sure not looking forward to the IT HURTS part, but looking forward to getting this all moving in the direction of a better life.