Looking for Options & Opinions on Multiple Issues.

Hi,

... and a little bit emotional right now.


I'm 37, been dealing with painful, heavy, extremely irregular periods since I was 13, but it wasn't until three years ago that I finally had a female OBGYN who took my complaints seriously. They ended up going into do a lap removal of a large complex cyst (endometrioma) and diagnosed and removed what they could of my Stage III endometriosis. Since my insurance would not cover a endo specialist, I continued to see my OBGYN who had me on a series of different bc pills over the past three years for treatment. Took probably a year before we found one that my body could handle and that worked great for the almost two years. Until it didn't.

The past six months have been pretty much daily pain and has kept me from being able to do so many things. On top of the pelvic pain which shoots down my legs, I've been dealing with chronic migraines which started about the same time.

I tried to get into the Violet Petal Study, but was denied because I'm bipolar.

My OBGYN wanted to do Lupron, which I have reservations about because of the Bipolar, but she feels confident we can manage it.

However she decided to run tests first and she found another medium endometrioma, as well as cervical dysplasia which is recurrent now for the third time (two previous LEEPS). I'm also waiting for the results of an endometrial biopsy. My doc has now stopped talking Lupron and I fear because of the conglomeration of problems and my severe pain, that hysterectomy is going to be her recommendation next.

Part of me would do anything to get rid of this pain, and just wants to be done with it. However, I'm single, no kids and not sure how I feel about giving that up. Then again, there's no guarantee that keeping anything would bring kids either or that it's what I can handle in the end with all my other health issues.

Just looking for any advice, or experiences that anyone would like to share. I have several friends who have had TAH and have said it was the best thing ever for them. However, they all had finished having kids at the time. So really, it feels like a different decision. Just looking for thoughts.

Also if there is a better place to post this question... please let me know. I'm trying to navigate this site and it's so helpful...but it's vast!

Head over to the Endometriosis Forum! There are lots of us over there!

Also there probably are specialists who take your insurance, I have a basic HMO and 3 out of 5 specialist centers in my area take my insurance.

It just takes lots of hunting, and sometimes extra driving.

I have a history of severe depression (like on the floor catatonic waiting to die) and CPTSD so I was scared of Lupron for mental health reasons too. However, I worked closely with my PCP and gynecologist and did ok. Doing the addback progestin also really helped with the mood issues, prior to starting that I did have some dips of depression though within a week of starting the progestin I was ok. I am also on an SSRI to prevent depression.

Thanks Willow82

I will definitely check out the Endo Forum. If we go forward with the Lupron, my GYN says it's really the first 15 days that are really troublesome, so she's already started me on a low dose of Progestin ahead of time, and will increase it when we start...then we are coordinating with my PDOC to most likely increase my Celexa starting a few days before... and then she's said she'll be available to get me in same day if anything else starts going haywire and we need to do more adjustments so I'm feeling much more confident about that than I was before talking to them both and having them talk to each other (which I think is key). I have just heard some horror stories about the Lupron Depot, but I think the horror stories tend to get vented much more often than the success stories and I very much trust my GYN and my PDOC so I feel I'm in good hands if we go that route. They aren't going to just leave me hanging.

It's the waiting to know what is actually happening next that is the hardest right now.

	Quote:
Originally Posted by spriteyone Part of me would do anything to get rid of this pain, and just wants to be done with it. However, I'm single, no kids and not sure how I feel about giving that up. Then again, there's no guarantee that keeping anything would bring kids either or that it's what I can handle in the end with all my other health issues.

Dear spriteyone:

If you aren't ready to give up on your fertility, that's a very valid reason to seek out non-hyst treatments. Once you DO have a hyst, then your guarantee is that you won't be birthing a child.

Get smart about your symptoms and your options, and make the best choice for you. I am sending huge cyberhugs

Thanks for the cyber hugs. Much appreciated. I'm just starting to feel like it's something I need to come to terms with. I don't want to keep hoping things will get better or that I will be able to have a child someday and end up all the more horribly disappointed in the end.

I think it's a process coming to terms with something like that though. I feel much worse for women who had no choice, no notice ahead of time, just went in for emergency surgery and came out with all of their options gone. I'm lucky in that way I suppose.

Has anyone had success with the Lupron treatments, and if so how much and how long?

I'm also curious about people dealing with multiple issues or areas of disease like me, and if any have had success with alternative treatments.

Thanks guys!!