Lupron (kinda long)

Out of the blue today, the surgeon who is supposed to do my surgery called me. (I was impressed) I had met him once about 18 months ago but opted to not to have a hysterectomy at the time. I saw his nurse practioner last week who had recommended I have surgery due to the uncontrollable bleeding I am having. She had me on 3 Ovcon 50mg tabs daily (only for a few days) and I am still bleeding lightly. He really flipped out about it and told me if I continued to take such a high dose I was risking a blood clot in my legs due to my weight and age (39).
He wants me to consider taking a Lupron shot to put a halt to my bleeding and sending me into menopause immediately until I can have surgery. I have heard a lot of bad stuff about Lupron injections and I rejected it the last time 18 months ago because of all the hype.

The doctor told me I could try to slowly reduce my Ovcon down to 50 mg and see what happens. If I start bleeding heavily I will have to either take the Lupron or speed up having my surgery. I scheduled it for May 23rd. I was hoping to be able to wait until school was out so my daughter and a niece might be able to work in my place at my mother's cafe.

I feel like things are out of my control. I have always dealt with the pain I had but the bleeding has made me anemic and I am so tired and I can see I have no choice about the hysterectomy. I am also having a hard time taking the iron pills. Everyone I have been prescribed makes me sick and the birth contol pills make me about nauseated as much.

Any experiences with Lupron positive or negative will be appreciated. I want to know what I might be getting into. Any tips on how to keep the iron from making me sick would be a great help too.

Thanks,

Shelle

I was on Lupron for two months last year to shrink my fibroids for hysteroscopic myomectomy. I didn't have ongoing bleeding, so I can't address that. I had a worse than usual period right after (usual with Lupron), then missed one. I had hot flashes and problems sleeping and it seemed to me that my acne got a little worse. But that was it.

No joint pain or any of the other scary stuff that some women have.

Just thought you'd like to hear that not everybody gets that.

Good luck with whatever decision you make!

I'm on Lupron right now - getting 3rd shot tomorrow. I don't know if it has done anything or not. I felt lots worse for the first 6 weeks. More pain, although that seems to have finally leveled off. BUT, I'm an endo sufferer.

I have not suffered any of the bad side effects many people talk about. Also, I am on add-back HRT to try to avoid those side effects.

The Lupron has not stopped my periods, rather the opposite. I have had longer ones more often over the last couple of months. However, they have been really slow ones. I feel like I am wasting Maxi Pads, but need more than a panty liner.

Good luck with your decision. It is a personal one. You might also look into a couple of the other drugs similar to Lupron. They don't appear to have side effects as bad - at least the publicity isn't there about them.

Lupron was really a mixed bag for me, although right about now I'd give my 16 year old D.D. for another more! (Please, someone take her!) My shots were post-laparoscopy to keep me from making endometrium in all the wrong places. After 15 years of agony during & between periods, it was nearly PARADISE to be relieved of my abdominal pain, but it was almost immediately exchanged for another pain- all my old joint injuries came back to haunt me; hip, toe, jaw (I'm a mess for a 42 year old). Against my anti-HRT sentiments, I went on Prempro and had some relief, if not total. The good thing was: no abdominal pain, no periods, no hot flashes, my night sweats ended (after 3 years!) and "marital relations" were taken to a new height, unimaginable to the youth of today.
I have returned to the hormone jungle, and my DH, DD and I want the old queen of the desert back. Menopause doesn't scare me anymore, I've been there briefly and survived. In May I will be there for GOOD and just pray that I can survive another 6 weeks!

I received my 5th shot on the first of March. I'm not going to have my 6th on the first of April because my surgery is April 9.

My bleeding stopped. The side effects have been mostly annoying. One should expect the same symptoms that one would get from menopause: hot flashes, night sweats, problems sleeping, mood swings, etc. As I was told my the injection nurse, if one has difficult PMS then one might expect stronger effects from menopausal symptoms. I don't know if that is true or not. I only know I don't have PMS and I had very mild hot flashes, no sweating, no problems sleeping etc. I have experienced some mild hair thinning and am told that it begins to regrow about a month after the last injection.

I believe you said your surgery is going to be in May. You would probably only have 3 injections by then so perhaps you would not experience much in the way of symptoms. I did not at first and asked about it and was told the further along I got the more symptoms I might have, the same with advancing into menopause.

I have some noticeable difference in my knees and am unsure if the stiffness in them is from the Lupron. I'm not unhappy with what has happened to me. I know it is not advisable to receive more than the series of 6 injections because of bone mass loss. This would happen in menopause also (osteoporosis).

Wishing you a clear mind for good decision making!
Hugs,
Miranda

Hello I started Lupron last August. Took monthly injections for three months (due to Endo). I did Excellent, was feeling great, no Endo pain. So my DD decided to give me a Three month injection at ONE time.....Well, thats when everything fell apart. My pain came back, so bad this time I could not get out of bed for three days straight, finally I gathered enough strenght to call my DD and everything was a side effect of the shot. They called in a small dose of estrogen to counter act it, but then my ENDO pain came back. I know the Lupron shot worked because I still have not had a period (Praise God!) since August. I had another Lap in January and my ovaries were smaller (which is what they are supposed to due on the shot.) Plus my doc said that if the pain I was feeling was due to the Endo then my pain would go away, but if it is from scar tissue and adhesions then the pain would not. I had a little of both. I did gain some weight with the shot, which is a side effect. But, if I had to do it over again I would. Now, I am schedule for a hyst since the Lupron did not work. Lupron for me was only a short term fix. At the time we had not decided to quit have children. But, now we have. We are very blessed with the girls we have. I hope you find all the answers you need, this site is wonderful.

I took 2 Lupron shots to try to stop my heavy bleeding that went on for weeks at a time. I was extremely anemic and the DD was trying to get my blood built back up. Unfortunately, the Lupron did not work for me. I continued to bleed after each injection. I did not have any of the other side effects either (thank goodness). After the 1st injection I had a really bad episode of bleeding and decided it was time to have my hysterectomy. My DD gave me the 2nd injection hoping it would help to stop the bleeding and help me build up my blood level for the surgery. Like I said before, the bleeding did not stop, but it was not as heavy as it had been. I had my TAH/BSO last Monday, and I feel great. It is so nice to think I will never have to go through the horrible bleeding, severe anemia any more. It is truly a decision you have to make. I am glad you are looking in to others experiences. I am not sorry I took the shots, I'm just sorry they didn't work for me. Best of luck!

I started on Lupron monthly injections last october after my lap that diagnosed endo. I took four injections and it did help my pelvic pain to go away and no periods (hooray), but I did experience bad headaches and joint pain in my hips and shoulders. Sometimes the hip pain was so bad I could not walk. I also suffer with TMJD (jaw joints) and I think it affected my joints there too...I had reconstructive surgery on both jaw joints not too long ago and they have been hurting more than they were before I started on the Lupron. I am 42 and my husband had a vasectomy 12 years ago after our second baby was born, so more children for us was not an issue. I told my dr I could not stand the Lupron anymore and I was ready for the hyst. I had my surgery (TAH/BSO) the day before I was due to get the fifth Lupron injection. I did have one "normal" period after the first injection, but then after that no more periods. And the pelvic pain does increase at first which is normal because the drug makes your ovaries go into a kind of overtime production before they shut down, so that makes the endo pain worse for a time, but then it does subside. I had tremendous pain for about two weeks, but then it gradually went away by the time I got the second shot. I didn't have many hot flashes or night sweats because I was on add back hormone therapy....and personally I think my ovaries weren't TOTALLY shut down during the time I was on Lupron because now I'm having a lot of hot flashes and night sweats after my surgery (ovaries gone). I kind of wish I hadn't gone on the Lupron, but the insurance companies want you to try everything before they'll approve major surgery. And for me I wanted to really see if my pain would go away and how my body would react to menopause....but in reality I don't think it was a factual representation because I still had my ovaries although they weren't working like totally normal because of the Lupron. Sorry I'm babbling....

It does help to shrink the uterus and ovaries prior to surgery which can make the surgery a little easier with less blood loss. My dr also told me he didn't find any active endo lesions when he got in there which was good....and he didn't think I would need to go without HRT post op because of that. I'm still hacking my way thru the hormone jungle...hopefully there's a clearing coming up soon!

Thanks to all of you who have replied. I have researched some more on Lupron and I am still reluctant to use it. I suppose if I hadn't had children and it was my last hope to I might. I have enough health problems without the possiblity of adding new ones. Since it is only a couple of months maybe I will be able to hang in there without the Lupron or maybe I can come up with another solution. The doctor really wants me to quit the birth control pills all together but conceded to allow me to take just the one 50 mg tab a day. Maybe it will slow it down enough so that my blood
levels won't drop. If not I just may have to have that surgery sooner than I wanted too. I found out today that my brother and his wife will be moving back to town later this week or next. She has agreed to work for me if I need her to even though she is just getting over major surgery and spent 27 days in the hospital (colostomy reversal with subsequent infection). She is doing well now and has made me more willing to consider going in sooner if need be. I guess prayers are really answered.

Shelle

All this talk about Lupron made me really think about the months since my first shot, last June. I got the 3 month shot, and as I said the joint pain was unbearable within 48 hours. The second shot was at the end of August, and I had a period a week later, so I got another 3 month shot.
Since January, I have been having strange heart symptoms (pounding, racing) which I now wonder if it could be related, since I have NO past heart problems. I had a Holter monitor last week and don't know the results yet. My TAH BSO in mid-may can not happen soon enough, but I need to know if my heart is OK.
Now, I am not so sure I would mess with something as big and unknown as Lupron, and in fact I would like to be off all medication whatsoever if possible!
I am deep in the Jungle and wonder where I will find a clearing!