endometriosis/estogen

I have had my uterus and ovaries removed. I had the surgeries due to endometriosis with bad lower back pain. Since my surgeries while on estrogen my back still hurts sometimes really bad just like before. But if I go off estrogen my back gets better. Am I feeding the endometriosis with the estrogen? I need to take something but not the kinds of estrogen that I have been on. I am on nothing right now and would like to be able to get on something different. Anyone out there with suggestions?

Hi,

I have been asking so many questions form the more experience sisters on the site, so i cannot profess to be
totally right here, but hee goes. It could be that your estrogen is still too high, can you not get your levels checked from the Docs then slowly try to introduce another type maybe a lower dosage than before. I understand how painful endo is myself, i am trying the progest cream as well as Sandrena gel 1mg daily, so far seems to be doing ok. Good luck in your search.
Bluemolly

Hi. I too had severe endo. My doctor had me take no estrogen for three months postop and to take a synthetic progestin to "burn out" any remaining microscopic endo. I don't know whether you went on estrogen right away or not. I think most doctors are now having their patients with estrogen wait to start estrogen for a time. I think some even recommend up to 1 year with no estrogen. You may want to discuss this with your doctor. As I said, I don't know what your situation is and whether you went on estrogen right away. I am endo pain free now and happy about that. Good luck.

You sound a lot like me. I was started on estrogen right away after my complete hyst for endometriosis. I was having severe surgical menopause symptoms after the first four weeks so my dose was upped. Then the abdominal pain started big time. I have since switched to several different hrts and at the higher doses I tried the abdominal pain is awful (can't work and spend all day doubled over). I can't say whether this is from endo or not. It could be a hormonal imbalance. But I also have extremely painful bowel movements (even though stools are usually normal or on the diarrhea side) and now a constant nausea, and I am on barely any estrogen (1mg Triest which is very low dose). My doctor tried adding prescription progesterone troches to help inhibit the endo growth but it made my nausea twice as bad. After 5 weeks of this, I stopped the progesterone for a few weeks. Then we tried using progesterone cream instead. Still the nausea worsened. I think it is because I am not balanced enough on the estrogen, therefore adding the progesterone is only throwing me off balance even more. In the meantime the cramps and sharp pains come and go but aren't as bad if I stay at the 1mg of Triest. But the surgical menopause symptoms are still rough at this dose. I do remember going through nausea every month before my hyst around ovulation and during my period. So that makes me suspicious. I too am at a loss as to what to do. The only sure way to find out if it is really endo acting up and causing the pain and nausea is to have another lap. I am not sure if I am ready for more surgery at this point. For now I am just trying to find the right balance of estrogen to see if it helps. I also did a stool test for my doctor to check for a yeast infection in my stomach and am waiting on the results. It seems that a lot of foods, vitamins, antidepressants, etc...agravate the nausea also.

As for your back pain, I have heard that certain hrts, like Vivelle Dot for instance, can cause some back pain if the dose is too high. What hrt are you on? Maybe if you do a search of the forums (see top right of screen for search link) with the type of hrt you use you may find others with similar experiences. What does your doctor say about this? I would be interested in hearing more about your situation. Please keep us posted on what you find out! Thanks.

I'll be having a tah with bso soon. I too have endometriosis. My doctor told me that there are new estrogens that are lower than what is birth control pills. I'm leary of it because I have had endo on my bowels and my back in the past. I think I'm going to try to do things naturally as long as I can, but I think it is really going to depend on where my endo is when I have the surgery before I make any definite decision.

Sharon

I am new to all of this as I had my hysterectomy on 1/18/06 due to severe endo. I travelled to another state to have surgery because I wanted it done via laparoscope and wanted someone skilled in excision of endo to do the surgery. My local gynocologist wants to put me on a combination of estrogen and progesterone. The surgeon felt he treated all of the endo and I only need estrogen. I am inclined to trust the surgeon and keep taking just the estrogen. But still wonder if I'm doing the right thing. Any thoughts on this?

dl0219,

That's a tough question to answer! With endo there are no guarantees that it is completely gone, especially since there is the possibility of microscopic endo. Each person's case is unique. Some women have permanent relief after a hyst and no problems with estrogen replacement, and then there are those that have continuing problems for years. You just have to make that decision for yourself, and keep your future options open.
The benefits of starting with estrogen only are that you are only dealing with one hormone replacement at a time, so it makes it easier to focus on the symptoms you are having with it and therefore find the right dose and type of estrogen and delivery system for your needs. Whereas if you took both estrogen and progesterone, and then had all these different symptoms going on or were finding it hard to get balanced, it would be difficult to tell which hormone you needed more or less of.
On the otherhand, progesterone is commonly prescribed post hysterectomy (as well as pre hyst) for women with endometriosis to ensure that any possible endo left behind will not continue to grow and cause problems. This approach is also not a guarantee that the endo will not continue to cause problems though. Progesterone also has many benefits to surgically menopausal women other than inhibiting endo growth. Though many doctors will tell us that we don't need progesterone without a uterus, they fail to tell us that progesterone also affects things like thyroid function, bone protection and growth, cognitive function, sleep, anxiety levels, water retention, urinary tract health, and more. We all have progesterone receptors throughout our bodies as well as estrogen receptors. We also make a small amount of progesterone through our adrenal glands. However, in some cases when we take an estrogen replacement and do not replace progesterone as well, the balance of estrogen to progesterone becomes tipped and this can also cause a myrrid of problems. Not every woman will need progesterone as well as estrogen post hysterectomy for balance, but many do. Here are a few links about progesterone and its benefits:
http://www.hystersisters.com/vb2/article_97232.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progesterone

So like I said, it is totally up to you whether you feel you want to try it or not. It is nice that one of your doctors is leaving that option open for you. But if you totally trust your surgeon, and feel that he/she is highly knowledgeable about hormone replacement, that's great! You can always start with the estrogen and then add the progesterone later. Or if you start to have problems, there is always the option of not taking any hormone replacement for some time, as many women with endo who had a hyst are told to do. I know that for me though surgical menopause has just been too overwhelming not to take hormones (I tried it for two weeks and I won't even go there!). For me, progesterone is like a compromise, except that now I can't seem to handle taking that either without the added nausea. I feel in my case I need to get balanced on the estrogen first. That's just me. Everyone is different. Sorry I didn't really answer your question, but I hope I gave you enough information to think about your situation more and enough info to approach your doctor with the questions you have. Good luck to you whatever you decided!