Lupron question...again

Hi all,
This is my first post. My doc has reccomended a hyterectomy for fybroids. He suggests using Lupron before to shrink them. I'm still in the researching stage and not sure if I want to go thru with it yet. To be honest Lupron makes me nervous. I just lost 40lbs and I don't want to gain anything back. Also worried about mood swings. I have been reading other posts on Lupron. What are people's experiences...the good and bad ?

Hi Las45.
Here is my experience. I am 48 years old and have had fibroids for years.
I had all the horrible bleeding and periods that lasted for a week but would
still disrupt my life. I never had much pain, though. I finally got sick and tired
of it and decided on a hysterectomy. My uterus was the size of a 20 week
fetus. I was bloated and looked pregant.
Dr. suggested Lupron and said if the tumors shrank enough, he could
do a vaginal hysterectomy. I liked the sound of that. But the Lupron would
cause me to go into "chemical menopause" . That made me nervous. But
I decided to do it anyway.
I had a 3 month injection on Jan.2, 2008. After about 10-14 days, I started
having hot flushes, nothing serious. And I actually lost weight. By the
end of the month hot flushes turned into more serious hot flashes and night
sweats.
During the month of Feb., the dr. put me on "add-back" hormones- a little
bit of progestin and some estrogen suppositories. Oh, I forgot to mention-
I was having serious trouble with orgasms. I could have them but they were
not very intense. I hated that because I have always had a good sex life.
Well, the add back hormones helped with that and the night sweats. I was
sleeping better. But I gained about 6-8 pounds. And chlorestrol went from
200 to 237 and tryglycerides increased. The bad (LDL?) chlorestrol increased too. I did have mood swings and bouts of crying.

Come time for surgery, the fibroids did not shrink enough to have vaginal
hysterectomy. Had to have TAH. I told the dr. I wanted to keep my ovaries.
Well, he had to take one because it was on top of my uterus.

So now it's been almost 4 weeks since my surgery. I am still in menopause. I don't know if Lupron is still in my system. I can't seem to get an answer about how long it keeps estrogen production down. I am fearful that my ovary isn't going to "kick in" . If I stay in menopause, then I will regret
I have done any of this and lived with the heavy periods until natural menopause. It has had a weird psychological effect on me.
This is just my story. Some people have had a great success with Lupron.
And there are horror stories about it on the internet which BTW, I didn't
read until AFTER I had had the shot.

I guess the bottom line is if I had it to do over again, I wouldn't. If you
are close to the average age for menopause which is about 51 or 52 and
think you can "stick it out until then" I would not take Lupron.

I hoped this has helped you. It is very straight forward. I don't mean to
be a "Debbie Downer" .

Good Luck to you what ever your decision.

Marcy

For: Las45,

What type of hyst are you scheduled for?? That could influence your decision too.

I did (3) months of lupron shots. My reason was to shrink my fibroids enough for a less invasive hyst. I would do lupron again in a second to have my LSH again. On lupron, I went from having a 15 cm uterus with fibroids total to 9.1 cm total.

In my case, I did not gain weight on lupron. In fact I lost a few pounds. While on lupron, I did my best to eat right and continue my workouts at the gym.

All that being said...do what is *best* for you. That is what is most important.

Sending best wishes~

Mary

Glycine and hitsorylady,
Thanks for your stories. I'm 45 and not anywhere near menopause. My biggest fibroid is 10cm. I'm anemic, and have my period 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off. I have increadible cramping and all this is occuring after having an endometrial ablation 6 months ago. My doctor would like to shrink my biggest fibroid to try for a vaginal hysterectomy. To be honest, I've already had a C-section so an abdominal hysterectomy wouldn't bother me. I'm just trying to make a wise decision. He has offered me many options. I'm also toying with the idea of keeping my uterus and getting a myonectomy instead. It's not the surgery that scares me, it's the hormones.

Hi las, i had my first lupron shot 6 days ago..i had a headache not horrible for 5 days..today its better..im also very very tired..worse than from the anemia. im waiting for the hot flashes and sweats. im 44 yrs old and started lupron because of possible adenmyosis. lots of frequent heavy bleeding and anemia for about a year now. i have atough time just leaving the bathroom and have soked thru 3 pads an hour...horrible...anyway, docs suggestion is lupron for 3 mths to stop bleeding so my iron levels can come up..he said any procedure right now would result in transfusions..Than after 3 shots if i can handle them i am having a thermachoice ablasion..so that is our plan..i take 1 day at a time..anything to not have bleeding like that..its so scary! as far as weight gain, i am watching my food intake very closely, im too tired to walk right now,im hoping the exhaustion will pass soon. so i can get out there. I had 3 c-sections and im not scared of hysterectomy either..but why go to that first when this might work???

Dinko3,
Thanks for your response! Do you mind keeping us posted what your experiences are as you progress? Wishing you lots of energy and a quick end to your period : )
las

Hi las, no i dont mind at all..I am on this board every day.