Dr. thinks my endo is back and cause of groin pain

No more HRT for me for a while. I had my hyst in Sept. for endo and my dr. started me on Vivelle right away. Within a few weeks I started having groin pain. In Dec. I went back to see him because of the pain and other problems with Vivelle. At the time he thought I had a groin pull. He switched me to Estratest HS. The groin pain improved but the estratest caused me other problems so a month ago he switched me to Estradiol. The groin pain came back immediately. I cut the dose in half and the pain decreased a little but not much. Finally last Friday I quit taking my HRT. I saw the dr today and he thinks the endo is back and causing my pain. So far I'm not having any problems without HRT but it's only been four days. I know it will come. He told me to go as long as I could without it and then try Loestrin24Fe since it has progesterone to help fight the endo. He gave me four months worth of samples.

Will going without HRT for 5-6 months totally kill of the endo? Is that a safe time span to aim for?

On top of all that my right breast has grown a lot bigger in size over the past couple of months and I have some hard ridges on the outerside. My dr. has scheduled an ultrasound for next Monday. My Mom had breast cancer so this scares the life out of me. BTW, I'm 39 years old.

Oh no! This is no fun for you at all!

The endo is my worst fear. I am still on HRT because I can't stand the hot flashes, etc. But I am so afraid the endo will get worse. I know it is flaring up because I feel like I have a pulled muscle in my abdomen. But, I don't want to stop the HRT! From what I've read and discussed with my doctor, the chances of it completely going away ever are very slim. I have patches on my bowel and diaphragm that can't be excised in surgery.

Thanks for the support. Endo really complicates things, doesn't it.

My GYN put me on a progestin for the first six months instead of estrogen, hoping it would help with the hot flashes, night sweats and insomnia. And it seemed like it did for a little while. But by the six month, I was ready for the estrogen. The GYN is hoping that we waited long enought for the old estrogen to die off. And he put me on Premarin 0.625 hoping that it is a low enough dose that the endo won't come back, but enough to take care of the problems. Only time will tell, I guess. But you are right. Having endo sure does complicate things.

LazyLoo,

It sounds like I have the same problems with estradiol that you are discussing here. I get a pain in my left groin every time I start on the Vivelle Dot. I also get it on estradiol tablets. I did not experience this problem on Cenestin or Enjuvia (but had other problems).

I even tried the lowest dose patch and the groin pain came back after five weeks. It was not as bad, but it sure hurts right where my underwear rubs. I also get pretty bad back pain with the patch as well. I don't know why that is, it must be swelling or something. My NP said the patch feeds different areas of the body (gets in to smaller blood vessels) compared to the oral forms so maybe this is the reason for the pain. I asked her about the groin pain and she thought this could have something to do with it. I too had endo (still do). I was stage IV when I had my hysterectomy.

It's good to know that I'm not crazy afterall! I've been having groin pain for the past year and back pain. I had terrible endo as well. And I thought it might be the endo coming back, but didn't want to believe it. I'm taking Estradiol, 3 mg. I don't know what to do. I just don't feel like my doctor really listens to my problems and thinks he cured the endo with the hysterectomy. (like it can't come back) But, everything I've read says it can. Oh well. It's nice to know I"m not alone. Having endo. is so hard to deal with. It makes you second guess yourself and pain all the time. I'm praying for all of us.

Ok, stupid question coming...I thought if Dr. removed both ovaries than the endo couldn't come back? My Dr. said that ovulating was the cause of endo - reading this post scares the bejesus out of me! I'm currently on estridiol 1mg. & have my 6 wk check next Thursday for TAH/BSO on 2/14 so would like to get as much information before I head in there. I swear if endo comes back after all this I'll lose my mind! Sorry for the venting...

I agree that endo sure complicates trying to regulate hormones after a hysterectomy. I did notice when I tried a low dose of Cenestin oral estrogen I did not have the back or groin pain (I just couldn't sleep). I did have hip pain on Enjuvia, but the groin and back pain did not return. I did not try low-dose Premarin long enough to know how that would have effected my body (I had a one-week sample). I have read that Premarin has the longest half-life and that may be helpful for keeping hormone levels steady on an oral form, but I don't know.

Several doctors have told me it is the up and down of estrogen that feeds endo, not a consistent level. But if this is true, I wonder why the groin and other endo pain returns on the patch. Unless I am not getting the consistent level on the patch that I thought I was. I feel my worst on oral estradiol because it shoots the estrogen level up quickly then drops it pretty low after three hours.

One other thought is the NuvaRing for the younger ladies. My daughter has serious endo and has had five surgeries for it in the last six years and they just put her on the NuvaRing because that is showing the best promise for controling the endo. She has not had a hysterectomy (yet) but I have read other posts from the younger ladies that they were given the NuvaRing after a hysterecomy to control the endo. It may be worth a call to your doctor. I am almost 50 and would not want to try it. You can do a search on this website and put in the NuvaRing to see what comes up.

	Quote:
Originally Posted by hei35 Ok, stupid question coming...I thought if Dr. removed both ovaries than the endo couldn't come back? My Dr. said that ovulating was the cause of endo - reading this post scares the bejesus out of me! I'm currently on estridiol 1mg. & have my 6 wk check next Thursday for TAH/BSO on 2/14 so would like to get as much information before I head in there. I swear if endo comes back after all this I'll lose my mind! Sorry for the venting...

Estrogen is what feeds endo so if you have your ovaries removed it will stop but if you use estrogen hormone therapy then you run the risk of "feeding" the endo.
When I was in the hospital they put a patch on me and I asked my dr. shouldn't I wait several months to make sure the endo dies off but he said new studies show it doesn't matter. Apparently it does!
He doesn't know for sure that it is the endo causing my pain but he says all signs indicate it is. Strange thing is I never had this kind of groin pain before the hyst. Makes me wonder if it couldn't be something else.

I also noticed the pain got much worse on the oral estradiol than the patch.

Thanks Jazzyloo - something I wouldn't have thought of discussing with my Dr. but definately going to now. Good luck to you & I hope they figure out something that makes your pain stop.