zoladex injections, what to expect?

After my being left hung high and dry by my specialist for 6 months and being told to take my contraceptive pills back to back i have managed to convince the specialist that it really wasnt helping me at all. He then told me my next step is to try zoladex injections for 3 months, he gave me my first one there and then and told me it wont fully start working until my second injection. What can i really expect?

[JenH]

Different people react differently to Zoladex, I had horrible side effects last year when I was on them, but the pain relief outweighed the hot flushes and constant crying as it was only for 6 months (side effects only were for 5 months really). The worst for me was the mood swings but with luck you wont have any bad effects from Zoladex. I am on the marina long term and that has been much more effective pain relief than the pill, maybe on your next visit you could speak to your Doc about the coil as long term treatment?

Hope this helps you.

[lauravarn]

I had my first zoladex injection 3 weeks ago. I won't be having another one!

The bone and joint pain has been awful; even the back of my skull hurts. Tramadol doesn't touch the pain. My calf muscles feel like they've been cut in half and can't hold me up.

The mood swings are really rough, too, and the hot flushes for me aren't just hot flushes - they feel like panic attacks with an adrenalin rush that makes my pulse spike 140 or more.

I am spending most of my days in bed lying down; as an academic I can work at home a lot at the moment, but it's not doing my morale any good to feel so limited in what I can do.

I don't think the injection is worth it for me- these side effects are worse than the effects of endometriosis.

[CharlieSays]

You are also likely to experience the 'flare stage' within 14 days of your 1st injection - you may have a period and pain, some women find it is worse than normal (I didnt, thankfully). After this, things should settle down and hopefully you will be period and pain free for as long as the injection lasts. There are, unfortunately, lots of possible side effects (I had depression, mood swings and insomnia 1st time around, but HRT has helped this time) but each woman is different. If the monthly injections work for you, your consultant may suggest having 3-monthly ones, but don't feel forced into it if it doesnt agree with you. There is a wealth of info on here about zoladex (also prostap and GNRH analogues) side effects etc. which you can search.

[Hidden]

Im not sure what to do. Im definitely getting the hot flushes, feel 100000000000 degrees at some points and i have definitely noticed a lot more symptoms of my endo since i've been on this injection, even more than i was on back to back pills, but i can still kinda cope. Im due my second injection on the 15th, not too sure i want it.