hormones after laparoscopy: My sister has... - Endometriosis UK

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hormones after laparoscopy

LucieH profile image
5 Replies

My sister has endo too because we are one lucky family, and she had her lap almost a month ago. She was prescribed hormones (not BC) to stop her cycle for three months after her lap, but she has bad experiences with hormones and bc and she's reluctant to take the pills. She also has a dental surgery scheduled soon and will have to take antibiotics and doesn't want to mix them with the hormones. Is not taking the hormones an option? SHe already got her period after her lap before her check up when she got the pills prescribed, so she feels there's no point in taking the pills. She would ask her doctor, but the doctor is not exactly nice and understanding and she would just be mad at her for postponing the hormonal treatment.

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LucieH profile image
LucieH
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applebird profile image
applebird

If your sister was told to take hormonal treatment to stop her periods for three months it was to prevent endo growing back quickly in the recovery period when it is more likely to get a stronger hold.

To be blunt severe endo can cause people to lose their bladder or portions of their bowel if allowed to run rabid. If the endo recurs it will cause more damage and need further surgery quicker creating scar tissue which has its own issues. There is a massive point to following the treatment prescribed by her doctor.

Taking some pills for a few months is a very easy way to avoid a whole host of more major problems - I'd advise she start taking them immediately!

As for antibiotics - they work by attacking the functionality of bacterial organisms resident within the human body and have zero effect on human biology. The hormones will interact and change your sisters biological function. The hormones and antibiotic will not have any interaction as they work on two different organisms.

I hope everything works out ok x

LucieH profile image
LucieH

thanks for your reply. the thing is her endo was very non agressive and she went without symptoms for a very long time, so I think she doesn't yet comprehend the severity of her condition, and on the other hand she's had some issues while using the pill and has been reading online about all the negative side effects of using hormones and tends to believe that birth control pills are dangerous. she basically said endo might come back regardless of hormone treatment and she doesn't want to take "unnecessary" medication. I understand, but at the same time I worry about her because she doesn't quite understand what can happen if she lets endo grow. I think her doctor made a huge mistake when she just gave her some strong pills and never discussed with her what the pills are actually for, and her history with hormonal birth control. My doctor asked me what I thought of hormonal BC and how my body reacted to it before we even discussed hormonal treatment, and she explained to me why she thinks stopping my cycle would be beneficial. My sister was just given some meds that many people online complain about because of side effects. No wonder she is not following her treatment plan...

Krystyna15 profile image
Krystyna15 in reply to LucieH

I completely get both yours and your sisters point of view. I have PCOS as well as endo and was prescribed normal BC pills but 5 diff types made me suicidal... Once I was diagnosed officially with endo, they told me I had a choice of mini pill or mirena coil... As they were worried I didn't get periods so could end up with cancer...

I opted for mini pill as I've heard so many issues with the coil.

I would suggest you're sister going back to her gynae and quizzing them before taking anything!! Find out why? What will it do and what are the side affects... If she's a naturally depressive person please get this checked as hormone fluctuations can lead to suicide. (I'm not suggesting anything but for yours and your families peace of mind)

I hope this helps.

Xx

applebird profile image
applebird in reply to LucieH

I totally get the worries re. hormonal treatments. I had to try a few different pills before I found one that agreed with me. Have been on prostap twice for six months, first time fine, second time had to stop after 3 as it wasn't agreeing with me.

From what you're saying she's only been prescribed a 3 month course and it is pills rather than depot injections. If it doesn't agree with her she can just stop it and it'll be out of her system in no time! Endo is generally progressive so it's better to try and take preventative action if at all possible. She wouldn't say that insulin for a diabetic was unnecessary or beta interferon was unnecessary for an ms sufferer - so why say hormone treatment for an endo patient is unnecessary. The whole point is yes it will probably come back even with treatment but the damage caused to her will be less if she takes treatment.

Try and encourage her to talk to the doctor or yourself about her concerns.

LucieH profile image
LucieH

Thanks for your replies. The source of the problem is that her doctor (I used to go to the same so I know her) is not very friendly and she never discussed the treatment with her, she just have her the pills, and some doctors are quite mean if you ask them questions because they feel like you're questioning their professional authority. If she goes back there now and admits she started taking the pills late, the doctor will make a big deal out of it and wouldn't be very open to discussion. My sister likes the doctor, so she doesn't want to change drs. I hate the doctor, she was the one who sent me home when I was in tremendous pain and she said she couldn't feel anything during external, so that means I just have trapped wind. I had the same pain every month during ovulation, but she laughed at me and said it was trapped wind. I was so embarrassed that I never told her about any issues later. She made me feel like a hypochondriac. Well guess what years later the same pains started again after I stopped using the pill, I went to a different dr. and she found a big chocolate cyst on ultrasound. Said that I very probably have endo and that it would explain all my issues from years back.

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