Mid cycle pain after lap

[Runner90]

Hi,

I had a laparoscopy about 4 weeks ago where the doctor burned off 'a medium amount' (his words, I have no idea how much is considered a medium amount!) of endo.

Prior this this I pretty much was symptom free, except that I used to get a really intense pain (that felt like period pain) while running, so they did an exploratory lap and found it and burned it out. Other than the running pain though I was fine, I had pretty bad period pain but it had actually dramatically lessened since I was younger and no other symptoms.

Anyway, the doctor put me on the pill to reduce the chance of the endo coming back. I now seem to have a million problems I never had before the surgery!

I wake up with night sweats nearly every night and I also feel like I'm getting hot flushes randomly.

I also keep getting what feels like period pain but no period (it's not due til next week) It's like the surgery has made everything worse? is this just part of the healing? is the endo coming back?

My specialist doctor charges $250 an appointment so I really don't want to go to him unless I really need to but I'm worried something is wrong.

[applebird]

Hey - you're still in recovery; can take 4-8 wks depending on severity of Endo and amount of work done. Laser (burning off) Endo isn't an effective way of removal, excision is best. Are you in the US? Do you have a health care plan that will cover treatment? If not I understand your concern and reluctance to spend more esp if he's not going to do much - make sure you're still resting up plenty; if you go back to work/exercise too quickly after surgery it can sometimes exacerbate issues when your body is trying to heal.

Hot flushes could be a side effect of the pill if and your body adapting to it as well. Endo is usually worse in lead up to period so this would tie in with your symptoms; if he left Endo behind and didn't excise it then it makes sense you're still symptomatic. I would do research and see if you can find a specialist trained in excision surgery. See if there are US boards where ladies local to you can give better advice.

Hope you feel better soon xx

[Runner90 in reply to applebird]

I'm in Australia, and I do have health insurance but the whole process has still left me out of pocket about $1000.

I think my concern is mostly that I didn't really have symptoms before the surgery but now I seem to.

I've been having the random pains thought the whole time post surgery so I'm also not sure if it's just trying to heal. I don't know about excision, I'll have to look into it because I was never given it as an option.

Thank you!

[applebird in reply to Runner90]

Oh soz - Australian dollars - doh! I know how you feel after my first two surgeries I seemed to feel a whole lot worse. Sometimes when you have surgery the digestive sys can act up emulating Endo pain, particularly if you are taking a lot of pain killers, watch the no. of NSAIDs and codeine you take and try to cut back where poss.

Rest yourself really well and take it super easy when out and about until you about 2-3 months post op, then you'll be much stronger and can build up your strength again properly. Maybe try acupuncture or the Endo diet, they helped me be more holistic and genuinely made a difference. If no joy after all that then back to consultant.

Good luck x

[Runner90]

Thank you, I'm actually off the serious pain killers because I can manage the pain without most of the time which is good.

I generally feel ok it's just the random pain but I did try to go back to my normal exercise routine last week and found I couldn't so I'm going to have to continue taking it easy for a while.

I've never heard of the endo diet so I'll look into it

Thank you