Experiences of Depo-Provera? Prostrap injections and HRT?

[Bluebird23]

Hi.

I had my 1st lap around 3 months ago. Was diagnosed with moderate endo. Was treated during the lap but it's not helped my pain at all.

I'm on the combined pill which has helped but I can only bi cycle due to breakthrough bleeding etc. Surgeon said that it may be worth me trying prostap injections with hrt. I have a follow up in March.

What experiences have people had of this treatment?

Has anyone had any success with Depo provera injections? As I feel with Prostrap I'd be jumping from one end of the scale to the other.

[luthien]

Wow, 3 months ago is such a short time; you'll still be recovering from your lap which usually takes about 4 to 5 months!

What treatment for endo did you have during your surgery? Was this carried out by an endo specialist? I know I'm asking questions which may not seem relevant but if it's general gynae they may have missed bits of endo as they don't look around the bladder or bowel, and quite often use ablation (sanding) / laser (diathermy) these tend to just scrape off the top layers leaving the deeper endo there so symptoms reduce a little but the endo can still grow and thus symptoms can come back quicker. Endo specialists will look around the whole pevic area and will excise the endo (cut it out) so the symptoms are a lot less, mine also doesn't suggest with any of the women he treats, hormones until about 6 months after recovery as he feels it helps to see what your "normal" is first.

That said, you could just not react well to the hormones... so a different combination may work xx

[Lindle in reply to luthien]

I'm a bit confused by the reference to ablation being 'sanding' and laser being 'diathermy'.

In general gynaecology departments we often see diathermy methods used for ablation which involve burning tissue with heat (hence the term diathermy), such as coagulation and cauterisation. A danger is that surrounding healthy tissue can be damaged and there is no way of knowing if healthy tissue has been reached.

Laser is the tool used by most modern excision surgeons as the cutting tool for excision, but can also be used for ablation by the vaporisation method which directs heat in a quick, intense and precise way to destroy endo cells completely. This is used by many excision surgeons for mild disease and many delicate areas that could be damaged by excision - Fallopian tubes, ureters, blood vessels etc.

There is no method/tool I am aware of that sands tissue as I'm not sure it would be possible. Surgeons do use 'shaving' sometimes for deep nodules such as those affecting the bowel.

[Lindle]

Hi - moderate endo generally should be treated in a specialist endo centre - these sorts of medical treatments are not appropriate. Have a good read of the NHS England treatment specification for severe endo;

england.nhs.uk/commissionin...