I am 27 and have been suffering from Endometriosis and adhesions since 14. I have had 7 Laparoscopies, and I have been taking serios pain medication and nerve blockers for the past few years.
The endo is now causing issues with my bowel and they dont want to operate again.
Medicated Menopause has been agreed by my consultants as the best course of action for me. I am a little bit unerved about this as I am not sure what side effects to expect and how my body may change as a result!
If anyone has had any experience or has some advice I would be grateful!
I am not yet sure what meds I will be on as no one has really discussed this treatment with me!
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100purple
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Hey i was put throught the menopause for 18 mounths, which involved injections every 3 months and i wore the hrt patches every day.
i found this great while i was on it NO PERIODS and the side effects were minimum for me a few hot flushes here and there, a little weight put on, no body changes which was great, unfortunatly the treatment did not work for myself and am still waiting on further treatment. I am much like yourself i think the endo is causing issues with my bowel, getting test done to rule out Crohn,s and Coeliac but i am sure its the endo.
i have been taking liviel hrt and having zoladex injections for past four months it has really helped with endo, no pain at all and i have stage 4, did get symptons for first month ie pain was worse for 2 weeks and terrible night sweats for a month but now am fine, i too have probs with bowel ct shows adhesions which has mean partial blockages last year, they wanted to operate but gyny said to try above first, i don't think it has worked on the bowel and my gyny said that it is because i have adhesions there and stopping hormones won't do anything for them, i thought adhesions and endo were one and the same but apparently not! adhesions themselves won't be affected but living endo will so i would say it is def worth a try in case yours is endo, i am 52 and have prob had adhesions for years, your still young so there is a good chance yours is endo and it should help. as for changes to body my boobs lost their oomph lol but i didn't gain weight or notice any other changes. but would def get the liviel hrt as an add on to stop the side effects. good luck and i hope the above helps a bit.
Thankyou both for that it helps a lot! I have found out that I am going to be put on Prostap with the add on if needed. I am a little wary as it has been agreed for my GP to administer and not in clinic. I am worried that my GP does not know enough about it and wont have the time to speak to me about it if I suffer any side effects! Im sure it will be fine in the end but all of this scares me more than the surgery!
Would anyone advise taking some time off work to get used to the drugs? I work full time as a Housing Environmental Health Officer which means I am in the office for part of the day and then out on site doing inspections for the rest of the day!
I have been trying not to take time off for this as I got to the final warning stage for sickness absence last year! It was over turned by my union but I am now scared of it and try to take holiday if I need time off!!
Thanks for all your advice, I guess I will have to hope and wish for it to work!
I have been through the menopause 3 times using prostap, had numerous laporoscopies, laser surgery oh and my little miracle daughter (that I was told I would never have).
The prostap injections have worked everytime for me, the side effects weren't too bad, I put on a few pounds but nothing drastic, my boobs grew maybe a cup size, the only thing I seemed to suffer with were the hot flushes/night sweats... but the pain stopped and I was pain free and it was brilliant, I could definately put up with the hot flushes/night sweats when I had no pain and no bleeding. I have actually been able to have a life again, although maybe just wore less clothing (short sleeved shirts instead of jumpers etc) as I am always warm, but I have had a life and have enjoyed time with my daughter, and haven't been off sick since I started the injections.
Although I have been on the prostap this time for 15 months (as they are hoping to give me a hysterectomy) I was fine until they decided because I was on it so long they wanted to give me HRT. So four months ago they put me on hrt too (Kilofem) which hasn't really worked for me I am still having menopause sypmtons but have in the last two months started bleeding and with serious pain again (oh and although I havent really put any weight on my stomach has swollen so much I look about 5 months pregnant. So am back at the drs tomorrow to see what can be done. But yes the prostap did work wonders for me everytime, up until they put me on the HRT.
Oh the other thing is its my dr that actually gives me the injections too, Just go every three months he gives me the injection done... he should have enough experience with menopausal women wither drug indeced or not to be able to help you if you have any symptons... or to be honest he shouldn't be a dr.
If it puts your mind at ease at all, my jabs are done by the practice nurse at my surgery, I don't even get to see my doctor.
I've had several courses over the years and they've all affected me differently but I've never had such severe side effects that I've had to contact the doctor. One really odd thing that happens though is that I always feel 'fluey' for a day or so afterwards. No idea why! but it always passes.
Remember though that it's not meant to be a 'cure' for endometriosis, just a temporary respite from the hell it puts us through. And oh, is it brilliant in that respect!
Your body will change while you're taking the drug, you might have all of the listed side effects or just a couple - the hot flushes seem to be the most common - but whatever happens there are things you can do to counter them. And then when you stop taking the drug, your body will go back to normal. Which might take a month or 6 months, but it will get there eventually.
Medicated Menopause makes it sound quite scary, but it's really not, honestly.
As far as work goes - have you downloaded the Endo In The Workplace fact sheet? It's here - endometriosis-uk.org/downlo... - it might be worth showing it to your employers
Hi I had injections monthly for four months and then stopped them because I was worried about the long term effects they could have. I had no side effects but was told if I had hot flushes I could have hrt which scared me even more x
Hi I've been going through the artificial menopause for nearly 2 years now. I went from 12 weekly injections to 4 weekly. I feel this is this is. The only treatment that has helped me at all. It's greatly reduced my pain and stopped my bleeding completely.
Unfortunately it has given me some side effects, a little weight gain and hot flushes but the HRT has helped with this.
It's different for everyone tho. Have you looked at the Endometriosis UK website for Info???? There's info packs available on there and there's even a telephone service for more information. Hope this has helped
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