Lap next week, what do you suggest to stop endo returning?

[BelfastRach]

Hi everyone,

I'm getting my 3rd lap next week. I'd been on the pill with no breaks for 10 years and came off it 6 months ago to try and get pregnant (I have never been pregnant) but it hasn't happened. I feel like I'm only back to being 'regular' after stopping the pill, periods are hell, even ovulation is bloody sore, but I'm hoping after this lap it'll all be a bit easier. Hubby and I have have decided to wait a while before trying for a baby again, we're a bit skint and if we could wait 6 months or a year it would be ideal, trying is stressful enough! My question is this, do u think I should take some sort of medication after this op to stop the endo coming back in the meantime? If so, can you suggest anything? It kept coming back when I was on the pill anyway so I don't know if I should bother going back on it, and I finally have it out of my system, I don't really want to go back on it! I really want this to be my last op though, it's actually my 5th if you count 2 diagnostic laps, and I'm only 28. I hate messing with hormones...any suggestions at all would be greatly apprecciated!

[Juleyanne]

Difficult one! Unfortunately oestrogen is the fuel of endometriosis. I once had Zoladex injections and synthetic hrt to fast track me towards menopause in an attempt to reduce my oestrogen levels.

This did not work for me so they suspected adhesions were the biggest problem which often worsen with each surgery as you can get a build up of scar tissue adhering organs together. Some are more prone to these than others. I had a lap and hysterectomy to remove endo and filmy adhesions

which is the less invasive way to do surgery but it still can cause scar tissue although not as

likely than with more invasive surgery. I would ask your surgeon to use the best possible adhesion barrier but a Endo specialist Gyne once told me at a support meeting that there is a good new one available but the NHS does not use this one due to cost! At the end of the day it really depends what they have to do and what they find during the lap. It depends on what they find and have to remove including whether other pelvic organs are affected! In my case they found extensive endo

in pelvis and round belly button with fallopian tube stump (prev removed) attached to ovary

and ovary to bowel the other side so it ended up being a more complicated longer op but they removed it as best they could due to close proximity to bowel and the relief a few days after the lap was immediate and obvious but in my case it crept back as if they leave even a tiny bit it can regrow again. Hope your lap is straightforward and addresses the problem but you would have to go by the advice of your Gyne as to whether you should take anything as every case is different.

[Juleyanne]

Sorry I realised I said lap and hysterectomy in my last post, I mean't lap and hysteroscopy (big difference) sorry!

[Chrissie66]

Hi Rach

When I was diagnosed, the gynae asked me if I wanted to have children and told me that the best time to try was immediately after the surgery. The endo will start to come back practically from the minute they are sewing you up so while I understand why you want to wait - I was exactly the same, I wanted children, but we were absolutely not in a position to have them then - waiting could be the worst thing you could do

The doctors may well offer you a 6 month course of Zoladex or Prostap which would give you some time. Again, I appreciate your feelings about messing with hormones, but unfortunately endo doesn't give us a choice in the matter

But as Juleyanne said, everything is different for everybody, so the best person to advise you is your gynae. Try and ask him/her before the op what the options are so that you are both clear on the plan.

Good luck

C x

[missteal]

If your gynea consultant is anything like mine, he'll tell you the best way to stop endo returning is to get pregnant. Don't forget you get 9 months before baby actually arrives anyway.

Good luck with the lap x

[BelfastRach]

Thanks for all your replies guys I would hate to get the op, wait a year and have to get another op or something, so I'll do as you say and speak to my husband & gynae, I'll maybe just stay of the pill and if it happens sooner, thats fine. I haven't had prostap or zoladex before, would it make u a bit hormonal? Isn't it like a fake menopause? xx

[Chrissie66 in reply to BelfastRach]

That's exactly what it is, a fake menopause. It gives you all of the menopause side effects, which aren't a barrel of laughs, but it quietens the endo right down which is just what you need when you're trying to get pregnant. Although you absolutely must not get pregnant while you're on it because it presents horrible health implications for the baby, so it's 6 months of abstinence or condoms - oh, the joys of being a woman! xx