Hormonal treatment for Endometriosis

[Tigerlily34]

I had an appointment with a specialist recently and I expressed the desire to have diagnostic laparoscopy for endometriosis. The specialist recommended that I try taking hormones in the meantime to see if that helps with pain management. He said that by taking hormones I could control my period and choose how often I wanted to come on and when I wanted to come on. (I'm 23 and in my 11 years of experiencing periods I don't think it's THAT simple. No offence to him.) Has anyone tried out hormones for managing endometriosis and how did it go for you?

[pinkie25]

I’m on the second week, of month two of the birth control patch, to see if it helps my new daily pain and my period pain and so far it made the first month period worse, like the pain was just as severe but it lasted longer, but I did take it in the middle of my natural cycle cause my doctor said it shouldn’t matter just for pain relief. Mum still wants me to try it for 3 months overall incase it starts to work but I take it for 3 weeks on and then one week off, not whenever I feel like it cause that will just mess up your hormones even more.

[Moonglo]

Hallo, tri-cycling is when you take the pill for three months solid (3 packs), then take a week’s break to have a period. It can help with the pain, and to manage extremely heavy periods. However I did dread that one period every time because it was still heavy and painful, but it only happened once every three months as opposed to every month.

It might help as a short term solution but because I did it for several years, I believe it only masked my endo. It’s not a cure - when I stopped the pill to try to get pregnant, I got exactly the same problems as before.

[ritschgi]

I am on Dienogest, which is a form of progesterone only pill. It can be taken continuously which means you don‘t have any periods at all. It‘s also been proven to be able to shrink endo lesions, on the account of it suppressing estrogen.

I‘ve had a really good experience with it so far. I have a big endometrioma on my left ovary which is painful and I‘m waiting on surgery to remove it, but 2 smaller lesions seem to have disappeared, according to my last MRI. I haven‘t had a period in months now and so I haven‘t had to deal with that horroble pain.