I have stage 3 Endo, I have had 2 surgeries. The first one was to diagnose my Endo and the 2nd one was for my Ectopic pregnancy that was caused by Endo. With each of my surgeries I got worse. I know it makes sense to think... they just cleaned me out, I will be fine. However thats not the case. Your incision site may have healed but you have a lot of trauma inside that takes months to heal.

Also I dont know what you know about the disease but there is no cure, I know many women who have had over a dozen laps in there life and there still in pain.

I dont know how to answer your Birth control question, I dont take it. My body doesnt handle the side effects to even the most mild BC. In my own personal opinion I personally would never take a pill to make my period stop. It sounds unhealthy. But I would speak to your doctors about this.

As far as work goes, I was a hair stylist and I havent worked in 3 years. I am lucky enough to have an amazing husband who supports me. I could no longer stand for 8 hours cutting hair. When I was working I let my boss know what my disease was and that for about 3-4 days out of the month I would not be able to work. She and I sat down and figured out what days I would start so she could schedule around me. She was amazing. I quit working because after my first surgery, instead of getting pain just during my period I get it on random days. Some days I cant leave the house.

I hope I answered your questions

If you need more info on Endometriosis please visit my website,
www.endothepain.com

BIG HUGS

Ashley Nicole
endothepain@gmail.com

welcome to the group! I was diagnosed with stage 2 endo 3 years ago. i actually had alot of pain for about 9 months after surgery then one day it went away. my physician told me that after surgery pain can increase then 6-9 months later it can get better. this is what happened to me but not everyone is like that. for some women endo can grow a couple months after surgery and others it takes years or it never regrows. as far as birth control pills go i have no idea why doctors prescribe pills with estrogen! endo is an estrogen dominent disease and women with endo already have too much estrogen in their bodies. endo also feeds off of it so adding more to the body in my opinion does more harm than good. i had my estrogen levels checked and norma rangel is 25-75 mine was 182! abnormally high. with work let your job know. they have to work with you when you are sick. talk to your boss and see if you can have a backup substitute on call if thats possible. before talking to them get a doctors note, maybe even your surgical report, come up with multiple plans and present it to your boss.

were all here for you too :) if you ever have any questions all of us ladies are here for you. feel better after surgery and im glad everything went well

I too suffer from the same thing. Back to back birth control is a normal treatment I would assume. However, I think it would be best if they did the lupron just to back up the surgery and then place you on back to back birth control. Ask you doctor about the Lupron Depot shot if you haven't discussed it with him or her already. The lupron will be a six month chemically induced menopause treatment that helps shrink the endometrium,. For me, all of my lesions dissolved but of course now they are back because it is not a cure for the problem but I had several years of a relief from it. And unfortunately, I had to work through my endo and will still have to just try to sit as much as possible.

I was taking continuous BC for my endo, however my body didn't seem to like it too much as each month I would start spotting and my symptoms would build up more and more until I took a break from the BC, after which I felt much better.

I just had my first lap done last week, I was diagnosed as Stage 1. My doctor agreed I should just take the BC normally, however at my next appointment I am going to ask him about taking a progesterone-only pill, for the same reason others have stated- I don't want to be putting more estrogen into my system.

In regards to work - it really just depends on your situation, luckily for me, although my pain can get quite bad and occurs on a daily basis, I am taking pain medication which helps significantly, and I have only missed a few days since I started working.

And in regards to Lupron - I highly suggest that you do your research on it. It is a drug used for chemo-patients, I believe, and will put your body into a chemically-induced menopause. From what I've heard, the symptoms are horrendous and although it may help, most times it is only temporary and many women never recover from the symptoms.

And yes, I did tell my boss about my condition, he's been very supportive and I think it's helpful for him to know, because if I am having a rough day I can tell him that I need to sit down for a few minutes and he's okay with it.

Thank you so much for your responses. It helps to know I'm not alone!

I go back to the dr in 3 months, so I will ask then about the estrogen/bc issue. I have heard horror stories about Lupron, so I'd rather not go on it, but I also don't want the endo to get out of control.

How many of you see an endometriosis specialist? I am very happy with my gyn and she seems to know what she is doing, but I've read online about the importance of seeing a true endo specialist.

Hope everyone has a happy new year!

Hi Hot Chocolate
I had no relief from my surgery, however, my doctor used fulguration (like cauterizing) of the lesions and one area was too risky to treat.
There are other methods to remove endo. like excision and laser that may have different results.
The doctors try to start with birth control and progesterone pills. Neither worked for me. Actually both types of birth control pills made my pain work.
Other treatments they might suggest could be Depo Provera which is a birth control shot.
After that they may go for Lupron - both Depo Provera and Lupron have more serious side effects then birth control.
To help you out, I suggest most heat and raspberry leaf tea along with what ever you do. The tea works like an anti inflammatory.
I was honest with my job and bring in notes from all my dr. appointments.
I hope you work well with you and you get your pain / endo under control.

that was supposed to be MOIST HEAT oops

Hi I am 24 and was diagnosed with severe endo 4 years ago.

There are only 2 things I find that help my endo and that is the pill and a clean diet.

Im on the pill currently to control/treat my endo and in my opinion it has been great. I have been judged by friends and my boyfriend for being on the pill however if I had to choose between a life of suffering and pain with no pill vs a pain free happy life with the pill - I know which one I would choose!

Do some research, talk to your doctor and give it a go.See what works for you but just keep in mind finding a pill that works for you may take some time.

As a last ditch attempt to cure reoccuring thrush I saw a naturopath and went on a candida diet. Not only did it clear up my thrush once and for all but also vastly improved my endo symptoms.

The book i have and try to live by is called Endometriosis: A key to healing through nutrition.

Good luck!!

AshRs - That book is awesome! I so agree it's a great book on endometriosis! It's written by a nutritionist who also has endometriosis.

hotchocolate - I saw a few endometriosis specialists three in NY. I eventually went to have my surgery with Dr. Redwine in Bend, OR based on my preference and good experiences from others. Even when you see an endometriosis specialist you don't need to ditch your gynecologist. You will need he or she anyway for annual check ups. You just go see an endo specialist for the surgery. If you need a list of them:

www.endoresolve.com has a link to them. I think endometriosis.org is a great site! It has a lot of answers on endo. It even gives you tips on how to find a specialist.

Hi HotChocolate!

Glad you've found a place to ask all of your questions - I hope that we're able to help. I have stage 4 endometriosis and am scheduled for my 3rd surgery in February to have it excised.

You said that you had a laparoscopy to diagnos endo... Did your Dr remove all the endometriosis that he/she found? If not, then it can/will still give you problems!

Have you read up on exactly what endometriosis is and what it does? In early stages, it mainly flares up during your period so many doctor's will use birth conrol to eliminate your period as their first line of treatment. I too have been on continued birth control (for the last 17 months) to help manage my endometriosis symptoms and pain. It took a while to find a birth control that agreed with my body, but now the only symptom I have from the BC is occasional spotting because I don't have a monthly period. Hopefully the birth controls will be able to help you!

In my case - I went undiagnosed for so long that my endometriosis has spread to my other organs and I have to have it cleared out to prevent further problems. It's good that you were able to get your diagnosis at stage 2!

So far the only time(s) that I've had to miss work are due to doctor's appointments and recovery from surgery. I have a pretty high pain tolerance and have been able to keep my pain managable (for the most part) enough to stay at work. I have told my boss about my situation though because he needed to understand all of my time off work...

Good luck on your recovery!