I have been on Lupron for 9months now (just had my last 3 month dose), going to do a full year. Have also been on the add-back pill with this. It has worked great for me. I've had practically no pain, only one hot flash over the whole year, and no other side effects. I wish I could stay on it forever, but they only do a year and then thats it.

I think it is very typical to be emotional or depressed, but if you get really depressed I would see a doctor. I was kind of glum for a while, but I seem to be better now. I think I am more emotinal then I used to be though(although that could be the Lupron), but it doesn't really effect me that much. It is hard to be happy and "normal" when we are in pain every day and it seems like nothing will help.

I've never heard of Mirena, but i am looking into BC that stop your period for a while for after my Lupron treatment is done.

I hope this helps!

I have been on Lupron and I have had the marina coil twice and still have one inserted. I have only positive things to say about the Lupron as I felt blooming marvelous on it, I was the best I had been in years and the pain almost disappeared. I was always poorly for a couple of days after the Lupron injection but nothing compared to what I was like before I was on it. As for the Mirena coil I have had this twice but the first time I didn't seem to get on so well with it, as I bled throughout and was still in terrible pain with my Endo. I perservered with it for three years but then decided to have it removed and boy let me tell you that was a mistake I hadn't realised the benefits I had been getting from the Marina. It lessoned the bleeding so much and the pain was less too I just hadn't realised because my Endo was getting worse but the mirena was protecting me from the elements. So I had it inserted again in may 2007 after surgery, granted a lot was done during that surgery so I am sure that helped aid the marina in giving me more benefits, but I have not had one period since it has been in from May. And of course because there is no bleeding there is no where near as much pain as I had before. The only thing I have found with the marina is you get thrush quite often but I suppose that is not a lot to worry about compared to being in and out of hospital in pain is it?

As for the depression I really think this has something to do with the Endo as well as your body getting exhausted all the time from fighting. Your hormones will be every where as well, I haven't got any good advice to say how to combat those feelings as I still struggle with it myself, but I know over time you do learn to deal with it. If you want to know anything else about the Lupron or the Marina don't hesitate to ask.

Hope things get better for you soon and that you get some good treatment that works for you. Remember just because some people have bad experiences with some treatment it doesn't neccessarily mean you will react bad to that treatment we all react differently.

Good luck

I had a Mirena (Intra Uterine Device) or IUD inserted five years ago. This was before I knew I had endo. But right before I had it inserted I was having weird abdominal and left sided flank pain. The first 6 months after I had the Mirena put in, I bled-for 6 months straight. The pelvic pain got worse and finally three years after insertion I went to the gynecologist for the pain and found out that I was growing massive ovarian cysts, that were causing alot of the pain. For some reason the IUD causes ovarian cysts. I had it removed but the pain still continues and is worsening with every year. I think that Mirena made my symptoms worse, not neccesarily causing them. If you have problems with cysts and growths in your pelvis I suggest not getting the Mirena and just sticking to oral birth control pills because they stop the cycling that causes cysts to grow.
Also, If you have never had children this can be an extremely painful thing to get put in your uterus. Usually doctors put IUD's in women who have had children because their uterus has less of a chance of trying to push it out. When I got my IUD put in, it was hands down one of the most painful experiences I have ever had. Some people have them inserted and Its no problem but I would never have it done again!

ugh. I was just told again I should get the Mirena IUD, but after reading peoples' stories here from this year and last, I'd rather not get the damned thing. The discussion from last year is at http://dailystrength.org/discussions/Endometriosis/messages/227091

I also found bad reviews dating back to 2003 on the Mirena IUD when I did a google groups search (the thread was found on alt.support.endometriosis):
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.support.endometriosis/browse_thread/thread/6bf8825ce6195614/63dffa28260c7c61?hl=en&lnk=st&q=mirena+iud#63dffa28260c7c61

Let's try the google URL again and see if it works. If not, DailyStrength.com isn't reading URLs correctly.

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.support.endometriosis/browse_thread/thread/6bf8825ce6195614/63dffa28260c7c61?hl=en&lnk=st&q=mirena+iud#63dffa28260c7c61