I have been on norethindrone (oral progesterone) since October (or November, can't remember). I have stage 4 endo and decided to take this to see if I could prevent the need for Lupron. It helped for a while and then stopped working as well, I am now of Lupron and norethindrone (as add back).
Side effects: weight gain (although I was started on several meds and this could be from something else), foggy memory (again, could be from another med), insomnia, increased blood pressure (I usually run low, so even though it is still normal, it is a high normal, which is not my baseline).

I would recommend it though since everyone is different and it did help for a little while.

P.S. if you are at all interested in preserving your fertility I personally would not do depo. It stores itself in your fat and can actually take a while (as in several years in some cases) to get out of your system, and I read that a small percentage of people never ovulate again after taking this medication.

Good luck

I swear I'm not trying to be mean but I don't understand why so many of the woman on here want to put band aids on their Endo. Have you seen the insides of a real person w/ Stage 4 Endo? I have had it twice. I took Lupron the 1st time after surgery ( they had to remove my left Ovary & Fallopian Tube ( it had attached to my COLON ) & literally " clean " me out! I had to have the " super-sized C-Section Cut. That was March 30, 2013. It has been 6 days today since I had a total hysterectomy ( my choice, band-aids fall off ). When they went in this time my Uterus had attached to my BOWEL, my Ovary &Fallopian Tube had attached to each other ( & my Ovary had attached to the tendon underneath it, etc )! It's NO good. It will NEVER stop until it comes out. I'm sorry if I sound rude & rough around the edges but do you really want to have to go thru this multiple times w/ extra complications? If you want to have a kid(s) do it ASAP, then clean house so to speak. And don't let you're Dr. / surgeon tell you what to do next, YOU tell him what to do.

Speaking from the heart w/ respect, concern & anger,
Just Stuck (juststuck)

I know you aren't trying to be rude, but you need to consider people's personal circumstances. I can only speak for myself, but I am a little offended by your comment (maybe I am taking this too personally).
I also don't believe in "Band-Aids" but sometimes people don't have a choice. I can not and will not have surgery until I am done with nursing school (which is the current plan). I had surgery one semester and ended up needing to take a leave of absence, I will never do that again. I don't expect you to understand how time consuming and mentally and emotionally draining nursing programs are, but I can assure you it is not conducive to healing from surgery (for example, my last exam cover almost 600 pages, 48 medications and I still has clinical work to complete on top of that). I took almost a year to decide to go on Lupron and it is a very personal decision, one which I made by doing a lot of my own research, I am very aware of the risks. But, at this is what is best for ME at this moment. My opinion, my choice.
Furthermore, it is kind of insensitive to tell someone to "have children ASAP". I would love to have children, more than anyone knows, but right now isn't the right time financially for us, and yes, believe me I am aware that the longer we wait the less likely it would be.
I do understand what you are saying, and that you aren't saying it to cause an issue, but please don't make assumptions about where people are at in their lives, treatments are a very personal choice and a lot of times are based on the persons situation. Some people don't have any other options...

It depends on the woman, financially and emotionally. For me, I want a kid, but right now I'm not financially able to support one and it kills me. Sometimes a "band-aid" is what we can have to have right now. Like this morning, I was at my docs appointment and she suggested Lupron and I said no. If I didn't have this stupid disease, I wouldn't take BC because I don't like how it makes me feel. Not every woman on here wants a hysterectomy, hell, a hysterectomy on some women don't even help at all. We all know our bodies more than anyone else.

juststuck, I'm sure you're not trying to be mean, but you're frankly being judgmental and rude. First of all, a hysterectomy is NOT a cure for endometriosis. It can and often does come back, even when your ovaries have been removed. To suggest that this is what everyone should do is totally ludicrous. Every "cure" for endo is just a band-aid, including a total hysterectomy.

I'm also trying not to be mean, but I'm really insulted by your comment. This is a support group, not a place to act like you know better than everybody else does and insinuate that we're all stupid and putting our bodies through hell for no good reason.

I understand where you're coming from and I appreciate that you're trying to help, but I think everyone would appreciate it if you would respect therapies that aren't the same as yours.

Just stuck, not everyone is in a place to hurry up and have kids and get a hysterectomy. Personally I am single, so I'm not sure how you would like me to accomplish that? Plus I work in the medical field and have had a lot of patients who have felt HORRIBLE after having a hysterectomy. It is not a cure for everyone and can lead to its own problems. If it was an absolute cure, then more doctors would push patients to have one instead of offering these other "bandaids" to attempt to make life tolerable for us. I'm sorry that you have had to have one and I'm not saying I never will get one but it is absolutely not an option for me right now.

Now back to the original topic: Progesterone can be very helpful in treating the symptoms of endo. The estrogen in our bodies feeds the endo so adding progesterone can help. I have used the compounded progesterone in a capsule and did very well with it. When I stopped everything went to hell. I know a lot of women who have also done well with the compounded creams. I will be back on progesterone for a few months until I can get my IUD. My new gyn says I need to not have periods since mine are so irregular and I am not shedding enough of my lining during my period.

Juststuck, I think everyone took that one a little too much to heart. Sensitive group here. But, I want you to know that I appreciate your brutal honesty. Having children or woman parts does not define who you are.

Sorry if this is repeat info as I posted on another post that asked a similar question. I had breast cancer so my treatment is more tricky. I'm not supposed to do any hormonal type treatment as it could irritate my cancer and cause it to come back or form a whole new cancer. :( I did the 6 months of Lupron to start and about 2 months after I went off my pain started coming back full force. My oncologist and gyno finally agreed to let me go on an oral low dose progestin. (sp? Ortho Micronor)

I'm doing really well on it. way more good days then bad! With this drug you can either take it all month without a break or you can skip the 7 days before starting next months. For now my onc and gyno want me to take the 7 day break and thats when it gets dicey as symptoms come back from my endo and period etc. But its way better then it was, lighter periods, when i do get pain ibuprofen actually works now as well as heat etc Before the pain was so bad that nothing worked. I haven't experienced any side effects with it such as depression, weight gain or any thing so its working really well for me. I want to say that I've been on it for 5 months now. I do hope that you find something that works for you!!! Sending healing sparkles!

vansanturtle,
I find your comment about is being sensitive to be condescending. We all have different opinions and hey, that is ok! But just because you like "brutal honesty" doesn't mean others won't find it to be offensive, or that they are just "sensitive". We are all entitled to disagree with one another, especially with a disease that has so many thoughts and theories and so few concrete answers. But we can disagree without being disagreeable.

@ValleyWill... I think you proved my point. I wad simply agreeing with Juststuck. I am sorry you find this opinion to be disagreeable.

you can agree with her without call people "sensitive". We aren't sensitive just because we don't agree with the way something is said. We have the right to feel what we feel, without labels being places on us.
And that is all I am going to say about that...

I am considering a hyster as it will decrease the estrogen, you have no ovaries anymore but your adrenal glands still produce some androgens so you are not completely estrogen free. I would suggest people with endo look into their diets and the products they use in their home especially lotions, hair care products and laundry supplies. They will add to foreign estrogens entering your system and potentially lead to endo progression/return sooner or again. For me a hyster offers the option of drastically reducing the estrogen in my body without drugs which add more side effects and have their own set of probs. I am a RN and research my decisions as best I can. I challenge my obgyn with my research and feel he finds my concerns and rationale shows only how involved I am at making the best informed decision I can. He does not treat me as an idiot and we have great discussion regarding my thoughts and I in turn get to probe his knowledge base. He did tell me progesterone increases my risk for breast cancer and bone thinning so I opted out from that. If/when my symptoms return I will revisit him with thought of a hysterectomy and see what he has to add to the subject. We all have to make our choices just make the best informed ones we can. We need to be our own advocate and become informed the best we can. I do not feel anyone here is over the top with their responses. This condition sucks and each of us has our own hell to deal with so we need to vent.