Endometriosis- Laproscopy
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Anybody have endometriosis and a laproscopy? My OBGYN told me yesterday at my annual visit she thinks I have endometriosis, and since I cannot tolerate Depo I should have laproscopy to diagnosis it and treat it. I am not really in the mood to cut myself open if it can be avoided. I am looking for anyone who has experienced it. I just turned 36 and have no plans for more children. I never have had trouble conceiving, but for the past 3 years have had pelvic pain outside of my cycle that never goes away (feels like a mild menstrual cramping) and irregular periods. I used to have very heavy and painful periods. Ibuprofen works, and the Depo worked when I was on it but I couldn't tolerate the side effects. Have you had a transvaginal ultrasound to rule out other issues? Or a SIS (saline infused sonogram) even? I would do that first before getting cut. They thought I had endo. and the only thing they would do was hormonal treatments (since I desperately want more kids). Turns out my problems may be something worse…but we'll see. Def. imaging studies are a better first line of diagnosis (or ruling out) than laparoscopy. Some drs are willing to go with a hysterectomy if endo. is bad enough. But I would def. rule out dx's other than endo. before going with the surgery. No, the doctor did not suggest a transvaginal ultrasound or a saline infused sonogram. Those sound so much better. Can you see the endometriosis with it, though? From what I was reading on the Internet, it sounded like laproscopy was the only thing that would let the doctor see it. I had a transvaginal ultrasound during my last pregnancy in the first few weeks, though, and nothing appeared abnormal. I wonder if that makes any difference? Laproscopy is the only def. way to diagnose endometriosis and treat it...that I know if. though the imaging tests I mentioned would rule other problems out that could be to blame for your symptoms (i.e. polyp, fibroids, etc.) and it could get an idea if your endometrium is thickened.....which it could be in endometriosis. A US or MRI could potentially pick up larger areas of endometriosis or cysts. My youngest sister just recently had it done again. The nice part with laproscopy is it's quick and easy with the laser and not as many incisions. She was back to work after about a week and half. She has had all the ultrasounds etc and it didn't pick it up as well as the laproscopy did. The nice part is they can clean out the endometrosis and get you feeling better. She went two years between having to have the laproscopy done again, she has super severe endometrosis so they were suprised that it lasted that long and have given her the go ahead for more babies. I would definetely discuss your options but from what I've seen of it, it works well. I have had it done twice. Lap is a great way to go, and really the only way (so I was told) to see the endo.The first time I had it, I had 3 incisions. One on each side in the bikini line and one in the belly button. It wasn't long before you couldn't see the scars anymore. That surgery was a Monday, and by Wednesday I was walking with no discomfort. I could have gone back to work, but played hooky the rest of the week :-) The second surgery only needed one incision. By the next day, I was walking around with slight discomfort. I only needed the heavy duty painkillers the first day and took a couple on the second day. The worst part of the surgery is the "cleanout." You have to drink nasty stuff and it all comes out, all day and all night long  . You may have to do an enema or 2 as well, depends on the doc. My doc is wonderful and as long as he's doing the surgery, I'll opt for lap everytime. Nothing to it.Oh, a word of caution. After my first surgery, I was pregnant with my first about three months later . Don't even know if I had fertility problems 'cause we weren't thinkning about kids yet!I have endo.. I really feel for you! Honestly, pregnancy REALLY helps mine, its gone away a little bit with each child. I have something similar, called adenomyosis, where the endometrial tissue grows within the walls of the ueterus, rather than on the outside of it in endometriosis. It's caused a lot of problems for me over the past three years or so, and I can't take estrogen birth control to help control it, so I tried progesterin for a year, and hated it. Right now I'm trying to control it with supplements. So far so good...my only other option would be a partial hysterectomy. I would not put it off too long -- doesn't it cause scarring if you let it grow? I don't think I am going to have the surgery first. I am going to try using a natural hormone treatment and see if the symptoms improve. But if it doesn't help, thank you for all of the stories! I won't be too worried if I have to have the surgery.
I wonder if i have this i have alot of symptoms and havnt been able to get pregnant for years! I also havnt had an exam to see in years too No advice obviously but keeping u in prayers! ((hugs)) Thank you, Hayden. But, what caused my Gynecologist to tell me she thinks I do have it is that when I was on Depo Provera the mid-cycle cramping stopped. She said if the pelvic pain were related to something else the Depo Provera wouldn't have helped. She also told me that severity of cramping is sometimes inverted to the level of severity of disease. So, you can have lots of endometriosis and no pain, or a lot of pain and mild endometriosis. For me, I have cramping throughout my cycle that comes and goes. I take 1600 mg. of ibuprofen a day, usually, but I don't consider my pain to be severe- just uncomfortable.
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I don't know for certain that I have endometriosis, which makes it somewhat frustrating. You can't know for sure until they do the surgery.