Endometriosis and the Pill

Kristin,

I hate to say it, but if you have any sort of possible blood clotting disorder, any estrogen based hormone birth control is out of the question. You could possibly try the mirena IUD, it contains progesterone only. I used it and had it removed due to complications, but I know many women who have used it with great success. And it thins the lining of the uterus, so that may help with the endo.

Natural family planning is always an option!

I would start with seeing a GYN. There are things that they can do that help other than the pill. It depends on if you will be having more children or not. The easiest treatment is pregnancy. Another is an ablation. Sorry don't know if I spelt it right. There are also herbal things that you could look into. One is Black cohosh and there are more out there that have been use for years and years. My mother stuggled with it for years and years and the above are some of the things that helped her. The last was the ablation and since then she is extremely happy..

I feel your pain, literally. I too have been struggling with this. I just had a baby in March and shortly there after had to start taking the pill again because of the daily pain I was in. I have had two laparoscopic surgeries, and I have had shots for a short time that put my body into a reversible menopause. Have you tried either of those? They both worked for a short period of time, but as you know nothing cures it except for the surgery that both you and I do not want to face at our age! If you haven’t tried either of the above, maybe ask your doctor about them. If you would like to talk more about this, I would be more than happy to go into more detail. Good Luck

I had laproscopic surgery to remove some of the areas of endometriosis that I had. My dr. actually says the best thing for it is to have a baby because while your pregnant your body gets to heal itself.My youngest is 18 months old and I am now slowly starting to get the pain back. I was pregnant with him 2 months after the surgery. Good luck to you.

Hey there,

This is simply a supportive response. I read the other 3 and you seem to be getting good advice, but I don't have experience here--I have my own issues with periods/pain/etc, but my diagnosis was not endometriosis.

Due to my health issues plus more, I've already had multiple people VOLUNTEER their opinions that I shouldn't have more children (or, worse yet, criticize me when I say that we are leaving the option open). So, I think that it is wonderful that you are still looking to continue to grow your family. I will keep you in my prayers.

I have a friend of mine who has an extremely rare blood clotting disease, she has now also developed a mild case of lupus. If you saw her you would think she was the picture of health, she swims 3000 yards a day and is beautiful. I would absolutely keep badgering your doctors about different tests and such to get to the bottom of it. My friend got one of her clots in one of her breasts, but in order to test it they had to biopsy it which made the situation even worse. Go to the doctors!!! Get to the bottom of it! My thoughts are with you!

H. Z. (SAHM 5, almost 4 and 15 month old boys)

I'm nowhere near an expert on this at all, but I think that you might want to talk to your OB about laproscopic surgery for the endometreosis. When I was having trouble conceiving my daughter they suspected endometreosis and I actually had surgery to remove it (turns out, wasn't there). I have a friend also who was having trouble conceiving, did have endometreosis, had the surgery and got pregnant very quickly two times thereafter. The surgery itself didn't require an overnight stay and, while it wasn't the best time of my life, I was pretty much back to my old self in two-three days.

Hi. I also have a blood clotting disorder - APS (antiphospholipid antibody disorder) also known as Hughes Syndrome. I had to take Lovenox and baby aspirin during my pregnancies after having two miscarriages. I was told to never take the pill with my condition. Or anything with estrogen. The doctors think that I have endrometriosis. I don't know what I would take to manage it, but I would stay away from the pill due to the clotting risk. After having my children I was advised to continue taking 81mg aspirin daily for life.
For birth control I used the diaphram or my husband used condoms. When I had the twims I did have a tubal because I had HELLP and the doctors said my body couldn't take another difficult pregnancy.

Hi,
I have also been diagnosed and it has been a long struggle with pain and irregular periods so I understand the frustration. How did you find out you had it? Did you have any surgeries yet? I am asking because sometimes they can remove a lot of the endometriosis tissue and you can feel a lot better. I have had it done twice and it really helps. It is a simple procedure throught you belly button and sometimes a couple other little sites around your stomach. It is not a perfect cure, or permanent fix, but I would go see a specialist and see what their suggestions are. There has to be another way to treat you.
Good luck and let me know what happens!
C.

Hi K.,

I have 2 children, ages 7 and 9 months, and I hated the pill but wanted to do some form of birth control. I decided to go with the IUD. The gyno puts it in in the office and it's good for 10 years but you can easily have it removed at anytime to have more children. You can not feel it at all. You can get it w/ hormones in it or w/out hormones. I think it's great. And my insurance totally covered it.

I'm not sure what kind of surgery you are referring to, but I had surgery twice for my endrometriosis to help with the pain and problems that I was having and I gave birth to a healthy beautiful boy 15 months ago. You might want to check in with your Doc again to see if there are any other options for you.