Post by dmags on Jan 23, 2014 21:36:45 GMT -5
Hi, my name is Dalene and I probably have endo. I say probably because it's currently undiagnosed since I've never had a lap procedure...yet. I've had painful periods since the age of 16 (I'm 33 now). I was "diagnosed" with "unexplained infertility" 7 years ago and after a couple years of unsuccessful fertility treatments, we chose to adopt 3 beautiful children. I live with my husband and children in northwest Arkansas. I don't think my symptoms are as severe as many people with endo, from what I've seen here already, but they are more severe than what most of my friends/family without endo seem to face.
In 2012 I developed blood clots in my lungs and found out that I have a genetic clotting disorder called Factor V Leiden deficiency, which complicates my treatment some. I cannot use any form of estrogen...ever (I had been on the pill for a few years and it apparently doesn't play well with the clotting problem). At that time, I was having pretty nasty cramping and had a Mirena IUD inserted to see if "no bleeding, no cramping" would result. The lack of bleeding has been awesome, but over the last few months the cramping has gotten worse. It's not just once a month, but 2-3 times a week, reaching the realm of what seems severe to me about 2 times a month. When I say severe, it's 800 mg of ibuprofin doesn't touch it (or tylenol, nothing seems to do the trick) and I just want to curl up and be left alone for a few hours. The rest of the time when I have cramping, it's very annoying and moderately painful, but I can live with it without changing my plans.
I saw my dr again yesterday, she determined that the IUD is where it should be and talked about options, which are very limited. We could do a lap to diagnose it, assuming it is endo. A hysterectomy doesn't even seem like an option worth discussing at my age and given that I couldn't have hormone replacement ever. What we decided for now is to do a transvaginal u/s in 2 weeks to see if there's anything visible on my ovaries, then go from there. If something is visible, I think I will be ok with doing the lap...but otherwise, I'm looking for alternatives that are cheap and have worked for others. There's so much information out there, it's overwhelming! I can't spend a lot of $ on treatment that won't at least be applied to my insurance deductible. That's the sad truth of it.
So, I'm here to learn more and see what works for others! I would love feedback on whether doing laparascopy to diagnose it has helped you at all, or if you feel it's necessary. I would like to know for sure, but my high insurance deductible and recovery time as a busy mom are stopping me at this point. I'm also going to be looking closely at the information about diet, exercise, and other "alternatives" out there...I need to do something and getting more healthy seems like a great place to start!
In 2012 I developed blood clots in my lungs and found out that I have a genetic clotting disorder called Factor V Leiden deficiency, which complicates my treatment some. I cannot use any form of estrogen...ever (I had been on the pill for a few years and it apparently doesn't play well with the clotting problem). At that time, I was having pretty nasty cramping and had a Mirena IUD inserted to see if "no bleeding, no cramping" would result. The lack of bleeding has been awesome, but over the last few months the cramping has gotten worse. It's not just once a month, but 2-3 times a week, reaching the realm of what seems severe to me about 2 times a month. When I say severe, it's 800 mg of ibuprofin doesn't touch it (or tylenol, nothing seems to do the trick) and I just want to curl up and be left alone for a few hours. The rest of the time when I have cramping, it's very annoying and moderately painful, but I can live with it without changing my plans.
I saw my dr again yesterday, she determined that the IUD is where it should be and talked about options, which are very limited. We could do a lap to diagnose it, assuming it is endo. A hysterectomy doesn't even seem like an option worth discussing at my age and given that I couldn't have hormone replacement ever. What we decided for now is to do a transvaginal u/s in 2 weeks to see if there's anything visible on my ovaries, then go from there. If something is visible, I think I will be ok with doing the lap...but otherwise, I'm looking for alternatives that are cheap and have worked for others. There's so much information out there, it's overwhelming! I can't spend a lot of $ on treatment that won't at least be applied to my insurance deductible. That's the sad truth of it.
So, I'm here to learn more and see what works for others! I would love feedback on whether doing laparascopy to diagnose it has helped you at all, or if you feel it's necessary. I would like to know for sure, but my high insurance deductible and recovery time as a busy mom are stopping me at this point. I'm also going to be looking closely at the information about diet, exercise, and other "alternatives" out there...I need to do something and getting more healthy seems like a great place to start!