More junk

Had a visit with the GYN today. Not trying to get preggers, I just don't need endo-mess on top of trying to manage being tired, achey, underweight, and poopy most of the time.

At the moment, it seems it's possible the endo has gotten into my ligaments and such. Endometriosis means endometrial tissue has habit of "extending into places where it shouldn't". This is fucking painful but is also potentially more problematic - i.e. all those hip problems I had? They happen to be on the same side that has the most pelvic pain too, and oh let me tell you when the doctor was rummaging around in there it hurt like crazy on that side. "That's your uterosacral ligament" he said.

I guess ultrasounds don't image this shit well. That's the really shitty part about endometriosis. Usually there's no imaging of it, confirmation of diagnosis, or localizing of implants without surgery. My god, it's the 21st century and we have no way to find or confirm endometriosis without cutting into a woman. WHAT the FUCK.

My diagnosis of endometriosis confirmed by laproscopic surgery in 2002. There was a site in place where it was definitely symptomatic but impossible (I was told) to remove. After the surgery, I took bcps on the advice of a silly, old fashioned gynecologist. I switched to a new gynecologist not long after when the silly one retired. The new one prescribed a (synthetic) progesterone only therapy in the hopes that it would shrink that inoperable site up and prevent new ones from forming.

I took it for about months with rotten side effects I didn't even know were possible side effects (hey, who knew it was a respiratory stimulant?). But it helped. I lived with the side effects and stayed on it until about 7 months later it stopped working all at once - all at once while I was travelling. My doctor switched me to medroxyprogesterone acetate (a different progestin), which I took for a month before it landed me in an ER for blood blood and more blood. It was like a horror movie. I stopped the progesterone stuff and haven't been back to it since. That was about 3 and 1/2 years ago.

After I went over all this with the doctor today, he said "well, there's Lupron..."

Lupron is given for hormone suppression therapy. From what I've read and heard, it's like inducing menopause. I've heard very bad things about it from women who've taken it. Since I'm not keen to have an artificially premature menopause at 35, I'd rather only do it if it's seriously necessary, like if there's no other option and I have implants in places where they'll cause more than pain.

Thus my choice today was between inducing menopause with no assessment; scheduling surgery for assessment, some relief from the excision of sites that can be removed, then choosing a hormone therapy based on the severity and location of the endometriosis; or doing nothing and wait until if I can no longer fuck, walk, sit, or pee without being in excruciating pain.

I chose surgery. I'm hoping for an IUD after if the endo is not bad enough to warrant Lupron. IUD stands for Intrauterine Device. This one releases a synthetic progesterone. It's local and not systemic, so it's likely to not give me the rotten side effects but there is some hope it will at least help prevent new endo sites from developing.