Endometriosis IS a hormone problem.
So is Diabetes or Hypoglycemia for that matter.
Insulin is the hormone produced by the Pancreas.
And, Insulin is one of the main contributing
factors, (either hypoinsulin or hyperinsulin,)
to a whole bunch of problems that women have
that may or may not be related.
Tell your tale to a Reproductive Endocrinologist and it's very very possible that before you are finished telling your story, the RE will have a plan of action for you.
Tell your story to the RE's nurse before making the appointment and the Nurse can tell you right off if your problmems could be addressed in their practice.
Since you do not have insurance it's going to be a bit of a problem because these doctors are definately expensive.
My suggestion is to either find a really good Family practitioner who understands the metabolic endocrinology reality of certain female problems
or to get into a Teaching Hospital program where the fees are sliding scale.
As for the intestinal troubles, you could spend a fortune on the Gastroeneterologist undergoing test after fancy test OR you could again, talk to the Reproductive Endocrinologist first, since a huge number
of women they treat have Irritable Bowel Syndrome attached to their female troubles. The RE could then make the medical decision about the necessity of the Gastroenterologist before you get sent to other specialties to find out what's going on.
I went through 3 Gynecologists, a Gastroenterologist and a colonoscopy, a Urologist and a whole bunch of outrageously expensive Urology tests with fancy devices,
Not to mention the amount of lab work...OY!!!!!
Only to have both the Gastroenterologist and the Urologist have to write letters to the last Gynecologist and tell her to go inside with a laproscope and take a look because they thought I had internal adhesion and the Gynecologist was ready to send me off to the psychiatrist for mystery pain control.
Yeh, yeh yeh, I know allllll about those stress related problems.
Like the day my colon stopped working from all that pelvic hormonal adhesion endocrine metabolic mess and I had to have emergency surgery.
Yes, on that day I told my Gynecologist that yep,
I'm stressed NOW!
As for needing a psychiatrist, I told my RE recently that I admit to now being bowel obsessed since I had 3 surgeries in less than a year for my bowels deciding not to work right.
So save yourself some grief and lots and lots of money and a gazillion prescriptions of one medication after another and possibly a trip to the psychiatrist where they try to pin you down with an eating disorder because you eventually either loose a ton of weight or eventually gain a ton of weight with these kinds of problems.
And look up PCOS Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome on a search engine and get ready for some lengthy and fascination reading.
Remember, Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome is a syndrome. That means you don't have to fit the criteria to a T to have the problem. Same as IBS. those titles are just headings with criteria that help Doctors make assessment and treatment options more clear.
Many many women with PCOS don't even have cysts on their ovaries. Some might have already had their ovaries taken out and might still be suffering from the metabolic problems.
Anyway, doing some personal research on PCOS and learning and comparing to the conditions in your own body won't cost you a penny or hurt you one bit.
Running around from Doctor to doctor will wear you pocket book thin and frustrate you endlessly before you hit on the big answer.
As for Paxil, I hate that stuff. Made my mood foul.
However, since female, energy and gut problems, give you their own kind of stress, the Doctors who say the problems is stress are often a bit correct.
While some people really do have stress caused disorders, the woman who has a real endocrine/metabolic problem will have plenty plenty of organic triggers that give you body stress which eventually translates into emotional stress(frustration) and then taking an SSRI then becomes a valid part of the treatment plan.
Additionally, the use of SSRI's and other "depression" meds goes way beyond the stress factor.
Those meds have to do with the regulation of brain chemicals and those same brain chemicals that everyone related to mood also exist as necessary chemicals for the function of the gut. So quite often, for people with bowel and motility problems it's the SSRI and that group of meds that are prescribed to help regulate the chemicals in the body that are not working right. I like my current SSRI just fine. But for me it came down to a very specific dose that works with my particular body. So you have to explore that with the treating Doctor. Both chemical formula and dose.
kat