spongebobgamma

Hi Kme,

I had to make the same decision as you 4 years ago. I had severe endo and was having terrible pain 2 -3 weeks out of the month. My Dr said the hyst would be useless if I didnt have my ovaries removed, the estrogen would continue to feed the endo. I was petrified that I would lose it mentally without my ovaries. But I also couldn't function with the pain either.

I went on lupron for 3 months before surgery. Thats a shot you take once a month that puts you into menopause..I had good pain relief from it and it gave me a taste of menopause..I knew then I could handle it. Lots of hotflashes, moody, dryness, but for me it was better than the pain. I don't recommend it as a treatment because its only temporary and can have some harsh side effects but it helped prepare me for what to expect after surgery.

I also had to go 3 months after surgery with no hormones, so that was a total of 6 months..the surgical menopause was alot easier than the lupron. But the endo came back when I went on hrt. So I had to go off again for 4 more months.. Last couple of years I've been doing good with the hrt.. I use the climara patch and have no problems with it.As long as I change it on time I don't even have pms..

Is your Dr aware you can't use hormones without having a migraine? My sister can't use even the smallest amount without having migraines..

I don't know how experianced your Dr is with removing endo but most Gyns can only remove the surface endo leaving the rest to continue to grow. Ask him/her about excision surgery, the endo is cut out deep. But only Drs trained in this are able to do it. I wish I had explored this option further, my Dr, though good, was not able to remove my endo which he said was everywhere.

Good luck with your decision, also good luck with your gallbladder surgery, I just had mine removed 2 months ago and feel much better...