I know a lot of the women on here have battled endo for a long time. I was diagnosed with Stage 3 fairly recently and I would like some opinions from the veterans.

DH and I have been trying to conceive since March of 05. In July of 06, my RE was suggesting that I have surgery for an ovarian cyst that wouldn't go away and mentioned in passing that while she was in there, she would check for fibroids, endo and any other possible problems. I had never had the heavy bleeding that most people associate with endo, but when I did some research on it, I realized that I did have several of the other symptoms.

The day that I went in to sign the consent for the surgery, she did a quick ultrasound to check on the cyst, but couldn't find it. She told me that she thought that the surgery would still yield valuable information, if I still wanted to go through with it. My gut told me that I should.

So she did the surgery and wasn't expecting what she found. First of all, the cyst was still there - the manner in which it was attached to my ovary made visualizing it on ultrasound difficult, unless you had exactly the right angle. Secondly, she saw that I had endo on my bowel, both ovaries and fallopian tubes, on my uterus, behind my uterus, and on my bladder.

I also had two large adhesions - one on my uteruas, and one on my bowel. The one on my bowel had caused my bowel to be moved up a lot higher in my abdomen than it should have been. (I realized afterward that was probably why my PCP couldn't complete a colonoscopy on me - he said that whenever he tried to get the scope past the first bend, I would start screaming. Thank god for Versed - I don't remember a thing!)

The other RE that was assisting with my surgery said that with the severity of the endo, she would have thought that I would have been missing work from the pain every month. Truth is, until after the surgery, I had no idea what "normal" felt like. I thought that my cramps *were* normal.

In retrospect, I've probably had endo since sometime in my teens - I remember that I'd miss school sometimes because of the pain. I was on birth control pills from the time I turned 18 until March of 05 when DH and I started TTC. I realize now that my symptoms improved while I was on the pill, because the pain got progressively worse after I stopped.

Here's my dilemma: I can't afford further fertility treatments at this point in my life. My RE agreed to let me try on my own for 3 cycles, but then she wants me on continous bcps to help prevent the endo from recurring. This means that unless I'm doing a fertility treatment, I have pretty much zero chance of getting pregnant.

I've gone through 2 of the 3 cycles on my own so far with no luck - didn't even ovulate. I'm about to start my 3rd and final cycle - basically, my last chance to have a baby anytime soon.

I don't ovulate very often, so I can go months without a period. I'm really tempted to not go on the pills and to just let my body do what it wants. I'm tired of all the treatments and medication to try to force it to act normally...*sigh*

Deep down I think I know that going back on the pill is the best thing for me right now. I just don't want to admit it. Even though I was lucky and the endo didn't do any bad damage, I may not be so lucky when it comes back... and I'm sure it will.

I guess I'm just looking for words of wisdom, encouragement, or whatever from those who have been there.

Thanks in advance,

Hollie

HI there glad you found us, sad you needed too:(

It is amazing what levels of pain we tolerate as normal because we are told so. I too had it for 15 years with no diagnosis and thought It was just the way I was:(
Anyhow, your Doc gave you some pretty good advice it seems, though Birth Control doesnt always slow the growth as you have found. That is why some have tried drugs like Lupron etc. The problem with those drugs is it puts you in a psuedomenopause state ( which is good iIF and I say IF , it keeps the ENdo at bay) so the theory is you can keep your body clear of Endo for several months, get off the Lupron and try to concieve.
Another thing, SOME women who have had ENdo throughout their bodies have concieved where as others don't. So there is no real answer as to whether you can or cant, its a trying game sadly:(
Some women have concieved with active ENdo and endure Endo symptoms while pregnant which Docs say isnt suppose to happen, but it does.

So I am not sure If I am confusing you more then anything, if you don't ovulate on a regular pattern that too will obviously cause complications in concieving.

I hope some of the other ladies chime in, for me I never had the chance to try to concieve, and most likely wouldnt have....
I would guess that you should try to keep your body in a calm ( psuedomenopausal) state for a few months then see if you can try to concieve, thats the other thing...some women the Endo returns within months others years. THat is why I hate this disease and want it to be a household name so there will be more answers for us all and less guessing!

Hugs hope I didnt confuse you more:(