Anyone with endo?(long)

I have had painful periods my entire life. I had a lap in 2001 and had stage 3 endo removed. The pain has been better since then and I had a successful pg in 2006. This AF is VERY painful. I am hoping its just b/c of the ivf but its frightening me. When I first went to Dr K he said endo would not effect my ivf and did not recommend another lap. After ivf#1 was cancelled he said the endo could have effected my follie production. I did not have this problem with ivf#2 and was on a different protocol. At my transfer he said my cerivx was "tricky" which he has told me before. He said that the cervix has probably caused my endo. So I am wondering if its back. Of course I want to talk to him about it but I have to wait until Sept. I am thinking of doing another lap (if he agrees) IF this FET fails. I will only have 1 more ivf covered by insurance and want to have every chance at it working.

Anyway, what arew/were your endo symptoms and did your RE recommend a lap prior to ivf?

Re: Anyone with endo?(long)

We know I have some form of endo because I have an endometrioma cyst, albeit quite small. Though I don't have any symptoms other than 10 years ago I used to get SEVERE AF pain but it went away magically when I went on Birth Control. I've been off BCP for a year and a half and it hasn't come back so I think it might have been unrelated.

I inquired about a Lap but my RE thought it really wasn't worth the invasive procedure if we're comfortable moving forward with IVF, especially because most research shows endo, whether mild or severe, has little to no effect on the success of IVF.

Re: Anyone with endo?(long)

I've been lurking on this board for quite some time and following your story. I'm sorry your IVF did not work. I saw your post on endo and thought I would respond. I also have stage 2 endo. Just had a lap in May. We went right into an IVF cycle which failed. My RE, at the time, also did not recommend doing a lap before IVF but when he saw a large endometrioma I told him I wanted the lap and the IVF still failed.

I am now see Dr. K and during our consult he also told me it's sound medical advice not to do a lap before IVF. However, I disagree and was glad I did mine. I also think your pain could be related to the endo. I remember before I had the lap and did injectable IUIs my periods were really painful b/c of the follistim. After my IVF cycle failed my period was not painful at all. Since the lap I really don't take anything when I get my period.

That being said, if I were you, I would do the lap before your next cycle. It can't hurt but can only help.

You also may find this article helpful in coming to your decision. http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2006/january18/med-infertility-011806.html

I wish the best let me know if you have any more questions/concerns.

Re: Anyone with endo?(long)

Posted by mojosmom

I've been lurking on this board for quite some time and following your story. I'm sorry your IVF did not work. I saw your post on endo and thought I would respond. I also have stage 2 endo. Just had a lap in May. We went right into an IVF cycle which failed. My RE, at the time, also did not recommend doing a lap before IVF but when he saw a large endometrioma I told him I wanted the lap and the IVF still failed.

I am now see Dr. K and during our consult he also told me it's sound medical advice not to do a lap before IVF. However, I disagree and was glad I did mine. I also think your pain could be related to the endo. I remember before I had the lap and did injectable IUIs my periods were really painful b/c of the follistim. After my IVF cycle failed my period was not painful at all. Since the lap I really don't take anything when I get my period.

That being said, if I were you, I would do the lap before your next cycle. It can't hurt but can only help.

You also may find this article helpful in coming to your decision. http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2006/january18/med-infertility-011806.html

I wish the best let me know if you have any more questions/concerns.

Re: Anyone with endo?(long)

I have stage 4 endo and through IVF I was able to get pregnant. I had my first lapo surgery in Oct 2006, went on lupron depot until april 2007. Did a cycle in Sept/Oct 2007 and it did not work. They did another lapo surgery in Jan 2008 and we did a FET early April 2008. I got a positive beta and I'm currently 20 weeks. My drs at NSUH believed that I would never have been able to have a successful folicle production and egg retrevial without the surgery. They also believed that my FET would not have worked it they hadn't "cleaned me out" in January.

My symptoms were horrible for two years prior to my first surgery and then from Nov 2007-Jan 2008. I had heavy bleeding, weight loss, naseau, vomitting, passing out, etc.

Re: Anyone with endo?(long)

I have endo, but my RE never said what stage it was. When I had my lapo done in March, it was in my pelvic area and also my bowels. My periods weren't always heavy, but when I went to the RE in Feb after my 2nd failed IUI, I was a mess. I also had extreme pain on my left ovary, so bad that I almost had DH take me to the ER. When I told the RE of the pain, that was when he wanted to do a lapo. When he did the lapo, he cleaned up the endo and removed an endometrioma on my left ovary that was causing me pain. It was weird that the endometriosis was on my bowels because I did have problems sometimes with "going", but I just chalked it up to needing to eat more fiber and salad. I never put the 2 together. After the surgery, I started with the injections. I didn't do IVF, but I did a 3rd IUI which was successful. I'm sure that if I didn't have the surgery, I wouldn't have gotten pregnant. During the surgery, the doctor discovered that my left tube was blocked due to leakage from the endometrioma.