Thursday, April 17, 2008

April 17: Discriminating Evidence

SIDE EFFECTS FOR THIS DAY: headaches (pain rating 7); left groin pain (pain rating 3); pain on sides (5); general lower back pain (3); lower ab muscles weak; white noise in ears; inner ear pain (7); chest pain (5); mental confusion; hot flashes/night sweats; exhausted.

So, yes, I am a casualty of the migraines today. I've been resisting using medicine to see which drug was causing what effect, and, I just hate taking meds if I don't have to. But today I had too. My head pounded with my pulse, even as I was laying down. I could count my heartbeat instead of sheep.

A big question in my mind is just which of the side effects are from an estrogen surge and which are from the Lupron. Definitely the headaches are from the estrogen surge; it's well documented. The confusion... I'm not sure. I know that menopause can cause confusion, but a little air headedness seems different than forgetting one's address, the way to a venue you have been often, etc. in my mind at least. So this is why I am a little bothered by this and trying to discern what is causing what.

I have some new info I am going to follow through on. Here are the links:

http://www.endometriosistreatment.org/
This is Dr. Redwine, who makes some very interesting arguments about endometriosis and treatment. He's a specialist. I'm considering sending him my records for review, which only costs $125 (that's reasonable in my book).

http://www.pelvicpain.com/
This is Dr. Cook, who also makes some interesting arguments re: pathology, what endo looks like, etc. I know for certain when I last went in, my doc just looked for the dark lesions and did not do any tissue samples. As a result, my pain never went away.

I don't know if these doctors are the answer but 1) they take insurance (which wasn't true of Dr. Nezhat in Atlanta who is a world-renown specialist. I don't have $30k+ to throw around on this); 2) I am willing to try another laparoscopic in lieu of a hysterectomy, if they have a different approach and a convincing argument for their techniques.

So maybe these links will help as well. I found the information on their sites to be very helpful at least and it certainly got me thinking. Hoping for a good day tomorrow as I have a rehearsal with a conductor.

2 comments:

Grown Up Train said...

Hi,
I sent my records to Dr. Redwine. FYI, he uses the same hammer for all nails. He will recomend surgery--performed by him. I'm not saying that might not be effective, but he's very expensive and you can't be on Lupron when he does the surgery. He's considered a bit radical in the endo community.

Hope that's helpful...

Lupron Journal said...

Sounds like a vote against! Yikes! I could have sworn I read that he took insurance... did I misread or do you have more info? Thanks!