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Endometriosis: Prostap Month 1 Medical Menopause

Endometriosis is so challenging! 26 & this will be my 2nd time of going through the Menopause with Prostap! Great! I thought it would be useful to document my time and experiences on it. My first course was two years ago when I stayed on it for 6 months. This time it's been suggested to start on a 3 month course and then it will be reviewed. The overall aim to find out if it is Endo or adhesion's that are causing all my pains.


**Please remember these are my own experiences. It may be totally different for someone else. As with Endo, I'm sure you know by now, what works for one person may not for another**

Prostap is a hormone medicine that prevents certain hormones from producing. Therefore, it puts women into a medical menopause as it will temporarily shut down your ovaries. Its active ingredient is Leuprorelin Acetate. Similar drugs to Prostap that work in the exactly same way are Zoladex and Lupron. Side effects may vary.

My Prostap Diary: Month 1

Day 1: Prostap is given as an injection which is put into your fat and not your muscle. This helps it to spread and not cause any spasms in the muscles. I had the option of having it in my stomach or my bottom. Chose the bottom. I immediately felt a sharp pain where it's inserted and that same sharp pain for some time after. Felt a bit woozy on my way home. Had pains around incision site all day. Aching, throbbing pains shooting down my legs. Few stabs around my ovaries but nothing major. Headache but not persistent and a slight breast pain. Slept most of the day, felt very fatigued.

Day 2:  Didn't sleep much last night so been extremely tired all day. I had lots of naps throughout the day! I've had pains in both my ovaries, felt different to my usual Endo pains so it must be the Prostap, doing its job and shutting them down. Also had a really strange burning sensation in my back. Cool to touch but felt like it was on fire. Never experienced it before so unsure if it's related to the injection or not? The worst symptom I've had today was headaches. Felt as if I was hungover, really fuzzy with sharp pains shooting across the right hand side of my head every now and again. The nurse did warn me of these due to changes in my hormone levels.

Day 3: Headache again all day. Pounding. The cramps I was having started to increase. By the evening breakthrough bleeding started which explains the cramping. I've been so tired all day.

Day 4: Breakthrough bleeding has got heavier and cramps are still present. Also had stabbing pains near my ovaries and around my bellybutton.

Day 5: Breakthrough bleeding still happening. Cramps increased today. Woke up at 9:30am after a very restless night. Done some dishes, tidied up etc but my back pain became unbearable, even just standing. 12:30pm I went to rest in bed. The cramps came on so strong I wasn't able to move. Stayed in bed until 7:30pm. Hot flushes really bad today, even had to change my clothes because they were wet from sweating.

Day 6: Bleeding is more like a full on period today. Extremely heavy, bright red and with massive clots. If I'm being honest, it scared me a bit. Cramps and vaginal pain along with bleeding increased. Hot flushes all day. Night sweats! So much, even my hair was soaking!

Day 7: Period type pains, aching in my stomach. Still on quite heavy although cramps are not as continuous as yesterday!

Day 8: Still on today. It's October 1st and I'm sweating with hot flushes!

Day 9: Aching all over today and so so tired. Although, pains not as high as the last few days.

Day 10: My stomach has swollen massively today. Even clothes which are 2 and 3 sizes bigger than what I am will not fit me! Felt so down. Had a little cry. A day of feeling so fed up and depressed.

Day 11 - 17: Few aches. Insomnia has kicked up a level. Hot flushes are in full swing still. However, only small pains between these days. Still quite tired. Was a bit hormonal on day 15, quite angry and frustrated for no reason but it died down quickly. Still having breakthrough bleeding but not as heavy as the first week. Good news, I managed a night out! First one in ages that I lasted all night, even danced (!!) and didn't have to go home early. Was very surprised.

Day 18: Back to really heavy bleeding today. My back and stomach have been hurting all day. Pains increased towards the end of the day. Small cramps started at bedtime.

Day 19: I've been bleeding so heavy all day and felt sick. Joint pain in my knees. It was my Mother's 50th birthday party tonight. The biggest symptom I had was hot flushes! My face was literally soaking! Struggled with pain in my knees towards the end of the night. But, again, I made it through the whole night.

Day 20 - 21: Such bad pains in my knees. I've found it so hard walking, especially up and down the stairs. I've had to take it one step at a time. Sitting down and standing back up is also agony. Small cramping in my stomach today.

Day 22: Didn't feel too bad in the morning/afternoon. No major symptoms or side effects. However, this evening when I was coming to bed I had a bit of a funny turn. I felt really sick, dizzy and then had massive stabs starting in my ovaries and shooting up my stomach.

Day 23: I had a bad back this afternoon. Had another funny turn feeling dizzy and sick. Took a nap.

Day 24: Been really tired today but overall no major pains.

Day 25 - 28: Between these days, I've had no energy at all and taken loads of naps! After being out of bed for a few hours, I've ended up falling asleep again. Had another episode of feeling sick, dizzy and faint. Have noticed hair loss. Loads of my hair is coming out in big bulks of strands when I'm brushing it.

This month has been extremely up and down. I'm hoping when I have my second injection, it won't be as bad as the drug is already in my system. You can notice from the diary that I had a few good days in the middle. Not pain free. But better than I have been. Although, due to all the other side effects I'm not sure yet if it's been effective or a massive benefit. Keep your fingers crossed for month 2!

(Read Month 2 by clicking here.)

A good website listing many of Prostap's side effects is available here if you are worried about any of them or want more information.
#MyEndoDiary

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