Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Hormons and iphone babies

I'm probably experiencing hormonal imbalance and it's not easy to deal with the sympthoms. I'd thought that I was going to be fine after the last Lupron shot but this is not the case and I guess it's nothing new nor surprising. Basically while during the therapy my estrogen levels were reduced and I didn't have my period for few months, now the levels should get back to normal and I should have the return of the ovulatory cycle. Delays are common and I don't really care about it but the fact that estrogen is produced again after 4 months has obviously an impact on me. I felt like shit during Lupron, I still have unpleasant side effects and in addiction to them I have other sympthoms due to the estrogen rise: mood swings, fatigue and lack of concentration.

Usually doctors don't bother to explain what happens when you're on a GnRH agonist (such as Lupron which is called Enantone in Europe if I'm not wrong) and I had to figure out on my own what the hell was going on with my body and my mind. After the treatment and in my case the surgery, everything is supposed to get back to normal and it seems as though no further explanations are needed. However the induction of menopause first and the rise of the estrogen levels then  have been pretty tough and I wish I had been given more information. 

I don't get why doctors often assume that patients cannot fully comprehend medical information. Unfortunatelly I'm not House's assitant (but I have seen it. Does it count?!) and I don't have a scientific background in biology or chemistry but it's MY f**** body and I'm not an idiot (am I?). I do have the right to know what is a gonadotropin releasing hormone analog and what exactely does to my body and I also have the right to know that during and after the treatment I could have side effects for a long time. 

Everything I know -or I don't know- is thanks to the Internet. I haven't research on Yaz yet - the birth control I have been prescribed-  but I guess I have to start pretty soon as the only thing my doctor told me was: "you might have problems with it, if that is the case give me a call" and then she explained me how to use it. 

Now, if I rely on the Internet  for medical information I should probably consider to buy an iphone and rely on MeFertil when I'll try to get pregnant. Perhaps we'll have an iphone baby too, homebirth as we can use skype, a webcam and wikipedia to make sure that everything is doing well.

"... push push and push again... no wait, according to this site you are still in the first stage of labor! Don't push  and let me see if I can find a video on youtube"

4 comments:

  1. The internet is a very scary place to seek medical information. And unreliable.Why don't you try searching in PubMed? It's the best database in medicine. At least, you will be sure it's serious research you're reading, and with your background you will be able to understand the statistics behind it.

    :)

    good luck!

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  2. Thanks for the hint!
    I'll try.
    Not sure I'll be albe to understand the stats though ;)

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  3. Lola, having gone through everything you are going through I know how you feel. Lupron is horrible. I was lucky that my doctors were pretty good and willing communicators. WebMD is a great place on the web for good medical info. And thanks so much for mentioning MeFertil. My husband and I created it and work very hard at making it the best fertility app for iPhone to help women around the world fulfill their dreams of becoming moms. We are so happy that our first MeFertil babies are about to be born. These are true miracles!! Bestest of luck to you!!!
    Renata
    www.mefertil.com

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  4. Ciao Renata,
    thanks for your comment and cograts for mefertil.
    :)

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