#visannette

[chroniconic]

I took dienogest 2mg for 4 months for endometriosis and it basically erased any pelvic pain I had, the knitting needle pain through my right ovary, the butt lightning pain, the pain I felt upon pressure alone that felt like my organs are exploding, and it stopped my period

but the side effects? progressively suicidal thoughts. a new form of migraine I never experienced before: hemiplegic migraine where half of my body went completely numb for hours, a new type of visual symptom where I had black spots covering my field of vision, pain that feels like a sudden jolt through my head, and pain that feels like a bubble of pressure is moving from the center of my head, inside my head, to my forehead. these migraines would be non-stop. I developed constant double vision and also had a constant pounding headache in addition to the migraine. And I also had daily joint pain that felt like my joints were on fire and I wanted to scream, and by the end I started getting really bad hot flushes. I even developed some dark sun spots despite wearing sunscreen religiously (it’s an old skincare habit already) and not leaving my apartment.

Guess what? My estrogen levels are basically zero. Also progesterone levels though, but no one interpreted this for me yet so I don’t know what it means. I’m only 29 and I don’t think I could be in actual menopause yet.

Eventually I was unable to do anything.

My doctor said to continue dienogest regardless, because there is no other option. I had to stop dienogest, and now I’ve been on NuvaRing continously since March and I’m looking for another doctor.

The continuous usage allows me to skip my period and potentially avoid the worst symptoms then, but I know that unless I am in a semi-menopausal state like with dienogest, it will probably come back?

I had the NuvaRing prescribed as “acne medication” and my neurologist confirmed that it could be tried in my case, because it seems like I am sensitive to estrogen withdrawal, although normally COCs are not recommended when you have migraine with aura. I’m monitored for blood clotting issues (this will be a separate post).

Some of my endometriosis pain has returned on NuvaRing, but the constant throbbing headache and suicidal thoughts are gone. I still have double vision and migraines though. I had migraines before dienogest, they just turned into daily and relentless ones on it.