Has anyone ever heard of this?
More importantly – has anyone ever heard of this as a treatment for endometriosis?
Probably not, because it’s technically not a studied (or even approved) treatment for endo, but I’m just wondering… has anyone out there in the internet ether tried it? Or heard of anyone who has tried it?
The only reason I ask is because I had a follow up consult with Dr. Cook last week, and this is one of the treatments we discussed. He said he had a patient in his clinic who he performed surgery on 4 years ago. She was stage IV like me, and had undergone several surgeries in the past before coming to Dr. Cook. After surgery she began taking Low Dose Naltrexone, which has been used as an experimental drug for a variety of diseases. Endometriosis, Fibromyalgia, auto-immune disorders, infertility… they all have perceived benefits from it. The goal of the drug itself is to increase the effectiveness and production of our natural endorphins. The theory is that people with the diseases listed above have a problem with their endorphin production, and that’s what contributes to their illness.
The point? This girl with a previously severe case of endometriosis recently had a check up with Dr. Cook. Four years later, and she is still endometriosis free. Pain free. Happy. Healthy. Living her life like a woman who is completely… normal. One not riddled with disease and pain. And she credits both her surgery with Dr. Cook, as well as the Low Dose Naltrexone.
Dr. Cook said he knew I was well read and that I liked to do my own research, so he just wanted me to look into it and see if it would be something I would be interested in trying. Surgery is complete, and right now I am currently endo free. There is no magic formula that can guarantee I stay that way though. The goal is to do whatever we can from this point forward to keep the disease from coming back. And he seemed to think that this might be something worth trying.
So… I’m wondering if anyone has any information. I’m doing my own research as well, but since this isn’t technically an approved therapy for endometriosis – there isn’t much out there. I do know that at the dose he would prescribe for me (550 mg), the side effects would be very minimal and likely even non-existent (nothing compared to the months spent miserable on Lupron), but I also know this would kind of go completely against my desire to remain drug free right now. So I’m torn. I’m going to bring it up with Dr. Naturopath as well and see what she thinks. But I’m wondering… what do you think?
It’s funny how well Dr. Cook can read me, because as soon as he mentioned the treatment my wheels started spinning and I was immediately considering all the angles. I was thinking about this therapy, and then also asking about Diva Cups (which he said he thinks would be a perfectly acceptable alternative – so I already ordered mine this weekend. You can all expect a full review next period. I know you can't wait!) He stopped me though, and reminded me that I can’t be perfect. That there is no way of knowing what will and will not work for me, and that I can’t push myself to the point of obsession in trying to fight this disease. He said that all I can do right now is my best. I can research and learn and then make the decisions I feel the most confident in making. From there though – I need to trust. And I also need to know that if the pain and endo does return, it’s not my fault. It’s not because I missed something, or didn’t research hard enough. It’s simply because not enough is known about this disease to ever really know for sure what the right decisions are.
He's kind of an amazing doctor. I needed to hear that, because even now I can tell you that there is a part of me that will blame myself if this disease returns. I feel like I’ve been given such a clean slate, and I don’t want to waste that. I feel healthy again. Clean. Whole. Strong. And I am so incredibly terrified of losing that. I need to be constantly reminding myself that I can’t control this. All I can do is my best.
So in the effort to do my best, I’m asking you… what do you know? What can you tell me?
Is Low Dose Naltrexone something worth trying?
ADSPACE
