There’s no cure for endometriosis but you can manage the condition with different treatments. One kind of treatment that doctors often explore is hormone therapy. While hormone therapy can be effective for managing endometriosis symptoms, there are a variety of side effects that you need to know about.
Your Hormone Therapy Options
1. Birth Control
There are many forms of birth control including combined oral contraceptives, the patch, and the IUD. Typically, birth control contains estrogen and progestogen which are hormones that will affect your menstrual cycle. They usually stop ovulation and prevent the accumulation of endometrial tissue. While this treatment can reduce pain and bleeding, it won’t help with adhesions if you have them.
The good thing about this option is that you have several types of birth control to choose from when looking for what works well for you. It’s also the only type of hormone therapy that’s recommended for long-term treatment.
You May Also Like
Some of the side effects of this option are spotting between periods, nausea, headaches, breast tenderness, and mood changes. There’s also an increased risk of developing blood clots.
RELATED: Endometriosis: What All Black Women Need To Know
2. Gonadotropin-releasing Hormone Agonist (GnRH-a)
This option lowers your estrogen levels to a point that mimics menopause. It can help with pain and bleeding associated with endometriosis. However, it’s not going to give any relief from adhesions.
You May Also Like
Additionally, doctors only recommend GnRH-a for short-term use because of its potential side effects. These side effects include hot flashes, mood swings, vaginal dryness, reduced interest in sex, trouble sleeping, headaches, and bone thinning.
3. Progestin
This hormone lowers estrogen and shrinks the abnormal tissue that you might have. Sometimes, progestin is prescribed along with GnRH-a to increase its effectiveness and manage the side effects.
As with GnRH-a, though, your doctor is unlikely to recommend this hormone for long-term use as it has its own set of effects. Some of these are mood changes like depression, bloating, weight gain, weight loss, breast tenderness, and irregular periods. You may also have bone thinning if you’re given a high dose of progestin.
4. Danazol
Though Danazol can reduce your pain and shrink abnormal tissue, it’s not prescribed as often as other hormones. In fact, it’s not recommended that you use it for more than nine months because of its side effects. The list includes decreased breast size, acne, and more facial or body hair. Your voice may also get deeper permanently. Finally, Danazol can increase your bad cholesterol levels.
5. Aromatase Inhibitors
Aromatase inhibitors stop the production of estrogen altogether. While this will definitely help with the symptoms of endometriosis, the use of this form of hormone therapy usually has to be tempered with other hormones.
Additionally, doctors don’t recommend the prolonged use of aromatase inhibitors as that increases your chance of bone thinning. Other side effects of this option are headaches, nausea, diarrhea, aching joints, and hot flashes.
How To Handle The Side Effects
The first step to managing the side effects of hormone therapy is to ask for your doctor’s recommendations. Side effects such as headaches, nausea, and diarrhea can likely be addressed with over-the-counter medications. However, you may need additional prescriptions to handle problems like mood changes, vaginal dryness, insomnia, and an increase in your cholesterol levels. Where home remedies are concerned, you can try ginger teas and sweets for nausea as well as chamomile tea for sleeplessness.
When To See Your Doctor
While it’s possible to manage some of the side effects with over-the-counter medications or home remedies, there are times when you need to see your doctor. For example, some forms of birth control can cause blood clots so you should tell your doctor if you notice any signs of this issue. Some signs of blood clots include difficulty breathing, unexplained lightheadedness, pain in the chest or extremities, and an irregular heartbeat. Other side effects such as bone thinning and an increase in bad cholesterol levels can take place more slowly but it’s important to ask your doctor about follow-up tests that can monitor these problems.
Hormone therapy is commonly used as a first step in managing endometriosis symptoms. It can work well for many people but there are some side effects that you’ll need to deal with. While some of these can be handled easily, there are others that will need medical intervention so it’s important to talk to your doctor about any changes in your health.
