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Tap It Back…Add It Back: Hormonal Add-Back Therapy

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All you indoor cycle enthusiasts probably got the reference pretty quickly… Tap Backs are not only good for your core and your gluts but for your quads and your arms (and they are sort of fun at the same time). Dancing on a bike is liberating, to say the least, and lets you think, at least for 45 minutes, that you too could be Beyoncé’s next back-up dancer!

Tap backs are not just good for the body; they are good for the soul (no pun intended!). In the same way, add-back hormonal therapy is good for many different organs. With oral progesterone + estrogen, you are hitting many of those key areas and shaping your future.

Let’s take a seat in the saddle and review why you would need add-back therapy and how it does its job. Many GYN pathologies think fibroids, endometriosis, and adenomyosis run on hormones. No hormones usually = no pain/no symptoms. Therefore, our treatment choices for such problems frequently center on taking the hormones away. Our first line of attack usually includes oral contraceptive pills (OCPs). The synthetic estrogen and progesterone in OCPs feeds back on your brain and shuts off your natural production of estrogen and progesterone.  It’s a complicated pathway of events, but this one daily pill is usually very good at putting the brakes on the body’s own hormone production and keeping those pesky symptoms (pain, bleeding) at bay.

However, in certain cases, the OCPs are no match for the pathology pervading your pelvis—in these instances, we need to look into our bag of tricks and pull out something more powerful. Cue GnRH agonists (a.k.a. Lupron). These injectable (and in some forms nasal) medications shut off the brain’s production of the hormones that stimulate ovarian estrogen production. They don’t waste their time with feedback but rather go right to the source and turn off that switch. And while they are good at keeping things dark when this switch has been flipped to OFF by Lupron, it’s like a major blackout occurred in your body.

Everything hormonal goes dark. And while this darkness is good for stopping endometriosis, fibroids, and the like, it is not so good for those organs that desperately depend on estrogen (think bones). Therefore, in order to satisfy both parties (those that like the dark and those that need some light), we give what is called hormonal add-back therapy alongside the Lupron.

Think of the add-back therapy as a flashlight. It shines light on the areas that are really afraid of the dark (a.k.a. the bones). And like all good nightlights, it does its job well—it can keep the bones happy without reducing the efficacy of the Lupron. It also quells those crazy hot flashes that women can get while taking a GnRH agonist (Lupron). You may be making a funny face, thinking this doesn’t really make sense? If endo is fed by estrogen and then the doctor gives estrogen, won’t that make matters worse? You are sort of right and also sort of wrong. Here’s why.

The doses at which you are taking oral add-back therapy are right at the hormone sweet spot. They are just enough to protect your bones and stop the hot flashes but not enough to fuel your disease (endo, fibroids, etc.). As a result, add-back therapy has become all the rage for women taking GnRH agonists (Lupron). By supplying it, we can give Lupron without much stress over the possible negative side effects. Examples of add-back therapy include norethindrone acetate alone or norethindrone acetate + estrogen. Either combo has been shown to work; however, what works for you must be figured out with your doctor. Most of the time, we start add-back right when the agonist is started. While we used to wait a few months before initiating add-back, we now don’t really think there is any benefit to delaying its start.

Whether you are a SoulCycle or a Flywheel girl, an Equinox fan or a Crunch crazy, you know that, while on the bike, you will burn a serious number of calories. Add-back therapy is the lubricant that allows those wheels to keep turning. Without a little juice, over time, the bike will break down, and you will come to a screeching halt. We want to prevent that in your body by giving add-back hormonal therapy alongside a GnRH agonist. It will allow you to keep “cycling” without much pain. Not bad… Now, let’s see you Tap It Back!

Fibroid: What to Do When Fertility Is Not on Your Mind

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If you have fibroids, you are probably saying a choice curse word every time you think of your little (and in some cases) big uterine friend(s). Like a bad house guest, they can be a big pain in the rear end. They can cause bleeding, pain, pressure, and infertility. Bottom line, they are not fun. And unfortunately, this un-fun party is very well attended; nearly a quarter of reproductive-age women have fibroids. Furthermore, fibroids are the cause for about 2% of infertility cases.

Simply stated, you are not the only person who RSVPed “yes” to the fibroid gala. While there are many ways to treat them, not everything works for everyone at every point in their life. Women at different stages of their lives (a.k.a. reproductive “stages”) and symptomology warrant different procedures. For those of you who are nowhere near ready for anything to do with the F word (FERTILITY) but want it in the future (be it near or distant), here’s what we recommend.

Fibroids can be treated medically and/or surgically. Medical treatments include oral contraceptive pills (a.k.a. OCPs or the pill), the intra-uterine device (a.k.a. the IUD), Lupron (a.k.a. “I feel like I am in menopause with these hot flashes and vaginal dryness”), progesterone receptor modulators (mifepristone or ulipristal acetate), SERMs (raloxifene), aromatase inhibitors (letrozole), and anti-fibrinolytics. While some of the medical options are better at improving some of the symptoms (for example, OCPs will improve heavy bleeding but not the pressure symptoms), they very rarely fix it all.

Just like when you’re selecting the OCP you want to marry, you may have to shop around for medical options before you land at your symptom-free spot. While Lupron (a GnRH agonist) will do it all, it will cost you in the side effect department. Hot flashes, sleep problems, vaginal dryness, muscle and bone pains, and even changes in mood/thinking often come along with the reduction in fibroid bleeding, pain, and pressure. It’s because of the side effect profile that we don’t go with Lupron as our first medical treatment.  

Surgically, the options are limited for women who have not yet had kids. It’s basically a myomectomy or bust. Fibroids have been nicknamed myomas; -ectomy means removal so myomectomy = fibroid removal. While a myomectomy is the only option for you ladies who are not yet ready to part with your uterus, what varies in the myomectomy part is how you “myomectomize.”

The procedure can be performed abdominally (through a bikini-cut incision), laparoscopically (through a camera), robotically (through a robot), or vaginally (no explanation needed!). The approach depends on the size of the fibroid(s), the location of the fibroid(s), and the number of fibroid (s). It also depends on your surgeon’s experience and preference. Make sure you are comfortable with all of the above before you commit to anything or anyone.

As with most things, there are pros and cons to both medical and surgical options. If you like lists (we love them!), here are the important points to note. For most young women who have not had kids but want them in the future, we like to go medical first. Most of the medical options are transient and provide birth control (killing two birds with one stone!). While they will not rid you of your “f”riends, they will decrease many of your symptoms:

Bleeding, check.

Pain, check.

Protecting your future fertility, check.

In many cases, with medical treatment, the fibroids will shrink. Fibroids feed off estrogen, so low estrogen equals famine for fibroids, and hopefully your symptoms will dissipate. If medical management doesn’t do much to alleviate your symptoms, you may have to amp up your treatment to surgery.

Surgery will almost definitely bring the bothersome bleeding, pain, and pressure to a halt. However, it can increase your chance for scar tissue (both within the uterus and the pelvis) and other surgical complications. Surgery, no matter who does it, is the real deal. For this reason, you want to avoid going under the knife unless it is absolutely necessary.

The only absolute cures for fibroids are menopause and/or a hysterectomy. For women who have baby making on their mind and in their future (be it near or distant), neither of the above is a good option: major con! It is for this reason that we need to find a way to temporize the symptoms until you get the pregnancy process started. We usually recommend starting low and going high, but only if you have to. Give the easy or simpler stuff a shot first before you shoot in out of the park.

Just a side note: while fibroids are pretty pesky for most of us, some women are completely unaware of their presence. They find out totally by accident during an ultrasound, a pelvic exam, or during pregnancy. And just like if it isn’t broken don’t fix it, fibroids that are causing no symptoms are really no big deal. They can hang with you for as long as you both shall live. No divorce in sight.

If they don’t bother you, don’t do anything with them until you have to. Prophylactic or preventative therapy to avoid future problems is not recommended—no pre-nup here! Fibroids need to be fixed only if you can’t take them anymore. Otherwise, do your best to forget they even exist!

Putting Out the Fire: Endometriosis Treatment

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Living in New York City, we don’t usually see those forest fires some of you ladies see out West. While we watch it on TV and read about it on the Internet, those days and days of blazes are something of a foreign concept to us. However, what we have taken away from those images are the hoses upon hoses and the buckets upon buckets that those firefighters must use to quell those flames.

Endometriosis (a.k.a. endo) is to your pelvis as a big forest fire is to California. If it is not put out quickly, it can be devastating. The good news is that, just as the firefighters have many tools in their truck, we too have several potential treatment options.

For women who do not have babies on the brain, there are many “hoses” that can help put out your fire. You have both medical and surgical options. When fertility is not in the near future, shutting your own system off medically with hormonal therapy is no big deal. Most GYNs will recommend that you start basic (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents/NSAIDs plus hormonal contraceptives).

Go big only when the fire continues to rage. NSAIDs combined with continuous hormonal contraceptives (continuous birth control pills) are usually pretty good at putting out “smaller fires” (mild/moderate endometriosis). It doesn’t matter if you prefer the oral, vaginal, or skin (a.k.a. patch) route for hormonal treatment. They all work the same, and here, it is more a matter of preference than potency. If estrogen is out because of a medical contraindication (clots, smoking etc.), then progesterone can be given in isolation with NSAIDs.

If this concoction is not keeping your symptoms quiet, we start climbing the treatment ladder. Our next step is usually a GnRH agonist (cue Lupron) combo’d with add-back hormonal therapy (estrogen and progesterone). If this doesn’t bring things to a halt, we usually give aromatase inhibitors (think Femara) a try. The aromatase inhibitors work by decreasing circulating estrogens in the body.  Estrogen is like gasoline to the endo fire. It doesn’t take a firefighter to tell you that it’s probably not a good idea to throw gasoline on a fire!

One treatment is not necessarily better than another. Some just work better in certain people. What is different is how they are administered (oral, injection), how frequently they must be taken (daily, weekly, monthly), and how much they cost (a little vs. a lot!). You have to see what works best for you and your symptoms.

When medical treatment isn’t cutting it, surgery is an option—no pun intended. We try to reserve the bigger guns for the bigger flames; starting with surgery is usually not a good idea. In general, the basic tenant of endo is to max out on medical treatment and avoid repeat surgeries—repeat trips to the operating room do not earn you frequent flier miles. It just earns you a lot of scar tissue, a lot of risk, and a lot of anesthesia. It’s not something you want to do.

If you do find yourself needing to make that trip down the runway, make sure your pilot has been around the block several times—no first-timers here. Endo surgery is no walk in the park; you want your surgeon to be experienced.

Gynecology has gained a couple of new subdivisions in the past few years. There are now GYNs who spend years after their residency learning how to do endo surgery. Their second home is in the operating room. Let’s just say that, when you need a tour, they should be the ones to do it! There are a variety of surgical procedures that can relieve your symptoms. The specifics are above the scope of our conversation, but what you do need to know is the following. Know your surgeon, know why they are doing what they are doing, and know how many times they have done what they are suggesting you do. Trust us; it’s super important.

No two fires are exactly alike. Similarly, no two cases of endo are exactly alike. While for some, pain is the biggest problem, for others, it is GI symptoms. Because of the variability in symptoms, in severity, and in life plans (fertility vs. no fertility), the treatment plan that “puts out your fire” will likely vary. What gets you going or stops your endo from growing may be different than what helped your sister or what helps your BFF.

Although we probably won’t ever treat you, we can recommend that you treat yourself with the utmost respect. Be aware of your symptoms and what makes them better or worse. Have your GYN on speed dial—don’t tell them we told you that!—and tell them when things are not going so well. And while we don’t recommend you ringing them on weekends and in the nighttime unless urgent, you should feel comfortable calling them. If their answers are not cutting it, don’t be afraid to remove them from your contacts and find a different doctor.

Unfortunately, endo is a chronic condition. Once the treatment hoses are turned off, the fire will likely return. After your baby days are done, you may elect to undergo definitive surgical treatment (a.k.a. a hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophrectomy: simply stated, ovaries, tubes, and uterus out) to ensure that you never face another forest fire. Until then, let us help you temporize the flames so that you can fight whatever fires, be it professionally or personally, that you choose to extinguish. There is nothing you can’t put out if you put your mind to it!

The Most Unwelcome House Guest: Endometriomas

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When you can’t find your keys, what do you do? Most of us go to the “hot” spots and start searching. Hot spots are those places that you usually, on most days, drop your keys: on the kitchen counter, in the hallway, hanging on a hook in the garage. By hitting those high-traffic key spots, we are pretty likely to find a match.

When looking for evidence of endometriosis, we go to those hot spots, and the ovaries are the hottest of the hot spots. Endometriosis that implants on the ovaries and forms a cyst is called an endometrioma. News flash: endometriomas and the ovaries are not friends; in fact, they are not even frenemies. They are unwelcome guests that can make the ovaries incredibly unhappy. And here’s why.

Intruders are not fun in anyone’s house. This is particularly true in the ovaries that are already dealing with a limited supply of goods (a.k.a. eggs). Endometriosis on the ovaries can range from mild (a few spots) to major (a whopping 10cm, plus a cyst). Usually, the bigger the cyst, the bigger the problem. And although this may be hard or disturbing to picture, what’s inside the cyst bears a close resemblance to chocolate. While we hope that didn’t destroy your love of everything Hershey’s, Nestle, or Godiva, that is what the brown fluid that leaks out of the cyst looks like.

And while it may look like chocolate, it’s more of an inflammatory soup; factors and mediators lurking in this fluid are not pleasant. They’re irritants. They can damage the ovary and eat away at your egg supply—as well as your quality of life. It is for this reason and others that women with endometriosis often experience infertility.

The walls of endometriomas were not built in a day. They are usually quite tough and scarred. In many cases, the ovary-plus-cyst complex is stuck like glue to surrounding abdominal organs (intestines, uterus, etc.). This can make taking them out pretty challenging. Fortunately, surgeons that specialize in endometriosis surgery have a lot of weapons in their armamentarium.

You want to make sure the good guys are fighting for you, and for this reason, make sure you vet your endo surgeon well. Unlike those keys that you couldn’t find, you can’t just get a new ovary copied. If you lose it, it is forever lost. For this reason, you want to make sure whomever you are trusting to “hold them” knows what they are doing.

The good news about endometriomas is that the hot/cold/found-it game is pretty easy. An ultrasound is pretty spot on in identifying what is likely an endometrioma and what is not. On ultrasounds, the cyst/mass will look greyish/white and solid, and it usually has a lot of blood flow. If your doctor is still on the fence about what is plaguing your ovary or needs more information before surgery, an MRI is usually their go to. With these tools in our pocket, we can decide if surgery is needed, what the best approach for surgery is, and how major the surgery will be. It is important to take good before pictures (say cheese!) prior to surgery so that you have a good idea about what the after should look like.

Unfortunately, the recurrence rate of endometriomas is pretty high, especially when the surgeon does not remove the cyst wall in its entirety. Simply draining the cyst doesn’t do all that much for you or for your chances of being cured.

Word of advice…make sure to ASK your surgeon how he or she plans to remove the endo before signing that consent form. The reason for the high recurrence rate of all things endo is that estrogen is fueling its fire. If estrogen is around, endo will grow—sort of like, if you build it they will come. It is for this reason that, for women who do not have babies on the brain (because they are not ready or they are done), we recommend shutting the reproductive system down (pills, Lupron etc.) after undergoing surgery.

Cold, hot, hotter, hottest—you found it! Endometriomas are often a pretty good giveaway for underlying endometriosis. They have no game face, and when present, you can pretty easily guess what’s causing those unpleasant symptoms. While they may not need to be treated unless causing pain or contributing to infertility, they do shed some major light on what may be hiding in the dark in your pelvis. It may be the key to what you experience in the future—make sure you know where you put it!

A Is for Adenomyosis

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Of all the words, terms, and phrases you have heard us utter, adenomyosis may sound the most foreign—and if you think it’s hard to say, try spelling it! It’s likely that, unless you have it or know someone who has it, you will close the chapter (or computer) on this piece pretty quickly. But Bear with us for a minute; push past the A to C of what this Diagnosis is really all about and why it’s something worth learning about.

In many ways, adenomyosis is sort of an Enigma. If you don’t look for it, you won’t Find it. And Getting the diagnosis right can be Hard. Unless you have surgery or an Individual who is really skilled at his or her Job looking at your ultrasound or MRI, you may not Know that you are suffering from adenomyosis. It can often masquerade itself as a Leiomyoma (medical term for fibroids). Although adenomyosis also forms Masses in the uterus, they are no fibroids.

In many ways, adenomyosis is like the first cousin of endometriosis. Both pathologies arise from endometrial tissue that has gotten lost (a.k.a. made its way out of the uterus) and is Not sure how to get back—uh Oh. While in endometriosis this lost uterine tissue can go pretty far (think lungs and even skin), in the case of adenomyosis, the endometrial tissue Prefers to stay much closer to home. In adeno (the medical nickname for adenomyosis), the tissue inside the uterus has taken up residence within the muscle of the uterus. So although that trip may be small in distance, the impact of this unwanted visitor can be big.

And unlike those distant cousins that you never knew you had, adenomyosis is not so unknown or removed. In fact, nearly 10% of all women suffer from adenomyosis. The number is much higher in women with infertility. And while many might not know they have it, they will be aware of the heavy bleeding, the dysmenorrhea, the abdominal pressure/bloating, and the infertility that often accompanies adenomyosis. The symptoms can be pretty severe and often send women (usually in their 30s and 40s) to the GYN in a Quandary (a.k.a. not the best of physical and mental states…we needed a Q!).

Historically, the only way to diagnose adeno was in the operating Room with a piece of tissue that was sent off to our pathology friends. Oftentimes, women were incorrectly diagnosed with fibroids (for years), and until the uterus came out Surgically, they didn’t really know what was causing their unpleasant symptoms. Nowadays, due to huge improvements in our imaging Techniques (cue Ultrasound and MRI), we can see adeno before women walk into the operating room.

Although there is much crossover between the treatments for fibroids and adeno, surgery for the latter can be much less successful and much riskier. The division between normal healthy uterine muscle tissue and adenomyotic tissue can be harder to find. With fibroids, the distinction between the two is pretty clear. Thus, there can be a loss of healthy tissue and, in some cases, loss of the uterus.

The treatment for adenomyosis, like its cousins the fibroid and endometriosis, Varies based on the severity of a woman’s symptoms as well as where a woman is in her fertility plans. For Women who have said sayonara to their baby-making days, a hysterectomy is usually their best bet. Goodbye, uterus, means goodbye, symptoms. For women who are not ready to make their uterus their eX, hormonal treatments (oral contraceptive pills, IUDs, aromatase inhibitors, and Lupron are also pretty good at getting you back to a Zen state. Whatever path You choose, it’s super important to go hand in hand with a physician who can recite the ABCs of adeno as he or she catches some Zzzzs (that is, in his or her sleep). Trust us. This is a song that you don’t want to “sing” alone.

Inflammatory Soup with a Side of Adhesion Bread: Endometriosis

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There are certain subjects in school (think calculus, physics, and for some of us, poetry) that just make you want to go, “Ugh.” Looking at formulas or sonnets makes you want to rip your hair out. No matter what you do, you just don’t get it. In many ways, the same can be said for endometriosis (a.k.a. endo). It is sort of like that black box in gynecology and infertility. We know it hurts. We know it can cause infertility, and we know it can cause problems. But we’re still a bit unclear on the hows and whys. How does it get there? Why does it get there? How does it cause pain? Why does it cause pain? While many of these questions have the start of an answer, they lack a conclusion. The unknown can make them hard to diagnose, to manage, and to treat.

Welcome to Endo 101. Here, we will give you the abridged version. Endometriosis is the implantation of endometrial tissue (that is, the tissue that is supposed to stay inside your uterus and only your uterus) in other places. How these cells break free from their uterine jail is as much of a mystery as how El Chapo escaped from jail. However, once the inmates (or cells) have been released, it’s tough to get them back in.

Many of us in the biz or in the know refer to endometriosis as “endo.” The shortened nickname does not mean the symptoms and the negative side effects that its presence brings are in any way short. In fact, this laundry list is quite lengthy. Women often report symptoms ranging from pain (including pain with periods, intercourse, defecation, and urination), infertility, diarrhea/constipation, and a no-joke impact on one’s quality of life. Symptoms can even be as vague as back pain, chronic fatigue, or abnormal bleeding.

The degree of pain and even infertility can be mild, or it can be severe. And the worst part of it all is that the extent of disease doesn’t equal the degree of symptoms (it’s sounding even more like calculus!). The trickiest part about endo is that, to diagnose it, you must operate on it. Symptoms and even visuals (ultrasound images) can’t make the call (although they can come pretty darn close). You must go to the operating room and have the tissue sent to the pathologist for a diagnosis. Although you can be nearly certain that the diagnosis is endometriosis, you can’t prove it without a reasonable doubt until the eyes of your pathologist friend sees the evidence. The judge and jury here are pretty small.

If you are suffering from endometriosis, you have probably thought on many a night, “Why me?” How did I win this unlucky lottery? Endo is no $200 million Powerball—it is actually fairly common. In women undergoing surgery for pelvic pain, up to 30% will have endometriosis. It’s nearly impossible to know how common endo is in the general population because many women will have it but won’t even know it. Bottom line, it is likely way more common than we know.

What makes someone more likely to hit the “un-lottery” lottery has not been fully worked out. While we know that there is definitely a genetic component, the endo gene(s) have not yet been identified. However, if your mom, grandma, and sister have it, there is fairly good chance you will, too. Other likely originators of endo include:

  • Changes in the immune system,
  • Retrograde menstruation (when the blood goes backwards through the fallopian tubes into the pelvis rather than out of the cervix into the vagina), and
  • The passing of endometrial cells through the lymphatic system (think lymph nodes, which are actually located not just in your throat but throughout your whole body!).

Who will win a game of Roulette is anyone’s guess, but our money is on a mixture of all three. Additionally, women are less likely to have endo if they have had multiple children, breastfed for a long time, or got their first period later.  On the flipside, women are more likely to have endo if they have not had children, got their periods early, went through menopause late, bleed for longer duration with their periods, have more frequent periods, and variations in their reproductive anatomy (called Mullerian anomalies). While you may have gotten it without any of the above, we as fertility MDs are definitely more likely to look for it in certain women.

The thing about endometriosis is that it only makes a peep when estrogen is around. If there is no estrogen (hence hormonal contraceptives, Lupron, or menopause), endo is quiet as a mouse! Because it can’t act without estrogen, it pretty much only impacts women during their reproductive years (late teens to 40s). For this reason, most of the treatments center on shutting down the production of estrogen. It’s like taking the logs out of the fire. Without fuel, nothing can burn! While this sounds all well and good, most of us can’t be without fuel for our whole life. At some point, you might want to get pregnant. This will require adding fuel back to the fire. For this reason, it’s not a bad idea to see a fertility specialist before you stir things up.

Endo plays a pretty bad game of hide and seek. (Basically, we can see it coming from a mile away!) When the decision is finally made to go into the operating room and take a look, the disease is often pretty easily spotted. While the most characteristic appearance consists of the blue/brown “powder burn” spots, the look of endo can be very Houdini-esque. Endometriosis can look like brown spots, red patches, yellow-brown discoloration, or white spots.

To know for sure what’s up, the tissue must be sent to the pathology lab for a thorough onceover. The most common places for endo to hang out are on the ovaries, on the tubes, in the pelvis, on the ligaments that hold up the uterus and the ovaries, in the colon, and on the appendix. Where it makes its home often translates into the symptoms that you have. Again, this is not always the case. Some women can have endo painting their ovaries, their tubes, their pelvis, and their colon and experience no symptoms.

While surgery is required to make a diagnosis, not everyone needs surgery. A good history, physical, and sometimes imaging can give us enough info to convict (a.k.a. start treatment). The treatments are plentiful (think Thanksgiving Day dinner) and will be passed around to see which “tastes” best for your body. Women who are trying to get pregnant ASAP will have to opt out of most of the dishes (although options still exist). The silver lining with endo is that, for almost all women, the symptoms disappear during pregnancy. While we don’t recommend getting pregnant simply for an endo time-out, it will make matters way better.

Unfortunately, endo is the gift that keeps on not gifting (or re-gifting things you don’t want!). And unlike a good gift giver, there is no receipt and no return policy. If it is yours, it’s yours for life. There are many ways to tailor that shirt or tighten those pants so that you can live with them. Same goes for endo. We can do a lot to make you pain free if we know what’s putting you out. It’s definitely a bumpy ride. You may need several fittings, but we know a pretty good tailor. Just make sure to be completely honest with your doctor, and do your research before committing to any treatment.