There is no surgical cure for endometriosis, and if it is untreated it can grow, causing pain and possibly lowering your changes of pregnancy in the future. This is why you need to take hormonal medications. Treatment is aimed at controlling pain and preventing the endometriosis tissue, which responds to hormones, from getting worse. This guide was created to help you understand the different choices of hormonal treatment for endometriosis, as well as the benefits and possible side effects that are most commonly reported.
How do I know if hormone treatment is right for me?
Most young people can take hormone medicine, however, if you have certain medical conditions (such as a history of blood clots, high blood pressure, certain kinds of heart disease, hepatitis, severe migraines with visual changes or numbness over parts of your body, or if you smoke), certain hormonal therapies may not be an option for you. Be sure to tell your gynecologist if you have migraine headaches with loss of vision, flashing lights, numbness/tingling, or loss of speech. Also, it is very important to tell your gynecologist if anyone in your family has ever had a blood clot or stroke.
How does hormonal treatment work?
Hormonal treatment works by temporarily turning off your ovaries so you don’t ovulate (make eggs). When you don’t ovulate, you don’t have regular periods. When you are prescribed hormonal treatment continuously, you will rarely have periods or not have them at all. Since bleeding can cause pain for anyone with endometriosis, stopping your period will usually improve your pain. Hormonal treatment includes the Pill, vaginal ring, an injection (once every 3 months), an IUD (which is placed in the uterus) or a hormonal patch.
Hormonal treatment with combined estrogen and progestin:
Combined oral contraceptive pills (OCPs): contain the hormones estrogen and progestin. The goal of the treatment is to stop your periods and pain caused from endo. Young people with endometriosis will take these pills in a continuous fashion, meaning skipping the placebo or sugar pills at the end of the pack so that a period does not occur.
The vaginal ring: The vaginal ring is a small, thin, flexible rubber ring that fits inside the vagina. Once in place it releases a combination of estrogen and progestin. If you choose this method of hormonal treatment for your endo, you would insert the ring and leave it in place for 3 weeks. You would then take it out and replace it with a new one right away. (If you are sexually active, neither you nor your partner will be able to feel the ring when it is inserted properly.)
The patch: The patch is a small, tan piece of plastic that looks like a bandage. It also release a combination of estrogen and progestin, and you only need to change your patch once a week. The patch is made to stay in place even when you shower, swim, or sweat.
Benefits:
- Combined estrogen and progestin hormonal therapy may decrease or stop endo pain.
- Most people will only have 0–4 periods a year.
- Some young people prefer using the vaginal ring or patch because they don’t need to remember to take it every day.
Possible side effects:
- Spotting or breakthrough bleeding is common especially if you are skipping your periods, but the spotting should decrease over time.
- Some occasional break through bleeding is common with all hormonal treatments.
- Break through bleeding may be more common if you miss or take your pill late (greater than 20 minutes). A tight dosing schedule will help reduce and/or eliminate break through bleeding, try setting an alarm. If you experience break through bleeding every 1-3 months and you have not missed any pills or taken any doses late, talk to your health care provider.
- Some people may have heavier bleeding or a regular period.
- Breast tenderness, mood swings, headaches, nausea, cramps, bloating, and/or weight gain.
- There is some concern that the patch may release a higher dose of hormones than the pill, which can increase the risk of blood clots and/or stroke.
- Some people who use the hormone patch may have skin irritation where the patch is worn.
- Some people who use the vaginal ring may have vaginal irritation, but infection is not an increased risk.
- Some people may not have relief from their endometriosis pain.
Progesterone-only hormonal treatment:
Norethindrone: Norethindrone 0.35mg daily is a form of birth control that does not contain estrogen.
Drospirenone: Slynd® is another form of birth control that does not contain estrogen.
Norethindrone acetate: Aygestin® (Norethindrone acetate) is a pill that contains only progestin. The dosage is 2.5–10mg per day. This is a strong progestin, however it is not an approved form of contraception and may require a co-pay at the pharmacy.
Medroxyprogesterone Acetate (Depo–Provera®): Medroxyprogesterone acetate is another type of medication that only contains the hormone progesterone. It is an injection that is given once every 3 months by a nurse or your primary health care provider. Medroxyprogesterone acetate is used to temporarily stop your menstrual cycle.
IUD or Mirena®: is a type of intrauterine device that contains progestin. Sometimes the IUD is not strong enough at suppressing all endometriosis symptoms because it works locally inside the uterus, so an additional pill may be prescribed to decrease symptoms. A non-hormonal IUD does not help treat endometriosis.
Hormonal implants such as Nexplanon® come in the shape of a tiny tube that is placed under the skin in the upper arm. The implant prevents pregnancy and reduces the size of lesions caused from endometriosis. It is an approved birth control method for up to 3 years. The implant is about the size of a toothpick and made of a flexible plastic that contains a type of progestin hormone medicine called etonogestrel.
Benefits:
- Progesterone-only hormone therapy can be effective in treating symptoms of endometriosis.
- The Mirena® IUD lasts up to 8 years.
- The IUD plus oral contraceptive pills can lessen bleeding and pain from endo.
- The Nexplanon® Implant is an approved method for years.
Possible side effects:
- Spotting or breakthrough bleeding can last for a few days until your body gets used to the medicine, or as long as you are taking it
- Bleeding or a regular period
- Breast tenderness, nausea, bloating, weight gain, and/or hair thinning
- Headaches, mood swings including depression, nervousness
- Bone density loss and increased risk of osteoporosis (thinning of your bones) when taken for a long time
- Some people may not have relief from their endometriosis pain
Hormonal treatment with GnRH agonists (gonadotropin releasing hormone agonists) and Add–Back and GnRH antagonist:
A GnRH agonist or antagonist is typically prescribed when other hormonal medications do not work in relieving moderate to severe endo pain. The goal of these medications is to stop the endometriosis from growing.
GnRH agonists/antagonist work by temporarily turning off your pituitary gland, which stops your ovaries from making estrogen and progesterone (so you won’t have a period). Since all of these medications lower estrogen levels, the possible side effects for all of the medications in this group are the same symptoms that women often have during menopause. To decrease these symptoms, your gynecologist should start on you something called add-back therapy. Add-back therapy is a small amount of progestin, or a combination of estrogen and progestin, that is just enough to treat menopausal symptoms but not enough to cause endometriosis symptoms.
Treatment with GnRH Antagonist: Elgonix (Orlissa ™) is the first GnRH antagonist developed to treat endometriosis. It was approved by the US Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in July,2018. It is a daily pill taken by mouth and it is available in two doses. Benefits and possible side effects are similar to Lupron® and Synarel®.
Leuprolide Acetate (Lupron–Depot®): Leuprolide acetate is one type of GnRH agonist that is given as an intramuscular (in the muscle) injection (shot). It can be given either once a month or once every 3 months. Our GYN team prefers that you get the injection once every 3 months so you don’t have to come in for appointments every month. Please make sure that the shot comes in the 3-month form (blue box).
Nafarelin Acetate: Nafarelin acetate (Synarel®) is another type of GnRH agonist that comes in the form of a nasal spray. Synarel is started with one puff in one nostril in the morning, then another puff in the OTHER nostril at nighttime. This dosage may be adjusted depending on your symptoms.
Benefits:
- Low levels of estrogen cause your period to stop and endometriosis from growing.
- Low levels of estrogen stop endo from growing so your fertility is preserved.
Possible side effects:
- Bone density loss and higher risk of osteoporosis (thinning of your bones), especially when taken without a small amount of hormones (add–back therapy).
- Side effects may include hot flashes, mood swings, vaginal dryness, bone and joint aches, hair loss, low libido (lack of interest in sex), and possible short–term memory loss.
- Some teens may decide to stay on GnRH treatment with add-back therapy for longer than 12 months, as long as their bone density is checked and is normal.
- Some young people may not have relief from their endometriosis pain.
Our health guides are developed through a systematic, rigorous process to ensure accuracy, reliability, and trustworthiness. Written and reviewed by experienced healthcare clinicians from Boston Children's Hospital, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital and consistently ranked as a top hospital by Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report, these guides combine clinical expertise, specialized knowledge, and evidence-based medicine. We also incorporate research and best practices from authoritative sources such as the CDC, NIH, PubMed, top medical journals, and UpToDate.com. Clinical specialists and subject matter experts review and edit each guide, reinforcing our commitment to high-quality, factual, scientifically accurate health information for young people.