Hormones after deep endometriosis excision: should I use them?

Hormones after excision for deep infiltrating endometriosis can be helpful for some patients, but they’re not automatically required. Excision removes disease directly, while hormones mainly reduce ovarian cycling and can quiet pain and bleeding. The decision usually comes down to your goals (symptom control vs. trying to conceive), what we found at surgery, including the extent and location of disease, endometriomas, and bowel or bladder involvement, and whether adenomyosis is also part of the picture.

If pregnancy is not an immediate goal, ongoing hormonal suppression is often one tool we consider to lower the chance of symptoms returning over time, especially in patients who are still cycling with ovaries in place. If you’re trying to conceive soon, we typically avoid suppressive hormones and focus instead on recovery, optimizing timing, and monitoring symptoms. Our team will help you weigh the benefit of symptom suppression against side effects, particularly with medications that deeply lower estrogen and can’t be used long-term without tradeoffs.

The most useful next step is a tailored post-op plan: what your new normal should feel like, what symptoms would prompt earlier follow-up, and whether a medication plan makes sense for your specific disease pattern. If you’d like, reach out to schedule a post-op strategy visit with our team so we can match the approach to your anatomy, pathology, and fertility timeline.