Good luck! Didn't mean to scare you!! We're all different with what works. I'm just talking from my personal experience. There is no way to 100% confirm that you have endometriosis without the laparoscopic surgery. I hope your doctor was clear about whether or not he/she was giving you a diagnosis or a suspicion. I haven't done the surgery yet either. I actually chickened out a year ago and am kicking myself now because I just went thru hell to get back on the waiting list. Endometriosis is no joke, just keep track of how your feeling and how active you can manage to be while on the Mercilon and continue to compare notes with your doctor. If your doctor is not an endometriosis/pelvic pain specialist you might need to work with your doctor and a specialist simultaneously. It just sucks having to be patient and wait between visits for answers but it sounds like you're on the right track.

Visanne changed my life! I'm not familiar with Mercilon. If it's estrogen based I'd run screaming "Hell no!". If not I would take it continuously. I've noticed that ovulating is the beginning of my body feeling horrible for 2-3weeks, so if you can stop ovulating it might help with your pain. The Visanne is progestin based and is the only hormonal pill I've taken that didn't turn me mentally into a wild woman and cause more physical pain. From what I understand, putting more estrogen in your body is like feeding the endometriosis. If you're doing a laparoscopic I recommend insisting on an excision specialist. Actually don't insist, you might have to demand. You probably do not want someone who is inexperienced in endo excision trying to remove it for you. There's a lot of stories on here of women wishing they had gone with an excision specialist from the get go to have saved themselves the pain of unsuccessful surgeries and the complications of scar tissue.

Birth control pills did not work for me (I tried a few). I was put on visanne and it works. The pain is not completely gone but it makes a HUGE difference. I know that only a laproscopy can confirm endometriosis but since Visanne is specifically made for endometriosis I'm convinced that's what I have as well as my doctors.

My doctor suggested that I do not do laproscopy for now as the endo could come back after the surgery and that the surgery itself may cause more scar tissue.

If I have trouble getting pregnant then I will definitely do the laproscopy.

The only true way to diagnose endo is through surgery. An ultrasound does not show endo. Surgery sucks but if you can find an excision specialists the surgery may provide you with relief

I definitely understand why you would want to avoid surgery, but ultrasounds often cannot detect endometriosis. I had 4 ultrasounds in the 6 weeks leading up to my diagnosis (I had a giant cyst they were monitoring) and finding pretty advanced endo when they got in there was a total surprise to my doctor. I don't have experience with the pill you mentioned, but on mine I'm able to do that. Maybe call.the doctor's office to see if you can speak to a nurse about it. Good luck-- I know it's a big decision!