Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Doctor's appointment

Had my doctor's appointment today. Told them I was having severe pain and excessive bleeding. They took my blood pressure (which was good...110/something), then told me to take my pants off and cover up with a paper towel (okay, drape...basically just a huge paper towel).

I thought this was going to be a clothes-on visit. Yikes.

Well, it wasn't as bad as I feared. No speculum, at any rate. He poked around in there, feeling for masses, and didn't find any. So they did a vaginal ultrasound. It had a condom on it! I managed to control myself (I am quite medicated at the moment) and didn't laugh out loud...but I wanted to.

The ultrasound was actually very interesting. I'd never seen my uterus before. It looks exactly like the illustrations in Endometriosis for Dummies. Kind of like a really thick pancake folded in half. I didn't see my ovaries, but the ultrasound technician assured me they were there. (She had to hunt for them, though...the only really uncomfortable part of the procedure.) The verdict: Everything is healthy. I may have little blobbies, but nothing big enough to show on the ultrasound.

Whew.

I also asked if I should be worried about my fertility. (A little late for that -- I have been worried about it. Massively so.) He said that, from what he could see, I have nothing to worry about. Whew again.

So, treatment. We're trying a new BC pill -- Mircette. I'll have to read up on it. I'm in the middle of a Yaz pack now, so I won't start the Mircette for a couple of weeks. I will, of course, report back.

As far as the pain goes, the general consensus is that I must have blobbies on a nerve. Yay. I'm going to start taking more Lyrica; he says that since it's for chronic pain, I should be okay taking it more often than I normally do (one or two days a month). If that doesn't help...well, then we're up to the dope. I'm hoping it doesn't get to that point.

I also asked him about the Aleve, and he said that if taking it one day before my period doesn't help, then it's not going to help. Bummer.

One benefit from all this: Since the Lyrica puts a medication wall between me and the world, I'm not as stressed as I was before. Of course, this comes at the price of concentration, coordination, and sometimes consciousness (took a completely unintentional 4.5-hour nap after work yesterday), but hey.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Addendum to long-ass post

I've made a doctor's appointment for next week. Tuesday (a mere two days after I stopped bleeding), the pain flared up. Bad enough to wake me from a sound sleep. And my stomach's all poofy again. (Well, duh.) Plus migraines. Sore breasts. Crying at the drop of a hat. Generally hating life. Mom says she didn't start having wonky periods like this until she was in her 40s.

So, I'm going. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Had a revelation today. I've been noticing that in recent pictures of me wearing makeup, my face looks a lot darker than the rest of me. At first I thought it's because my freckles are (finally!) starting to fade -- they're the reason I started wearing darker makeup in the first place. Well, today I realized that it's probably more that the rest of me is paler...'cause, you know, I've been bleeding for two for months now. ::forehead smack::

I should start thinking of myself as a friend. Because if this were happening to a friend, I'd have pestered her to go to the doctor months ago. I guess it's just harder to see when it's you.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Monthly update and new resources

First, I did indeed start. A few days late, but I made up for the lost time. I'm on day 7 now; I was winding down, but some long-overdue together time with my darling boyfriend seems to have knocked some stuff loose. (Had to wash underwear *and* sheets this time...I really thought I was done!) So...dribbling, stabby pains in my lower back, hips, and lower abdomen -- the usual.

Sure am getting tired of all this.

On the plus side, I've found a new book to consult: Endometriosis for Dummies. I can't say it gave me much new information, but it has given me things to think about. Like the possible connection of endometriosis and allergies -- I've kicked the idea around a time or three, but it's nice to see someone confirm it: My immune system just bails on me, in all areas. I also found that many symptoms I thought unrelated might in fact be the endo; an example is the way my stomach swells up after I eat, no matter what I eat or the quantities. (I mean *swells* -- makes me look preggers sometimes. Especially now that my stomach's swollen much of the time anyway. I'm underweight, yet have a pot belly. A rock-hard pot belly. How sexy.)

Not much new info in terms of treatment options, sadly. One thing I am going to try is Menastil. It's a roll-on pain reliever that's supposed to work especially well on cramps. Every little bit helps, right? They also have an amusing (and slightly disturbing) video on their site about endometriosis: http://www.menastil.com/shop/menastil-product-info.htm -- click the "Endometriosis" tab.

Other than that (and a few alternative treatments, like acupuncture, that I've not completely ruled out), they didn't tell me anything I didn't already know, or convince me to change my mind about those options. Birth control pills work kinda-sorta. My periods are bad on them and downright scary off them. I think I'll steer clear of the other hormone treatments unless I become crippled...the cure sounds worse than the disease, imo.

Surgery relieved my symptoms for a whopping three months. I'm not eager to go under the knife again, for a laparoscopy or anything else.

So help me, I'm never taking another antidepressant as long as I live. Not that I'm saying they don't help anyone -- they seem to work wonders for some people. They make me crazy. Another cure that's worse than the disease. And hey -- I might not be so depressed if I didn't hurt all the time.

Exercise. Yeah...gotta get back into that. ::hangs head:: Especially the yoga and tai chi -- mentioned specifically in the book, btw. Something gentle, something that does not make stabby pains take up residence in my back and thighs. Work my way up to regular vigorous exercise, maybe. Or not. I'm not trying to run marathons here; I'm just trying to live with as little pain as I can manage.

Next up is diet. I dunno. I'm already a vegetarian (lacto-ovo, though more lacto and less ovo as my stomach ages), and 90% of the dairy I eat is skim or low-fat, so I really don't think that part of the recommended diet applies to me. But they still want me to cut out wheat. I'll be honest with you -- I'd rather go without chocolate for the rest of my life than cut out wheat. I love me some grains. They make food worthwhile. Besides, I'm already a vegetarian -- do you know how much of a pain in the butt it would be to feed me if I gave up wheat? I already have people telling me to just pick the meat out of stuff. (*You* try picking bacon bits out of mashed potatoes, and see if you ever want to eat with the person who served them to you -- or anyone else equally sympathetic -- ever again.) Now these people want me to say "oh, it's not just meat anymore...I don't eat any wheat products, either." Know what I'd get for dinner? A carrot stick and a glass of water. And I detest raw carrots.

Which leaves me with pain pills. I suppose I should give the Aleve another shot, and maybe ask my doctor about higher dosages. (As I said before, I'm underweight -- which is apparently another risk factor for endo -- so I don't want to just start increasing my dosage willy-nilly.) Honestly, though, I don't really see that it helped that much. But maybe the name of the game now is pain management, not pain alleviation.

Is it any wonder I'm depressed? Seriously.

BUT! The book did give me a little hope (outside of the possibility that pregnancy might help...I'm not exactly in a position to get preggers right now). As endometriosis gets worse, the pain subsides. (Or so they say.) Stages I and II apparently hurt like a bitch, but stages III and IV (where the lesions have burned themselves out, so to speak) don't hurt as much. Mind you, the later stages are where the organ-altering uck comes in -- adhesions, infertility, all that good stuff. But it's the little blobbies that cause the pain. So the moral I'm taking from that is what does not kill me might eventually hurt less.

I'll take my bright spots where I can get them, thank you very much.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

I finally hit the tipping point

I did not start early this time. In fact, I've not started yet at all, and that was supposed to happen somewhere in the neighborhood of Wednesday. Maybe I finally ran out of blood.

My stress level has gone down slightly, as I've wrapped up several major projects at work. That, too, could have something to do with it. Though I'm guessing it's got more to do with my body just running out of steam.

Sure wish I'd start, though. I'm tired of cramping.