During my late teens and into my early twenties my monthly periods continued in the same vain, painful craps, heavy bleeding, lethargy and the occasional dizzy spell. I thought this was normal. I'd read about other women describing how awful their periods were and so I thought I just fitted into that category. I was brought up with the frame of mind that you seek help from the GP when you were ill, periods are not an illness.
When I started a relationship with my first serious boyfriend I started to take the combined pill Microgynon 30 which helped regulate my periods but the intensity and length was just the same. I also used it as some women do 'back to back' when I was on holiday so I could swim and enjoy my break without the worry of Aunt Flo and all those embarrassing issues she caused. However once I had taken my pills back to back the first period that followed was the mother of all periods. Talk about a blood bath, and the pain was just horrendous.
When I was 25 I fell pregnant with my first child. These was a golden era for me, no periods what so flipping ever and boy did I enjoy that. I didn't find pregnancy easy, there was a alot of all day sickness, usually occurring when I least expected it. One time I was in the car and had to pull over to throw up outside an army barracks with loads of squaddies looking on. Not my finest hour, I was very early on in my pregnancy and just looked like I had one hell of a hangover. My son was born in September 2007 and boom back came the periods, irregular and painful as ever.
I went back on the combined pill shortly after my son's birth, basically to regulate my cycle, I was in a bad relationship at that time and looking back probably had post natal depression but I got on with life and for the most part enjoyed being a new mum.
In 2012 I had my second child and I was in a new relationship with my now husband. Again the relief at flying through 9 months without a period was just bliss, the sickness in this pregnancy wasn't as bad although I was exhausted. A few weeks after the birth I trotted off to see the nurse for my post natal check, she was keen to get me back on the pill and gave me the speech on how your body needs 12 months to recover from pregnancy and birth and how I musn't fall pregnant. So I started the combined pill again. After a few months I noticed I was really struggling hormonally, lots of irrational tears and tantrums. I spoke to my GP and we agreed to stop taking the pill and consider alternative options that would work well to control my cycle and for birth control.
The weeks and months slipped past and my boys were growing up, we moved home, changed jobs and life moved on. I still suffered with my periods but as a busy mum doing school runs, playgroups and I was working as a childminder it sort of didn't become a priority I would just get on with it. Occasionally when my period came I would get really constipated which wasn't pleasant.
One day I collapsed in pain at home, I was bleeding heavily a friend of mine came to take care of my son and called an ambulance she was so concerned. I was admitted for tests including an MRI scan which didn't reveal anything concerning, and pain relief and released shortly after with a diagnosis of IBS. That didn't explain my bleeding but I was menstruating at the time so they just put it down to that. I have family history of bowel cancer, we lost my dad to it aged 50, so they were keen to refer me to a gastroenterologist who carried out a colonoscopy to see if there was anything sinister going on.
Now I'm not sure if you know what a colonoscopy is but in a nutshell they pop a camera up your bum into your bowel to have a good look around see if there is anything to show a reason for your bowel symptoms. It's not the most pleasant of procedures partly due to the medication you have to take for a day or so prior to your test - up periscope my dad used to call them - which gives you the worst loose bowel motion you could ever imagine. The bowel needs to be empty so they can see it all properly. I was also given sedation during the test, I wasn't asleep but I was nattering away about frogs on the ceiling so wasn't 100% with the programme at the time.
The periscope didn't reveal anything untoward, I was still experiencing constipation constantly and the most unbearable pains as well as a new symptom of pain when I went for a wee. My consultant referred me to a gynaecologist. This my friends, is when life got a whole lot better. Before you could say 'God is a DJ' I found myself consenting to a exploratory laparoscopy surgery and was booked in for 4 days time.
My new consultant was the man I had been waiting for, the answer to all my gynae prayers. We spoke for 30 minutes discussing my periods and he couldn't quite believe why I hadn't asked for help before. What I had experienced for the past 20 years was not normal. He was convinced I was suffering from a condition called endometriosis which is where tissue similar to the lining of the womb starts to grow in places it shouldn't such as the ovaries and fallopian tubes. The symptoms of endometriosis include pain, bleeding, pain when opening bowels and passing urine, I had been ticking these boxes for years. The only way to know for sure was to have the surgery where the surgeon pops a camera through small incisions in your pelvis and then can examine what is going on.
June 2015 was when I had my laparoscopy. I was in theatre for over two hours. He discovered that scar tissue had fused my bowel and uterus together, I had endometriosis flying about all over the place and also an ovarian cyst. This was all removed, I was spruced up and sent back to the ward. I won't lie it wasn't the most comfortable of recoveries, I'll cover what to expect in pelvic surgery in a future post.
During surgery I also had a Mirena Coil fitted, this plastic device is placed in the uterus and contains progestogen a progesterone substance that is released into the uterus over three to five years. This type of coil is commonly used to lessen period pain.
After my first laparoscopy I started to get my life back together, once I had healed from surgery the coil made sure I had no bleeds, there was no obvious menstrual cycle and I felt like a new woman! I lost weight, felt strong and was able to visit the toilet without pain!
After 12 months the previous symptoms reared their ugly mugs. I was back on the pain hamster wheel. The pains would be so severe I would collapse and have to be taken in for pelvic scans, bloods, more scans, internal exams ad pain management. Between 2015 and 2020 I have had 6 laparoscopies. Each one removing a catalogue of issues including reoccurring endometriosis, fibroids, cysts, adhesions the absolute works. I became a familiar face on the gynae ward at my local hospital.
My most recent 'flare ups' were in September and October 2020. Things got really bad as along with the endo symptoms my bladder began to give me real grief. I was getting even more pain every time I went to pass urine. I was seen by a urologist who was keen to perform a test called a cystoscopy where they pop a small camera - under general anaesthetic - into the bladder to see what's going on. I had my cystoscopy in November 2020 which didn't reveal anything other than the fact that my bladder symptoms are cyclical and follow my endo pain flare ups.
I had a gynae outpatients appointment to follow up after my recent hospital admissions on Christmas Eve. It was time to talk turkey. My consultant did not pull any punches. We had to discuss taking drastic measures, and that's where we are today.
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