This next Endo Journey post comes from a fellow Endo Blogger named Libby. I have been e-mailing Libby a lot recently, and I am so glad she reached out to me. Please read on to learn more about Libby's journey!
My name is Libby and my Endometriosis journey started shortly
after my first period. I got that, in a library, at age 12. By 14, I was already in excruciating pain. My
periods also never really completely settled and were still fairly irregular. I
would often bleed through pads overnight and soaking my sheets in Napisan was a
monthly occurrence.
Since my mother had terrible pain from
periods when she was a teenager and used to vomit and faint, I counted myself
lucky that mine didn’t seem to be as bad (I never vomited or fainted) and
figured I was it was normal. So even though over the counter medications didn’t
completely work (I would still be in pain even when I took anti-inflammatory
medications like Naprogesic and Ponstan), I didn’t approach my doctor about it
until I turned 19 (as far as I can remember).
I went on the Pill for a year and a half
when I was 17 to clear up acne issues. I don’t remember that particularly
helping my symptoms, but I definitely didn’t enjoy being on it. It made me
terribly moody, made my breasts get even larger than they were already (I was
self conscious of this and it was also painful) and generally didn’t make me
feel like “myself”.
When I was 19 I went to the doctor because
I had not had my period for two months, yet I was still getting terrible pelvic
pain. He decided to send me off for an ultrasound, which was a strange
experience as a 19 year old. My boyfriend at the time came with me since I was nervous,
and I have to tell you, I felt odd that I was getting an ultrasound when I
wasn’t pregnant. That ultrasound came back clear, so the doctor told me to just
deal with the pain and sent me on my way. (Endometriosis cannot be ruled out
through ultrasound.)
At 22, I went to see another doctor about
it as I was still in pain and it was interfering with my life. She put me on
another Pill (Yasmin) to try and manage it but again, it made me so depressed I
would cry everyday so I came off it after 3 months. I remember one night waking
up at 2 am when the FIFA World Cup was on, dragging myself out of bed and
rocking back and forth in the fetal position on the couch while Dad tried to
distract me with commentary on the soccer. Although I have never been in
labour, I can tell you that the pain was contraction like and came in waves
that time. Other times it would be a constant ache in my belly, or feel like
someone had taken an egg-beater to my guts.
By 23 I was missing work on a regular basis
– I had at least one day off work a month because of period pain, and would be
in pain a week before my period. I also caught pretty much everything going
around and tired really easily. A few
times I got terrible back cramps where I couldn’t sit up. I knew that it was
not normal after all. My friend had a laparoscopy to look for endometriosis and
after this I decided to go to her doctor because he took her complaints
seriously. So I went to that gynecologist and he booked me in for surgery. I
ended up having to wait 6 months to have my laparoscopy.
In March 2012, I had my laparoscopy where I
was diagnosed and some of the lesions were burnt off. Before I went in, I
talked to my surgeon (he was not the same doctor as my gynecologist) and he
questioned me and told that it was probably “just PMS”. This was pretty
traumatic to go through, particularly when he claimed that they found what they
expected to find (Stage III –moderate – endometriosis) when I came out of
surgery. I also had a Mirena IUD inserted to treat the endometriosis.
Since then my symptoms have lessened – I no
longer have the excruciating labour-like pains, but I do have pain every day. I
feel the need to pee constantly (I’ve got lesions on my bladder) and still get
some pain before and during my period, although it is nowhere near as bad as
before. Soon I’ll be having my Mirena taken out (my doctor is worried that it
is causing my recently developed anxiety and depression due to my history with
the Pill) and will be trying a new medication to lighten my periods. I’ll also
be trying a new diet of endo friendly foods with Project Endo
(www.projectendo.co.uk) to see how that goes. I may have to have another laparoscopy but let’s
hope not. I guess we’ll see how it goes!
Thanks for reading, and feel free to pop
over to my blog vintagelib.blogspot.com or send me an email at
vintagelib@gmail.com!
Cheers! Libby xo
Thanks again to Libby for sharing such an emotional battle with her terrible disease. I admire you for being so brave!
xo Heather
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