Endometriosis: You are a pain

For the first time ever my period was late. That in itself brought with it a multitude of feelings and emotions. Was I actually pregnant naturally after all I had been through?

After two weeks secretly wondering and desperately wanting to do a test and find out for sure, my period started to arrive and alas all my hopes and dreams ended again. I think deep down I knew I wasn’t pregnant but I quite like the feeling that it was somehow within the realms of possibility.

Since then the pain has increased each day until yesterday I could stand it no longer. Suddenly the reality of an ectopic pregnancy really did start to concern me. I went to see my doctor who did a couple of tests and as I sit here now I am waiting for the results of a blood test just to be certain.

I doubt it is ectopic but the pain is pretty severe and leading me to wonder what is going on. Following my last operation in 2013 the pain had improved considerably. I really hope the adhesions aren’t coming back again.

It got me thinking. We have just passed Christmas. I have eaten lots of naughty things that I normally wouldn’t eat at all, or if I did it would only be in very small quantities. Things like bread, biscuits, cake and cheese – lots of cheese. So, perhaps the link between what you eat and endo pain is true. Maybe by eating less of these things my pain may reduce again.

Before I start worrying that the pain is back I intend to sort my diet out. I am also going to begin taking some of my supplements again as recommended by Melanie Brown. Melanie is a nutritionist who helped me enormously during my second IVF cycle and recommended a whole range of supplements and dietary changes. I think it is time to get back on the healthy eating band wagon for a while and see if that helps.

From now on I will:

• Eliminate bread completely
• Stop eating cakes and biscuits
• Reduce the amount of red meat
• Reduce the amount of dairy I eat
• Increase the number of vegetables
• Eat more protein such as chicken and fish to keep me fuller for longer
• Start eating eggs again

Do you find altering your diet helps you?

Have you found that your periods are more painful when you eat wheat and gluten?

I think studies have been carried out linking gluten to more intense period pain in endo sufferers. If this month is anything to go by, I’d say it’s pretty likely.

As ever I’d love to hear your comments. This is a new blog and it can feel a bit lonely at times.

x

Positivity: A journal on Instagram

Shortly after my first IVF cycle failed I began a little online journal on Instagram. It seemed as good a place as any to start and I wasn’t sure if I could commit to writing a blog, especially when my life was in so much turmoil. So I started documenting a few things on my Instagram feed. Photos of places I visited, diets and supplements I tried, and a few motivational quotes in there too.

Perhaps you might like to have a little look. All you need to do is search myivfworld on Instagram and I will pop up.

As with the blog, I took a little break from my Instagram feed during my IVF holiday but I’m back and raring to go again now. Life is feeling quite good again. This is despite spending time at the doctors today and having blood tests for a possible Ectopic pregnancy. Yes, that old chestnut again. I’ll fill you in on it all later this week.

Bye for now.

Endometriosis: the diagnosis

I have suffered at ‘that time of the month’ for as long as I can remember. In fact it’s the odd times when I haven’t suffered that stick out in my mind more. Quite often I ended up at A&E at the local hospital doubled up in pain and not knowing when I would get respite and when it would start to ease. Back then the conversations were always quite similar.

Nurse: I think it could be an ectopic pregnancy

Mum and I: But she doesn’t have a boyfriend yet and she is only 17

Nurse: Well lets just do a quick test and if it comes back clear we can organise some pain killers.

This pattern went on for a long time and it wasn’t until shortly after my 21st birthday that I had a diagnostic laparoscopy and they discovered that the culprit of the pain was a condition called endometriosis.  Endometriosis wasn’t as widely known about as it is now and they often said that it was only older ladies who hadn’t had children that got it. Nothing to do with the fact that it was the older ladies who were struggling to have children and then got diagnosed of course though…

It’s a horrible condition and I have lost count of the days out, nights out, events, school days, birthdays that I have missed out on. These days – thank goodness, I find the pain more manageable. I sometimes wonder if it is just the fact that I have learnt to live with it mind you.

So, I was thinking what advice I would give to people who might be reading this and wondering if they have endometriosis. Of course it varies from person to person. Some people may have no pain and only discover they have endometriosis when they fail to conceive and the fertility investigations begin. Others like me suffer terrible pain each month and are forced to fight for a diagnosis at a much younger age. My symptoms were largely based around severe pain and heavy uncomfortable periods. My periods were fairly irregular and actually continued for most of the month prior to me going on the pill to control them. The pain itself was very intense and strangely enough seemed to emanate from the top of my stomach rather than lower down like you would imagine. It didn’t come as a surprise when I discovered I had adhesions on my liver last year.

The oddest pain was the stabbing pain which seemed to come from my bowels. It literally took my breath away and I would struggle to walk when it really took hold. Thankfully this doesn’t happen too much these days but when I was younger it was a regular problem.

On the more gruesome side of things I have always suffered with blood clots and again I think this is a sign of endometriosis. In total I have had three operations to treat the endometriosis, one of which took a long time to recover from. The latest one was last year and thankfully the recovery was much quicker. I worked really hard to prepare myself mentally as well as physically. I practised yoga on a regular basis, had acupuncture and reflexology and I do think it all helped.

I’d love to hear your comments if you have endometriosis too or perhaps you haven’t been diagnosed yet but have painful periods. Maybe you might like some advice or even have some advice you might like to pass on.

Endometriosis is a hard debilitating condition and people suffer with varying degrees of it. Thankfully these days it is a far more recognised problem and people talk about it a lot more. Don’t suffer in silence and fight for a diagnosis is the best piece of advice I can offer.

Mrs R x