Post by justcurious on Jan 11, 2015 9:16:35 GMT -5
Hello there! I'm a 20 yr old in college for engineering! I had a dr appointment yesterday for my abnormal periods and she talked to me about the possibility of endometriosis. To be honest, I had never really heard of it before and I was nonchalant about it at first. I've done a fair amount of research now and well...
I'm so sorry for the long post. I'm just so confused
I had my first period just after I turned 12 years old and every single period since then has just been awful. I remember later night I was doubled over in the bathroom from the pain, at one point laying on the floor because I was pouring sweat. I had to give myself a pep talk to coax myself into standing up. My mom (whom I found out yesterday has endo) would say that she sometimes got bad periods like mine and that her sister (who I also found out has endo yesterday would have to take off school because of her bad periods, creating a “this is normal” mindset.
When I was 13, my mom had me start seeing a counselor/psychologist. When I was about 14, I recall the counselor asking me once what my period schedule was and I told her that it had never been regular. It’d go for a week and a half, be gone for 2-3 weeks, be on for 3 weeks, off 3-4, on 2.. so on. She just went “WHAT? That’s not normal! You should be normal by now!”. I feel like I’m beginning to understand that she meant my period should be on a regular schedule or at the very least, not that long! I would basically feel like had the flu every time I had a period: vomiting, having diarrhea, night sweats, etc.
About 18 months ago, my period stopped cold turkey for three months. I have no clue why as I was not sexually active and had not (consciously) changed my diet or exercise . I remember getting the intense cramps and the typical feeling of being ill around and between those times. I saw my general doctor and she started me on birth control to see if the hormone & placebo would jolt my period back into action. She had asked if my periods were abnormally painful, but I just said “well, they’re just regular cramps, I guess.” They did end up returning after a month of the birth control. It gave me a good way to mark how long my periods would last too. It’s never under 10-12 pills(days). Luckily, the pain decreased a LOT when I started the pill and seemed like a normal period aside from the length! They did start breaking pattern at one point and the doc just upped the hormone level.
A little over a year ago, I became sexually active with my boyfriend. I do wonder about the level of pain and/or discomfort I feel during and after sex though. It’s sort of the same thing as the period. How do I know if it’s abnormal if it’s the only thing I’ve ever known? Initially it was uncomfortable which I assumed it was from it being new. It was better, even good and fun for a while.. However, since then it has intensified into pain as well as having aching and pain afterward in addition to what I get around my time of the month (which is about 3 weeks long) within the last 6 months. I’m starting to really wonder if it’s not as normal as I thought it was.
Within the last 6 months, my periods have also begun breaking pattern with my birth control again (3 weeks on, 2 off, 2 on, 1 off, etc.). I’ve had old abdominal pains flaring up outside of the “norm” for me that I haven’t had since pre-BC pill. I’m constantly tired, I’m nauseous, my mother keeps accusing me of being pregnant (due to the fatigue and nausea), and I’m just worn out and I've had increasing depression since I first started on my BC pill. I'm just tired and I don't know what's going on. Additionally, I was diagnosed with reynaud’s phenomenon by a rheumatologist 5 years ago and they told me to come back to them if I had any other pain. I went back to them a few years ago for chronic pain around my lower back in the pelvic area. They’ve done bloodwork, X-rays, and more bloodwork to try to find arthritis, lupus, etc. and never found anything and basically said pain management was the answer. I'm wondering if this may be related to possible endo.
Does this sound like endo? I’m absolutely terrified of the idea, but I also just want an answer.
Right now, my doctor switched my BC again and put me on seasonique. She said if my period broke pattern or if it lasted for 3 weeks after it was supposed to happen, she would try me on progesterone. If it broke again, I should seen an OB/GYN. However, I’ve never seen one before. I’m really thinking I should just see one now and see how it goes rather than wait for another potential 3-4 months after reading of all of the symptoms.
Again, I'm sorry for the long post. I'm very confused and concerned. It is nice to meet you all though! I've been reading through posts and it seems like a very friendly crowd here.
I'm so sorry for the long post. I'm just so confused
I had my first period just after I turned 12 years old and every single period since then has just been awful. I remember later night I was doubled over in the bathroom from the pain, at one point laying on the floor because I was pouring sweat. I had to give myself a pep talk to coax myself into standing up. My mom (whom I found out yesterday has endo) would say that she sometimes got bad periods like mine and that her sister (who I also found out has endo yesterday would have to take off school because of her bad periods, creating a “this is normal” mindset.
When I was 13, my mom had me start seeing a counselor/psychologist. When I was about 14, I recall the counselor asking me once what my period schedule was and I told her that it had never been regular. It’d go for a week and a half, be gone for 2-3 weeks, be on for 3 weeks, off 3-4, on 2.. so on. She just went “WHAT? That’s not normal! You should be normal by now!”. I feel like I’m beginning to understand that she meant my period should be on a regular schedule or at the very least, not that long! I would basically feel like had the flu every time I had a period: vomiting, having diarrhea, night sweats, etc.
About 18 months ago, my period stopped cold turkey for three months. I have no clue why as I was not sexually active and had not (consciously) changed my diet or exercise . I remember getting the intense cramps and the typical feeling of being ill around and between those times. I saw my general doctor and she started me on birth control to see if the hormone & placebo would jolt my period back into action. She had asked if my periods were abnormally painful, but I just said “well, they’re just regular cramps, I guess.” They did end up returning after a month of the birth control. It gave me a good way to mark how long my periods would last too. It’s never under 10-12 pills(days). Luckily, the pain decreased a LOT when I started the pill and seemed like a normal period aside from the length! They did start breaking pattern at one point and the doc just upped the hormone level.
A little over a year ago, I became sexually active with my boyfriend. I do wonder about the level of pain and/or discomfort I feel during and after sex though. It’s sort of the same thing as the period. How do I know if it’s abnormal if it’s the only thing I’ve ever known? Initially it was uncomfortable which I assumed it was from it being new. It was better, even good and fun for a while.. However, since then it has intensified into pain as well as having aching and pain afterward in addition to what I get around my time of the month (which is about 3 weeks long) within the last 6 months. I’m starting to really wonder if it’s not as normal as I thought it was.
Within the last 6 months, my periods have also begun breaking pattern with my birth control again (3 weeks on, 2 off, 2 on, 1 off, etc.). I’ve had old abdominal pains flaring up outside of the “norm” for me that I haven’t had since pre-BC pill. I’m constantly tired, I’m nauseous, my mother keeps accusing me of being pregnant (due to the fatigue and nausea), and I’m just worn out and I've had increasing depression since I first started on my BC pill. I'm just tired and I don't know what's going on. Additionally, I was diagnosed with reynaud’s phenomenon by a rheumatologist 5 years ago and they told me to come back to them if I had any other pain. I went back to them a few years ago for chronic pain around my lower back in the pelvic area. They’ve done bloodwork, X-rays, and more bloodwork to try to find arthritis, lupus, etc. and never found anything and basically said pain management was the answer. I'm wondering if this may be related to possible endo.
Does this sound like endo? I’m absolutely terrified of the idea, but I also just want an answer.
Right now, my doctor switched my BC again and put me on seasonique. She said if my period broke pattern or if it lasted for 3 weeks after it was supposed to happen, she would try me on progesterone. If it broke again, I should seen an OB/GYN. However, I’ve never seen one before. I’m really thinking I should just see one now and see how it goes rather than wait for another potential 3-4 months after reading of all of the symptoms.
Again, I'm sorry for the long post. I'm very confused and concerned. It is nice to meet you all though! I've been reading through posts and it seems like a very friendly crowd here.