Womanly Woes

[Guest Serenanna]

Warning - Hormone and pain induced rant on the wrongness of womanly cycles and entirely too personal probably. If it weirds you out just thinking about it, get out now. Adult language to follow too.

::curls up clutching her stomach:: Everyone remember how I said I was sick in the 'I Am' game thread? Well, maybe a better explanation is in order since I'm obviously not in the right state of mind to have the modesty not to talk.

Well, it's abdominal pain, very sharp pain that I can only relate as being stabbed in the gut. I went to the doctor yesterday, and he ordered me to see my gyno, get bloodwork done, and take a CAT scan. He said I might have two things, a cyst on a oviary, or endometriosis . . . I wiki-ed the latter and have succeeded in scaring myself silly.

Maybe I should mention that I hate my period. Always have, always will, since it's practially useless to me. Mostly everyone know I'm in a wheelchair (surprise if you didn't know!) with a genetic disorder, so there's no chance I'd want to get knocked up in the first place and potentially add to the disabled population (sex in general is a whole other topic on the other hand). So, now that I have a problem with said parts of me I hate, I'm finding it horribly ironic that if this turns out bad I not only will never have a period again, but could become infertile too.

That is, as soon as the doctor figures out what it is exactly.

Oh, and still a virgin too, which I'm beginning to wonder if that isn't part of my problems. To add to the irony, I obviously like sex, or would like sex if I ever experienced it given that it's the what I write about, mostly. Maybe this is karma for all my naughty thoughts that I can't express otherwise, but know a 'good girl' shouldn't be thinking about all the damned time.

I can't even see my gyno till December. December for goodness sake! . . . Not that I really want to anyway since it's about the worst experience ever for me.

So, now, the point in all this ranting. Am I alone in thinking how wrong this is? Anyone else have similar problems? Anyone know anything about this stuff that could maybe tell me better than wiki, or am I worrying over nothing?

Sere

[Guest lightgoddess]

I actually get really bad craps and a backache myself, but it's pretty much always been that way for me, so I don't really worry about it. *shrugs* If it's an ovarian cyst, then it's really not that huge a deal. I heard somewhere that ob/gyn's can give hormones if they aren't too serious and help with them.

As far as endometriosis, I don't know a whole lot about it, but I do know that I would not wish it on anyone. I work in the medical field and to see a strong, healthy young woman doubled over in pain, color completely drained from her face and begging for death because of it means that it can't be a fun thing to have. Mind you, this same woman walked in one time with her arm gaped open from a fight she'd been in and she just raised the bandana and said she needed to see a doctor.

I'm appalled that your gyn didn't try to work you in sooner than December. I'd call at least once a week until the appointment to see if they've had any cancellations. Were it me, I'd want to know what was going on with my body and I'd want to know right now!! Good luck, Sere!!!

[Nanaea]

I'm appalled that your gyn didn't try to work you in sooner than December. I'd call at least once a week until the appointment to see if they've had any cancellations. Were it me, I'd want to know what was going on with my body and I'd want to know right now!! Good luck, Sere!!!

I agree. They should be able to squeeze you in even given the amount of distress it is causing you. I would call every day until they got sick of me and worked me in.

I had a friend years ago that I have since lost touch with who has endo. It's no fun, that's for sure!

[EveKnight75]

I have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). It causes extremely low fertility, facial hair, thinning of scalpal hair, deepening of voice, extra testosterone production, and insulin redirection. The discovery of this hormonal discovery is still relatively new and they learn more each day.

I rarely get a period. The most frequently I've ever managed is a 5-week cycle without hormonal control pills. Even then, it lasts around 3 days, 4 if I'm lucky, but I bleed so much that I end up with mild anemia. Good thing I like steak.

PCOS can also cause hypoglycemia-turned-hyperglycemia a.k.a diabetes. It's not so much your health regimen as it is that the insulin attacks your ovaries instead of your blood sugar. Your body produces extra testosterone in self-defense. That means that insulin injections could potentially backfire on you and make the PCOS worse.

PCOS can also increase your risk of other illnesses related to the female reproductive system, such as cervical cancer.

I actually have one of the worst cases of PCOS any of my endocrinologists have ever seen. The only area where I lucked out is my voice. I do have a deep voice, but it's no longer masculine. It was masculine until I was 15, then it cleared up and settled. Now I have an excellent alto singing voice, people constantly tell me I have a pleasing voice whenever I speak, and straight/bi guys ask me not to quietly moan into my mocha expresso (but that just encourages me, doesn't it?)

My endocrinologist can only check up on me every 3-4 months. Sometimes it's not enough, but I have to make do. If your symptoms go nasty again, go to emergency immediately. When I was 12, my legs would become completely numb as a side effect of an absent period, so that's what my parents did.

Meanwhile, I'm going to hope it's not the worst for you. Once your gyn diagnoses you, you'll be hooked up with a specialist who'll have a better idea of what to do. Look at it this way - you'll actually be able to deal with getting tons of meds and frequent medical exams. Most people can't.

[Mourningstar]

Yeah, the life of a female can literally be a pain, if not in the arse, then somewhere really close by.

I'm currently dawdling and procrastinating like a pro, trying to avoid having to make a reservation for a gyno appointment. Honestly, if every woman is supposed to get checked once a year(and I know I have to, to keep me in those little pills that literally keep me alive), you'd figure that they'd do something to make it at least a little less traumatizing.

Anyways, Serenanna, I sincerely hope you can get a proper appointment sooner. The not knowing is indeed the worst part, because even if it turned out to be something really nasty and painful, you'll get treatment for it, whereas the worst-case scenarios your own mind can think up are enough to scare anyone witless.

[ShiniLuv]

If your pains are that bad... have you tried having the depo-provera (contraceptive) injection? I've been using it for the past 4 years and haven't bled since I started it.

Might be an idea cos before that my pains were awful, they used to lay me up for the whole day and no over-the-counter pain killers touched it.

Hope it all settles down for you, hun.

[Guest Zimarah]

The only down side to Depo is that you aren't supposed to use it for too long. I was on it for five years and my doctors told me that was far too long. Osteoporosis risks.

[Guest Alien Pirate Pixagi]

I'm so happy I don't have really nasty cramps anymore thanks to birth control. -hugs the birth control- My cramps used to keep me in bed for a day at least curled up in a ball and groaning whenever someone asked me to do something. Now, not only are the cramps nearly non-existant, but my periods are getting progressivly shorter (clocked in at 3 days so far.

I'm actually terrified of the prospect of getting preggers and giving birth. On my mom's side of my family the women tend to have a problem with their cervixes that makes them not dialate right during labor (especially after the first child). It has something to do with things not lining up right and what-not. At the same time, big heads run in my family. TT__TT

Funny thing is, I have hips that make Texas look small and a good 10 lbs hanging off my chest. My mother likes joking about it and was basically the reason she forsced me to get BC pills cause really, condoms only do so much.

Of course, my SO eventually wants to have children with me (in, like, five years) and after telling him all the scary bits, he wants to start a ceaserian fund

[Guest Serenanna]

Thank you for all the responses, guys, and for the concern. It's kind of touching y'all care about little old me who most of you don't even know, not to mention my problems.

To update, I'm feeling much better. Don't know how I am but I am. Maybe changing to Aleve numbed it senseless enough to heal a little, or the chicken noodle soup forced upon me by ever fearful parents. I'm going to attempt to reschedual on Monday with the nurse practitioner instead to get a quicker appointment. Tuesday morning is my CAT scan, which means that night I need to take the barium . . .

This is going to suck.

I took barium before in Children's Hospital in Philly for an upper GI and they flavored it with chocolate syrup according to one nurses when I commented that it wasn't as bad as I thought. Think it's safe enough for me to attempt the same with this stuff?

I'm still getting over the fact that it's probably not as bad as it seems, even if at the time I felt like dying instead or cutting out the pain on my own. Usually I'm a trooper with pain. Having Muscular Dystropy can teach you how much your ass will hurt from sitting all the time, and I do mean alllll the time. The needles from doctor ordered flu shots, being proded, poked, banged on knee caps for reflexes that aren't there, tossed around on a daily basis to get out of the chair seemed like peanuts compared to that pain.

But, I think I learned something out of all this. In comparison, I'm not doing too bad. I only get one treatable medical emergency a year. Two years ago I had pnuemonia which scared the shit out of my parents when they realized it wasn't just a cold. Last year was a urinary tract infection that was annoying as hell. If this year's curse is just endometriosis, then I'll be fine. My original diagonsis when I was 2 said I had half a year to live, and I'm 24 now. My life could be a lot worse, but it isn't. I mean, I'm still alive, aren't I? (And still writing porn too!)

Sere, cheating death one minute at a time.

[Guest achtungnight]

I hope you feel better soon too, even better than you currently feel. Glad you're still alive and writing- I will check out your fics and see if they're any good.

[Guest lightgoddess]

I'm glad you're feeling better Sere.

[StoryJunkie]

My original diagonsis when I was 2 said I had half a year to live, and I'm 24 now. My life could be a lot worse, but it isn't. I mean, I'm still alive, aren't I? (And still writing porn too!)

gasps. we are then, indeed honored that the doctors were so stupid in regards to you, GO GIRL! (It's not the porn dear, it's the fun at the forum! Right now, for me, the most interesting people on the planet.)

[polywolly]

I'm certainly glad you're feeling better, Sere. You've a gaggle of women here on your side, hoping for the best, so that you can continue writing porn, which isn't a terrible or dirty thing at all. It's nature's way of putting a filthy mind to good use!

[Aserenity]

men have it so easy its not fair

[Guest Acita]

I once had an ovarian cyst burst in the middle of the night. Had been visiting my father at the time, so naturally he rushed me straight to the hospital. The pain was so extreme that I breifly wondered if it was appendicitis, but it passed quickly with some drugs from the Doc. If it was a lingering problem then (from my experience) it probably wasn't a cyst. Still, it could be something equally mundane. Reproductive organs are a bitch.

[dazzledfirestar]

My original diagonsis when I was 2 said I had half a year to live, and I'm 24 now. My life could be a lot worse, but it isn't. I mean, I'm still alive, aren't I?

Don't ya just love proving them all wrong? My mother was told I wouldn't live to see five (I was two at the time as well, strangely enough) when they diagnosed me with diabetes. Then when I was fifteen they told me I'd probably never have children. And tada! I'm here (at a healthy 25 and no diabetic complications *touch wood*) and I'm pregnant!

My point being, you rock girl! Whatever they throw at you, throw it back twice as hard!

[Guest Serenanna]

::blushes:: Thank you, guys. It's not often I mention my MD, even if it's like the first thing anyone would ever see of me in RL. It's kind of hard to miss face to face. I guess the internet is great like that, huh? You never really know who's on the other end, unless they get all honest and stuff like me. :\

To update, if no one's seen the 'I Am . . .' game, it turns out that it's a large cyst, and a colon infection. I've been high on antibotics for a week now, took the last ones this morning, and while I'm pain free in the trouble area, I've been rather queasy. ::looks rather green:: I'm hoping it's over now that the pills are done.

. . . I'm probably asking for it again with that one, aren't I?

Sere