Pain and my Primary Care Manager (PCM)

You may know how frustrated I am with my PCM, who is also my GYN. Not only on the level that we have been TTC for 15 months with no success and she has done nothing, nada, zilch about it, but also because I have been having female issues that she has refused to acknowledge. I'm going to warn you now that this entry will contain details of the feminine nature, so if you get queasy now is the time to stop reading. I promise there are no gory details.



Ever since I stopped taking hormonal contraception, my body has not been the same. They say your body is supposed to resume it's normal reproductive functions within a few months of stopping the pill and for most women it does. What they don't tell you is that it may take years for some to resume normal funtioning. My first few cycles were anovulatory (no ovulation), which I expected and I tracked through charting and using FAM (fertility awareness method). I also charted other signs and symptoms that were cycle related such as flow and duration of menses. A few months into charting I noticed that before my period began I would spot for no less than three days. I accounted it to my body adjusting to being off hormones. I figured it would eventually stop.

Fifteen months later, it hasn't stopped.

In fact, I feel like the symptoms are becoming worse. Back in August I went in to see my GYN because I was having mid-cycle pelvic cramps. They did a pelvic exam, pressed on my right ovary and it was tender. So they guessed I had a functional cyst and had me schedule a pelvic ultrasound. The earliest ultrasound they could get me in for was three weeks later. That's the ever ineffecient base hospital for ya.

By the time I went it, my pain had already dissipated and they found nothing. No fluid, no remains, absolutely nothing! I used that follow up meeting with my GYN as a chance to mention that I've been having increasingly painful menstrual cramps and her advice was to fit in more cardio exercise and take ibuprophen. I am by no means sedentary and recently ibuprofen is not strong enough for my pain anymore.

I had my annual female parts examination in December. I mentioned that we had been TTC for a year with no pregnancy yet. She said her protocol was to have the man tested first before testing the woman. I figured it wouldn't be a problem getting Chris done, yet since we are dealing with the clinic at the hospital, it took ages to get him in and get a viable test. By the time we got his test results and learned that his swimmers are fine, I'd had two of the most painful periods in my life.

It's hard to describe how much pain I experienced. Those that have been through child labor might sympathize. I felt like my uterus was having one constant contraction. My womb felt like it was squeezing itself like a fist. My usual treatments of a heating pad and ibuprofen barely took the edge off. And 800 milligrams of ibuprofen would barely last two hours. Yeah, I was SOL for the next six hours.

My last menses led me to leave work early and head to the emergency room on base because the unabating pain was so intense from my rock hard uterus. By the time I got to the ER, ironically it had subsided to a dull ache. They made me give them a urine sample so they could rule out pregnancy. I knew I wasn't pregnant. It felt the same as previous periods and I'm sure it would feel different if I was having a miscarriage. The doctor finally came to see me, poked around my abdomen, and said I just needed stronger pain medication. He prescribed me Naproxen and Tylenol. I wanted to scream at him that something must be wrong if I needed stronger pain medication for a period. He told me to follow up with my doctor. Duh.

Now that I'm nearing the end of this current cycle, I can look back and say I've noticed I've been more crampy than usual. It reminds me of that August cycle in which I thought I had a cyst. This cycle, I cramped substancially for five days after ovulation. I maybe have a slight twinge or pressure around ovulation, but never dull achey cramps that go on for days. The pain went away after an acupuncture treatment (more on that later), and came back last night at nine days past ovulation.

I see my GYN tomorrow and boy do I have some questions for her. I'm going to ask to be tested for Endometriosis and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome because when your body is in pain it's trying to tell you something.

By now I am really realizing something is not right with my body. Infertility being the first sign. Severe menstrual pain being a second.

Please keep me in your thoughts and pray for the best.