Confused about symptom presentation

Submitted by Tree on November 30, 2011 - 12:17am
Body: 

Hi,
I am new here (only looked at the site in the last 24 hours) so please excuse my ignorance.

I was wanting some insight and help to discover what may be going on with my body.

6 1/2 yrs ago I had a boy, vaginally, 8 hr active labour and pushing (2 hrs plus) and second degree tears. I couldn't have sex for a year but no prolapse problems seemed to occur.

3 1/2 years ago I miscarried twins. It was complicated and I haemorrhaged to the point of needing emergency care. I had this incredible dragging down feeling for the 8 weeks I was pregnant and during the miscarriage. The pain returned on my first ovulation after the miscarriage and it has been my constant companion for every ovulation since (for approx 7 days). My acupuncturist got me to tilt a bed and treat the pain like a prolapse, it did relieve the pain but it was short lived.

2 Years ago I had another boy. For the first 5 months of the pregnancy I had the same pain and feared I would miscarry. He was quite large for me and I broke my tailbone during labour. I was in agony for quite a few months, couldn't sit etc. It became apparent that I had what felt like a prolapse as well. I have been noticing the pain when I am up for too long or fatigued and sometimes when I have a full bladder in the morning.

I have had 3 cycles since the birth of my son, 31 days approx. The first seemed ok but once again I had the dragging, full, blown up like a balloon feeling for 10 days around ovulation. Then the next month I had an ovarian cyst rupture, same pain, just worse for 2 weeks, diagnosed by ultrasound. This month I had 11 days of pain. I'm on herbs, Sepia and still use the tilted bed or shoulder stands for relief (just discovering about the other postures etc on this site now and will do those as soon as I can get my head around it).

Sex is painful and I have no libido whatsoever.

I am confused because I thought most people with prolapse had the pain before bleeding. I am looking for a bit of info on why it would be effecting my body around ovulation and what I can do to help it. My life now seems to be controlled by what time of the month it is and I am desperate for help.

Any insight would be gratefully appreciated. (Sorry for the long winded post).

Christine

November 30, 2011 - 4:43pm

Hi and welcome to Whole Woman, Tree!

Gosh...even if we were qualified, it is impossible to diagnose anything over the internet. That said, what you are experiencing sounds like classic signs of endometriosis. Ovulation pain that is intense and lasts for days, miscarriages, and painful intercourse are extremely common to the condition.

I know very little about the disease, except that in time it can become like an autoimmune disorder, affecting many bodily systems. I also know that women do recover from it. From what I've been able to determine, Ayurveda can treat cases of endometriosis with success. FYI, hysterectomy is *not* definitive treatment, which young, post-hysterectomy women are horrified to discover.

It will be of interest to you as well to have a look at my article on enterocele in the December issue of the Village Post, which may be up as early as tonight. Enterocele takes place in the abdominal cul-de-sac, which is also the most frequent site of abdominal endometriosis.

It is commonly believed that endometriosis results from the endometrium backing up and out the tubes. I don't believe it is out of the realm of possibilities that development of the condition could be in some part postural - especially strained activities where the organs are being forced into the cul-de-sac and back passage.

I hope to be learning more about endometriosis in the future, but it is my assumption that if this is indeed what you are dealing with, there is hope for resolution.

Wishing you well,

Christine

Tree

December 1, 2011 - 3:03am

Thank you so much for your insight Christine. What you have said makes sense and I think I was so confused because it would appear that I am dealing with a few issues at once. The ovarian cyst, the prolapse (my darling Midwife told me my type is called a cystocele) and probably endo. All at the ripe old age of only 32!!! :-)

So I am feeling much more positive about getting the help I need now. I'm in the middle of tests with the doctor to check all my hormone levels etc. I am intrigued by the information I have come across on this site and really excited to read the stories. Looking forward to learning more and will keep a look out for the article you mentioned.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!

Lillian

January 7, 2013 - 3:49pm

This site saved me from having a hysterectomy for my prolapse 3 years ago. Now because of Nora Coffees site,HERS, that was posted here, my sister just today decided to postpone her hysterectomy. She is asking for all of her paperwork so she can discuss it with Nora. She has endometrial hyperplasia with atypia so she is very concerned. Her doctor said that a hysterectomy was the ONLY way. can anyone give her hope?? She postponed it until February 11th and wants/needs answers asap. Thank you for any help anyone can give.

Surviving60

January 7, 2013 - 4:51pm

Hi Lillian – I’m thrilled to know that you have been saved from unnecessary surgery. I’m a big fan of Nora C. and the HERS Foundation and I know they will provide good guidance for your sister. I don’t know if anyone will come onto this forum with enough medical knowledge to speak about her situation, we’ll just have to wait and see. I wish you both the best! - Surviving

Christine

January 7, 2013 - 7:10pm

...has been known to help with this. Non-toxic and certainly worth a try.

NFP

January 8, 2013 - 9:35am

I don't know if anyone on this forum is familiar with NaProTechnology but it does deal with Entometriosis in a non-evasive manner. The pioneer in this field is Dr. Thomas Hilgers, MD and his medical center is in Omaha Nebraska. It would be worth a google for information. I would like to clarify my term non-evasive. In my experience with Dr. Hilger's work in the treatment of entrometriosis it does not include the removal of the reproductive organs. It sometimes can mean surgery but the technique is unique and I would have to say minimal. There is a book "Women Healed" which is a testimony to his work. Dr. Nora might know of his work. He specializes in helping woman of reproductive age to keep their reproductive organs.

louiseds

January 7, 2013 - 9:40pm

Hi Lillian

It is so good to hear that you still have your uterus and that your sister will be speaking to Nora Coffey. I am always very suspicious of gynaecologists who say "hysterectomy is the only solution". Simply googling "endometrial hyperplasia with atypia" showed me that hysterectomy is not always necessary, but more importantly that the condition is a symptom of hormonal imbalance. Yes, removing her uterus will stop the uterine symptoms, but it is not gong to address the hormone imbalance. In fact, it will probably damage her ovaries further and prevent her body from using its ovarian function to help to correct the hyperplaysia.

If a person smashes their thumb and the joint is painful and never works properly after that, we don't amputate the thumb. We use all means possible to reduce the pain, and allow the person to make whatever use they can of the stiff, old thumb. If the thumb is amputated, at least the person cannot smash it again.

Likewise a woman without a uterus cannot get uterine cancer. If there are no abnormal cells in the thumb there is no reason to remove it to stop the cancer.

Dr Christiane Northrup comments on the condition in her book, Womens Health Women's Wisdom.

If your sister is pre-menopause there may be a different prognosis than if she is postmenopause.

You don't mention other treatments the gyn has done. From what you have said, I think your sister needs a new gynaecologist more urgently than she needs a hysterectomy! He sounds like he just doesn't want to treat her uterus any more. Hysterectomy will certainly sort that out! No, I am being cynical. I am not a doctor. ;-)

Here's hoping she can find her way through it intact.

Louise

mom30

January 9, 2013 - 2:02pm

I have very painful ovulation every month. I think it started being painful after I stopped nursing my son. So, for about the past four years or so. I had a transvaginal ultrasound that showed a cyst, but she said it looked like a normal one. But, since then it has gotten a lot worse every month. I do have weird bowel problems during the month too. I want to get it checked out again, but since it only hurts at ovulation, I want to make sure my appt is around that time.

louiseds

January 12, 2013 - 3:57am

Hi Mom30

I suggest that you diary all these weird things that happen during the month. Then you will have accurate information for the doctor, and for yourself. Some pain with ovulation is normal, as are different bowel symptoms during the month, particularly constipation in the latter half of the cycle and loose motions during the first days of menstruation.

Do you get constipated? Is there any time when you are not constipated? Can you see how a 'crowded' gut with hard stool could push up against a swollen follicle on your ovary, or squash the ovary against a bone?

Is is possible that your uterus is retroverted, and the ovary is squashed between your full large intestine and your pelvic bones or sacrum?

Is the ovulation pain always on the same side? If both, is the pain at the same vertical level, or could one of the ovaries be malpositioned? If so, then is the position of each always the same?

Does the ovulation pain relate at all to the presence of POP symptoms or continence changes?

I suggest that you find a way of describing the position of the pain for your diary, maybe how far to which side of your midline, and how far down from the level of your belly button, and maybe how far back fromthe front of your pubic symphysis. This will describe the position of the source of the pain in three dimensions.

Louise