Yep, that's right, my old fashioned, medication loving, likes to tell me to just "relax," has no diet tips except Weight Watchers, has never stuck a needle in me except to draw blood, and who wouldn't know what to do with herbs unless they were on a salad OB/GYN.
I need to know what the hell is going on.
I mean, in some sense, I know what's going on. My naturopath OB has been treating me for PCOS with hormones, and was the one who diagnosed the cyst. However, I am now starting to feel like it is getting worse, or that something is going on in my body that shouldn't be. For the past three months I have cramped and heavily spotted on the days I am ovulating, or immediately after. My stomach is always upset. I am having hot flashes and nausea.
Not only do I feel crappy, but its making it hard to stay on the program. When my stomach is upset? All I want to do is eat carbs. I definitely don't want to swallow herbs or supplements. The spotting is doing to my mental state what the stomach woes are doing to my physical one. Every time it happens I think "what's the use, I obviously can't make babies" and go pour some wine.
I am not going to my traditional OB/GYN because I don't trust my naturopath or my acupuncturist. I think I have paid them both enough money to show my faith. It's just that I already know how both of them want to address this problem, and it isn't working. I need a perspective from someone who has been with me from the beginning of all of this, and who isn't afraid to throw a little western medicine at it. I mean, if this cyst needs to be removed, I want to know it now -- not when it bursts.
Maybe a third perspective is just what the doctor ordered.
I really hope so.
That is definitely no good. Best wishes Libby - I hope it's an easy fix.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear about your troubles in this area-- I have very similar symptoms, but not nearly as intense (just pain, nausea, et all for about 36 hours when ovulating, but low level enough that you can power through) for similar reasons.
ReplyDeleteI'm no doctor, but I've found reducing my hormone intake actually helped immensely-- especially by avoiding bovine growth hormones in meat, milk, etc. I also try to avoid soybeans-- like the plague-- in fact. Then again, I am not attempting to conceive.
I hope you find a way to work this out!
Good luck! I hope you get some answers.
ReplyDeleteIs your OBGYN a reproductive endocrinologist? The specialist I stumbled upon during my struggle with fertility had done a stint at NIH a few years ago. He improved my quality of life and performed a baby miracle too. You know your body best, and if there's something wrong, don't let a silly doctor stop you. I've learned with this disease I've been carting around for the past 15 years...doctors don't know everything. Keep pushing until you get what you want. I hope you find your answers! I'm pulling for you.
ReplyDeleteI hope your vagina feels better.
ReplyDeleteI won't leave any assvice for you, but I do hope you can get some answers and feel better soon. Hormones are a bitch :o(
ReplyDeleteUgh. So sorry to hear. I hope she can give you some answers!
ReplyDeletei agree with "anonymous". doctors don't know everything and you should keep making appointments till they figure out some likely culprits.
ReplyDeletei had a general practitioner who brushed off my symptoms by saying "every woman has a difficult time during her period" and shooed me out the door without a second thought. i ended up getting new insurance, and subsequently a new doctor. through the help of this new doc, i was able to find out i have endometriosis.
what really sends me into a fit of fucking rage is not so much that i have endo (that DOES bother me though, don't get me wrong), but that my life could have a been much less painful if my initial doctor had just LISTENED to what i was telling her.
I definitely think you're doing the right thing. With all due respect to the natural path (I myself swear by my acupuncturist), sometimes you need intervention from traditional medicine. I hope you get some answers!
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