I've Had Endometriosis For Almost 40 Years!

Did I grab your attention?

Let me tell you first of all, if I have any dude readers, you may want to put on your "ick" alert and move on.

Those of you that also have endometriosis, painful and extremely heavy periods, and hormonal migraines, stay tuned.  I promise I have possible hope for you at the end of my story.

Let's start at the beginning.  I was born...ha ha!  Okay not that far back, but almost.  I was pretty young when I started my period.  I was 11.  I was a FAT kid, put on weight watchers at age 9, and have struggled with my weight and body image since!  But that's a different story.  The reason I bring up being a fat kid is that I was told that was why I started my period so young. ???  This was back in 1980 so medicine has come a long way since then.

So there I was, 11 years old, with severe cramps, heavy bleeding through my clothes, and headaches to kill someone in Elementary School (back then, 6th grade was still in Elementary School).  My mother was a nurse, so therefore seemed unsympathetic to us kids and gone a lot because she worked nights and usually about 60 hours a week.  So I figured this out on my own the best I could with the help of my older sister.

I remember being at my grandma's house, in Florida, one summer and being so sick because of my period.  I must have been about 13 years old at the time.  We were raised to not talk about "lady things" and also to not complain, so I just tried to suffer in silence.  Well that was until I started puking my guts up.  She was like, "Do you have your menses?"  What in the world is that, I thought?   It sort of sounded like the word menstruation that was taught to us in sex ed (in 6th grade), so I said weakly, "yes.".  She put me to bed with a heating pad.  Oh wow, that felt a little better.  I never was without a heating pad after that.  When I got up from a rest and felt a little better, she gave me a little glass of wine for my cramps.  Now we're talking.

When I got home from Florida, I told my mom what had happened and how much better I felt.  She seemed unimpressed, but I was a kid.  Who knows what she was really thinking.  I'm guessing she was thinking that she needed a month at her mom's too.

Fast forward to my sophomore year of high school.  My period symptoms just got worse and worse if you can possibly imagine.  On day 2 of my period, I'd get faint in 5th period Spanish II.  My teacher approached me at the door and asked if I had really bad periods.  I started crying.  "YES!  I get so sick, they are awful!".  This was the first time I talked to anyone, except my sister and grandma, about my period.  I felt shame because we weren't supposed to talk about those things and I also felt relieved because Mrs. Ball seemed to understand!  I loved that woman.  My grade in Spanish improved greatly after that.  As did my attendance by the end of the day once a month.  She must have called my mom because not long after the 3rd time this happened, I found my self at my mom's gynecologist.

So here I was, 16 years old,  diagnosed with endometriosis, put on the pill for treatment, and scheduled for a laser laparoscopy, the first week of summer vacation, to burn off the scar tissue.  This was in 1986.  Back then, I took the pill every day and didn't have my period for a few years.  This was to simulate pregnancy and give the uterus a break I guess.  It was nice for a while.  I didn't mind that treatment at all.

Fast forward just a few more years and newly moved to Florida but due to my condition, needing a specialist gynecologist to continue my treatment (birth control pills mind you).  This new doctor was the best, but in my opinion he was horrible.  Hardly spoke English, so I had difficulty understanding him (I was just a kid) and he told me I was no spring chicken and if I wanted kids, I better hurry up.  (I was 19!)  Well this along with some other issues, I felt basically pressured to take the first one interested in me and do I did.  I found myself 23 years old, newly married, unhappy and wanting a baby.  Guess what?  It's hard to get pregnant with endometriosis.  I found another doctor though.  A woman who at least knew how cramps felt.  She performed my 2nd laser laparoscopy and a year later, I was miraculously pregnant!  (That marriage quickly dissolved not soon after, seeing as how I mainly got married because I was "no spring chicken" but I still got my miracle baby and oh! how I love that girl, well young woman).

Fast forward 30 more years.  I was 48, still taking the pill as treatment for endometriosis as for some reason my doctor won't give me a hysterectomy.  The pill isn't the best treatment.  It helps, don't get me wrong, but I still experience severe cramps that radiate down my legs, bad back pain, pressure on my bladder and bowels, and migraines.  I still felt weird about drinking alcohol for medicinal needs until like 8 years ago (have a teenager).  Now I don't care.  Judge away, but if you had my cramps, you'd see aleve doesn't cut it and a glass of wine does!

So what does this have to do with hope for you if you have a problems with your periods?  Here's what happened.  If you've been reading my blog, you'll know that I got really sick in late January.  Best they can figure is that I got the B strain flu and I'm currently still in recovery.  But while I was in the height of being sick, I had a lot of time to myself.  I went searching for a new online business and came across a product that I wanted to get for my husband to try for an arthritic back, hip, and restless legs.  He had great relief almost immediately and he started sleeping (which means, I started getting sleep!).  I got so excited, I became an affiliate.  I wanted others to find this relief.  I wanted to be the best affiliate possible and part of that is believing in your product and the only way to do that is to have your own testimony.

Here's part of my testimony:  I started taking the product in April in hopes of it boosting my immune system and helping with the uncomfortable swollen glands and fatigue that I've been experiencing since late January.  I've slowly been improving (as I was told it could take up to a year to recover), but I discovered some interesting side effects from taking this product.  I'm sleeping better too (not just because hubby is sleeping), I'm really calm, I haven't had issues with riding in the car or being on a boat, I haven't had a severe debilitating pain in my head in a few months!  (check out these stories here and here to understand my pain journey), and (drum roll here) I stopped having  unpleasant side effects associated with my period!   I'm 49 years old now and looking into endometrial ablation or some other form of birth control besides the pill, but in the meantime, I am thoroughly liking this not having period related discomfort.

If you are interested in learning more, please drop me an email and let me know you read my blog post on endometriosis.

I decided to share my story as it doesn't seem to be so taboo to talk about these things anymore.  I see that several bloggers now share in detail along with fashion tips for the endometriosis sufferer.  I thought I'd offer something a little different... HOPE!