In search of some answers
I woke up this morning feeling so fatigued and kinda in pain. Well, maybe discomfort is a better word. I had planned to get up and read for a bit before work, but I felt too exhausted and just not ready to start my day so I allowed myself to sleep for another hour. The feeling I had in my body was mostly crampy, bloated, and nauseous. I expect to feel this way right before or during my period. But…I’m in neither of those time frames. This concerns me. Over the past few years I suspected that I have endometriosis. And these symptoms lead me to believe that the condition is worsening.
I need to get the diagnosis so I can be treated. My hesitation is finding a doctor. I want a new one. The nurse practitioner I saw at my last appointment listened to my concerns and symptoms and said, “okay let’s get you on birth control.” I asked if I could be tested for endometriosis and she deterred me, telling me it was invasive and I’d have to be cut to test my tissue. I trusted her. She said if I felt better with birth control, I probably have it and that if I didn’t feel better, we would need to see what else could be going on. She also told me, “ We just need to get you pregnant.” Neither of these sounded like good solutions for me but I chose birth control, specifically an IUD, because I needed something to work like yesterday.
This was two years ago. I couldn’t take the symptoms I had anymore. It was beginning to affect my life in ways I wasn’t comfortable with. For example, I’d drive somewhere and wouldn’t be able to drive back without resting in my car for a while first. I’d get lightheaded, nauseous, migraines and feel like I was going to pass out. On a few occasions, I vomited. An especially haunting time that sticks out to me is when I was on the freeway and all of a sudden felt like I was going in and out of consciousness and needed to lay down immediately. I got off the freeway quickly and pulled into the first parking lot. I had left my BFF’s place not too long before. Thank God she was close! I called her and she and her husband came and picked me up. Her husband drove my car back to their place. Just before we took off, I vomited in the parking lot. Ewwww. They hosted a party the night before at which I drank. They were for sure I was hungover. Nope! I went to their place, napped for two hours and was good to go. But how inconvenient for everyone.
That was one of the many times I knew what I experienced on my period wasn’t normal and it was affecting my life in significant ways. Anywho, I have some research to do. I’ll be looking for someone that specializes in endometriosis. No games will be played with my body and fertility.