New Year, Same Battle.

The new year is already throwing out it's share of challenges.
Starting to think I was right about 2013 just being a warm-up! ;)

Here's a little update for those of you who are following my ongoing journey with endometriosis :

I've been in significant pain, on and off, for the last 4 weeks.

In a last ditch effort to save the trip Weston and I planned, I had seen my surgeon two days before Christmas and pleaded with her to give me anything that would relieve the pain enough that I could still travel. 

She insisted that a small amount of daily progesterone was the best way to go about this, even though I'm allergic to it. According to her, I'd feel great by the next day, be able to go on my trip at the end of that week, and then whenever I wanted to stop taking the progesterone, I could stop and it wouldn't be a problem.

I consulted my naturopath (who didn't have any other suggestions), weighed my options, and ended up trying the medication. The pain slowly increased as I took the extra hormones (probably due to my "not-a-problem" allergy) and as you know, we weren't able to make it out of town. Since our trip was already down the drain, I stopped taking the pills. My doctor had said I could stop whenever I wanted and they were obviously making things worse, so I went without. And for a few days things seemed to be improving slightly.

On the first Monday back at work after the holidays, I noticed the pain getting more intense as the day went on. By lunchtime I couldn't stand up straight. I popped a few Advil, made it through the last few hours of work, slowly drove home, sat on the couch and then BAM. Like getting stabbed in the stomach, endo was back in full force. Persistent, sharp, and constant. I took my painkillers, crawled into bed, and wasn't able to get out of it again for the next 4 days. 

I was taking more Percocet than I've ever needed to before and even still, it wasn't able to get the pain under control, leaving me in a weird, half-sleep. I hurt terribly, but I couldn't keep my eyes open or lift my head because of the medication. I'd never experienced that before. Super weird!

It was the worst it's been in a long time.
And when I tried to get a hold of my surgeon, she was on vacation and unable to be reached. 

Through extensive research of my own, I found out that a lot of girls with endo take progesterone at some point and the withdrawal process is very long and painful for them. Thanks for the heads up, Doc!

(I was able to speak with two different doctors at the same hospital during that time, and both of them told me to just continue taking the Progesterone. 

When I asked about the withdrawal process, these doctors said "When you run out just come in and get more Progesterone so you never have to go through withdrawals." 

Seriously?! So it's causing me pain, but the withdrawals are worse, so at this point I should just continue taking it forever?!)

At this point, I'm able to control most of the pain with Advil and take the heavy meds on a much more limited schedule. I was so thankful to be able to drive to the yoga studio a few days ago for a very therapeutic, gentle, yin flow. My surgeon and my naturopath both really encourage hip opening yoga postures to help with endo, and that slow-paced stretching did wonders for the lingering aches in my legs and back that day.

Things change by the hour at this point. A few steps forward and then a few steps backward. It's hard finding balance between doing too little and doing too much. The most random, small things can throw me back down, which makes it hard not to get ahead of myself and accidentally overdo it sometimes!

This week, I'm seeing another new doctor who has a few ideas for treatments that I've yet to try. Acupuncture, new hormones, and herbs…We'll see what that brings! I'm also going back to work on Monday after two long weeks away! I know it's going to be challenging, but being productive and back with the pre-schoolers will eliminate a lot of the frustration and defeat I've been feeling here at home, so I'm really looking forward to it.

Happy to be slowly getting back into the swing of things.
As always, thank you for the support, prayers, and encouragement that you provide me during these times!

Hope you're having a beautiful weekend.