Hi everyone, apologies in advance as this will be an essay but I need to get this off my chest to people that will, hopefully, understand.
I started my period back when I was 13. It all seemed pretty normal for the first few years and from the age of 15 I started taking the pill. When I turned 18 my periods just seemed to be getting worse and my mood wasn't great, so I went back to the doctors and a nurse saw me and said that "my body had got used to the pill, so we should try something else" and gave me the implant. WORST DECISION EVER! I went from a size 10/12 to a size 16 within 3 months and didn't have a period the whole time. After 6 months I had it out and I've not been able to lose the weight since. In fact I have just gone up in size over the years. Gradually but still.
My periods have always been irregular. I don't miss any months but even with an app to help me track my trends, I am always around a week off what the app has said.
In December I completely missed a period which is unlike me. In terms of how my periods are, they are dark red/brown, and heavy the first day. The pain I get is so intense. It usually results in being curled over, sweating, feeling hot and cold, crying, and in the past few years this has just become more and more intense.
I'm quite lucky that the last few times I have come on, I have been at home so it hasn't effected my work, however I have left work before due to my periods. If I am at work I find it incredibly hard to concentrate, my vision blurs, it's so difficult to stand up straight. Best way to describe it is like pulling on one of those elastic things you put over your foot and pull up with your arms at the gym. It's like there is an elastic band in my lower abdomen and I'm fighting it to stand up.
I get pains during ovulation. They don't last long. On and off for a few minutes over a couple days but I notice it. I am tired a lot. My mood changes can cause issues in my relationship as I can go from being so lovable to snappy. I hate when I'm in a bad mood. It's not the person I want to be.
I first went to the doctors when I was 17 (2008) and said about the pain / mood changes. I was told it was PMS and that the pains were normal. Since then I have god knows how many swabs, doctors/nurses look, and even went to the gynaecologist. This resulted in him saying that he thought it was more likely to be a bowel issue, as I get blood sometimes from my rectum, along with heavy bloating and feeling sick. Baring in mind that my mother has endometriosis, and so does her mother and her auntie couldn't conceive because of it, so it is common in my family. I then went to see a doctor about a wheat free diet - which didn't change any of my symptoms what so ever. Also had a flexible sigmoidoscopy which came back clear (in fact I was complimented during the procedure which was very odd!).
I was told by the gynecologist when I was about 20 that I should just stay on the pill and they would check further if there was anything wrong when it came to conceiving.
Now I'm just about to turn 26, and I just feel like if I have had endometriosis all of this time, and it has been causing scaring that can effect my fertility, I would be gutted. Especially if I had gone to the doctors at the age of 18.
It seemed as though they were saying "you're 18 so you probably just have painful periods" rather than taking me seriously. I know my own body.
So I haven't been back to the doctors since my last trip to see them about tablets for my bowel. These tablets hardly help at all and this whole journey has been an emotional rollercoaster and I just want an answer now.
I am currently signing up to a new doctors as I have moved into my first home and I am hoping they can help me but I keep putting it off. I know it is because it has taken so long to get no where and I just don't know if anyone is listening to me. Also I feel like I am taking up Doctors time with something that isn't urgent. I definitely felt like that at my old Doctors anyway.
I'm not entirely sure what I want to get out of this post to be honest, but it feels quite good just to get it off my chest.
Thanks