Hello everyone. I'm new to this group and healthunlocked in general!
I've been having all sorts of symptoms along with chronic pain for ages now and I'm at my wits end.
To begin with, I've had periods of my life since I was 18 (I'm almost 28) where I've ballooned up and felt heavy in my pelvis and hips. I've also had rectal pain and rectal spasms since I was about 20. My period started when I was about 12 and I was forced on the pill by my mum at 14 as she was worried about my first boyfriend and teenage pregnancy. I was on the combined pill for about 6 years and had the 'bleed', which was always light and lasted about 3 days, 5 days tops. My main PMS symptoms were belly cramps and intense nausea every morning but there wasn't any severe pain. I was taken off the combined pill as I started getting aura migraines and was put onto the progesterone only pill. Things seemed fine, hunky dory almost. In 2015 I went to Uganda for 3 months for a volunteering trip and my severe bloating started again. I felt embarrassed and was worried people thought I was pregnant! I decided in the last month of my trip to stop taking the pill as I was single and happy and wanted to be by myself haha. Weirdly, the bloating dramatically decreased. A few months later, I started to become sexually active again so went back onto the progesterone only pill. I remember being bloated all the time again but whenever I take the pill, my periods completely stop. I don't remember having many issues in 2016 but then in 2017, the bloating started getting more intense again. A year later, I lost weight what seemed like overnight and my bloating stopped too. I must have lost around 3 stone over 3 months? This wasn't intentional weight loss either. I was a slim size 8/10 (clothes sizes don't define your worth!) and my health seemed settled a bit. I met my current partner that year too so was feeling very smitten and lovey dovey. Late summer 2019, my partner and I moved in together and I still had no major health problems, aside from occasional painful trapped wind which I managed. I decided I wanted to stop taking my pill again, not to conceive but was curious to see how my body would be in its natural state. My period came back pretty quickly and seemed 'normal' to begin with but then it changed dramatically. I had downloaded a period tracking app and noticed I was experiencing intense pain during ovulation and after my period. The worst pain of all, was the period itself. I became bed bound and my partner basically became my nurse. The pain was debilitating and spread throughout my pelvis, into my hips and lower back, my upper thighs and sometimes shot through my legs right through to my toes! Weirdly, my flow was still quite light sometimes, so no heavy bleeding like most endo sufferers. I also went from a size 8 to a size 14 within a MONTH. I wish I could say I was joking but I'm not! I ate a balanced diet and was somewhat active so that really shocked me.
Last year, after about 6 months, I decided enough was enough. I got tested for ovarian cancer and that came back clear. I had my thyroids checked, also came back clear. Was tested for coeliac disease twice, both times came back clear. I was really struggling at this point because I didn't feel like I was getting better, I felt like I was getting worse. I saw a female GP at my surgery, she did a quick feel of my belly and just told me to go back on the pill and exercise more...I was flabbergasted. Nothing was mentioned about the pain. 2 weeks later I ended up in hospital for 8 days due to a nasty e.coli infection. I was so ill they were gonna remove my small bowel and I almost ended up with a stoma! I was checked afterwards via stool samples and there was no infection. I was also checked for inflammatory bowel disease, all tests came back normal.
Fast forward to December 2020, I'm still a bloated mess and I start experiencing sudden sharp pelvic pain. So painful it made me gasp! I was referred to hospital for having a suspected kidney stone. At this point, I started to feel really uncomfortable lying on my left side. It felt like I was lying down on a stack of books or something. A senior urologist referred me to have a CT scan because I had an ultrasound and transvaginal scan and they were both normal. A few days later however, the CT scan gets cancelled! A urologist decided it wasn't an issue for them and potentially a gastro issue. I was furious but whatever I suppose...
Since then, so from December 2020 to present, my symptoms have gotten worse as has the bloating. I've had a suspected bowel cancer scare and my colonoscopy was fine however I am currently waiting for CT scan results. I have on and off rectal bleeding, rectal pain and an 'inflamed' type feeling there, intense sharp cramps in my pelvic and groin area that comes and goes, sharp random pains throughout my abdomen, on and off vaginal pain, on and off spotting (I don't have periods!) and I still cannot lie down on my left side because I can feel something there! It's not my colon haha, trust me. I want to say it's a mass but I don't have a clue. It starts in the middle of my left side and goes down right through to the bottom of my left groin. I also feel fatigued, have on and off constipation and sometimes find bloody mucus after wiping after a bowel movement.
Could this be bowel endometriosis? I've probably missed SO much from this post as I feel like I've been passed from pillar to post. I'm really struggling now and just need answers. I've attached a picture of my severe bloating so you can see. It gets worse throughout the day and sometimes I wake up with it.
If you have read this post, you're an angel!
x
xx
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