Teaching and endo. Impossible?

[hayz]

This is the first time I have asked a question on here and its basically because I just dont know who else I can ask without getting the answer "well something has got to be done".

I am a primary school teacher and has endo for over 10yrs now. Due to bad migraines came off the pill just over a year ago. Luckily periods were not too bad (just) but this Christmas however my pain has increased significantly - very bad pain during ovulation and unbearable during period - which makes me think the pill is now def out of my system. Now prescribed tramadol and co-codomol. Both effective painkillers but I can not take them at work for 2 reasons - 1. they make me incredibly drousy, nausious and cant teach and 2. I work so far away from home that I cant drive and its too far to get a lift. I was also given mefanamic acid to take but these make me very sick and I cant keep them down. Since Christmas I have had to take 2-3 days off every month due to the pain and complete exhaustion of being on my period. I explained my condition to my head and deputy - both supportive - but my worry is this will keep happening - every month - what on earth can I do? Yesterday was so bad - I was in pain and had thrown up so I taught sitting down but then HAD to move around the room to be with the kids and literally got past 1 table and had to sit again - I am waiting for an appt to see a gyno but ultimately this is not going to go away and Im so concerned about how I will be perceived at work? I am off work today but so badly want to make it in tomorrow but I cant make that decision until the morning - ridiculous!

[yvonnemhr]

You poor thing i have the same problem although my job does not require me to stand with kids all day. fortunately enough i sit at a desk most of the day and my boss is very understanding however 2-3 days per month i am out sick and this cannot be helped. However i fear i will eventually lose my job if i continue to take sick days every month.

You really need to go to a gynacologist ASAP.

I wrote a letter to my surgeon and told him if they didnt speed up waiting list for my laparoscopy then i would become suicidal and lose my job.

I then got an appointment for the following month. I suggest you do the same. Although i am still in pain 2 months post op, but i am being told this is down to tissue scarring and my insides not being healed as of yet.

I suggest you try the endo diet and stick to it. I done that for a month and i had an almost pain free month. it is very hard to stick to the diet but if you are strict wtih yourself you should have some relief.

I would also suggest you try another form of contraception that maybe dont give you migraines.

The pill had stopped my pain completely but i am trying to concieve so thats not an option for me now.

Also pain killers dont really work for this kind of pain, they just take the edge of slightly.

Best of luck, i hope all goes well for you xxx

[hayz in reply to yvonnemhr]

Thank you for your reply. I am now chasing my doctors surgery to make sure my letter of referral to a gyno is sent - apparently the gyno I am being referred to is a specialist in endo so I am hoping something good can come from this!

[jalo69]

Hi there, have you considered the Mirena Coil? It doesnt work for everyone but for me it did and it has been a life saviour. It take s some perseverence, up to 6 months for the 'daily spotting' to stop but once thats subsided and hopefuly the periods have stopped you may find that you have a quality of life back. However, it doesnt stop the savage nature of Endometriosis. Good luck i hope you get some relief soon Hugs J xx

[hayz in reply to jalo69]

Thank you for your reply - I have read a lot of comments on here about the mirena coil and will speak about it with my doc but want to see what the gyno says first - hoping for a lap to investigate and get rid of some of the scaring.

[little_fins]

Hi

I am currently training as a secondary school science teacher and I can understand how you feel. For some reason when I am infront of a class I forget my pains for the duration of the lesson, until yesterday. I had extreme pain after lunch in my groin, back and down my leg. Luckily I was team teaching and after 20 mins managed to excape to the loo for 5 mins but trying to pee was agony as it usually is when my endo has flared up.

I heard codine can make endo worse. I take naproxen. It takes a few days to build up in my system but I can take 500mg twice a day. *naproxen is the same ingredient as in the blue Feminax tablets (the ones behind the counter at pharmacy).

Also try alverine citrate. Several makers for it, one goes under name Spasmonal. I was given this years ago by uni doc when told I had IBS (which I now know is endo!). Only thing that ever helped. My docs back home would never give me a prescription for it and pumped me full of other IBS tablets which surprisingly did not work. Eventually after being diagnosed with endo my doc sat up and listened to me when I yet again asked for alverine citrate. He reserached it and found not only is it used for IBS but also for extreme period pains!

Hope this helps,

[hayz in reply to little_fins]

Thank you for your reply - good luck with your training - it is hard work but it is a good profession to be in. Your comment about codine is so interesting as this is the first month I have taken it instead of tramadol and had pain during the night so tried a hot bottle etc but nothing so took some codine - then when I work up it was just as bad and took soooo long to ease. I will keep an eye on it next month and if the same happens I will go back to tramadol - I was like a zombie on tramadol but it did more then take the edge off the pain. I was also diagnosed with IBS for years - not until I went to my uni doctor and they decided to investigate.

[roann]

hi there, i am a teacher and i have endo too so i know what you are going through. like you i teach the primary which requires you to stand a lot. i get the dizzy feeling when standing and have to hold on to something before i fall. when i really can't make it to stand i put my chair in front of the class and teach. Do your hands get really tired and pain a lot hen writing on the board? that happens to me a lot. every moth i stay away from work 3 to 4 days. sometimes at work all i want to do is go home and sleep. my director understands and allow me off( even though my pay gets cut for every day i stay home) but i know she is getting tired of me staying at home and my boss( the owner for the school, i teach private) has been looking into my file and saw that i have been staying home a lot. i know my job is on the line but i really can't do much about it, i try 2 hide my feelings as much as possible but sometimes i just cant help it. so i know how you feel but i hope that we will both find away to deal with it and not loose our jobs.