These last few weeks have been...interesting...
The biggest news- I get to have a hysterectomy... 😬
The story behind this is a little long, so bare with me.
So, Abby is allergic to earrings. She's had reactions to them ever since we got her ears pierced. In our quest to find earrings that would work I realized that I had been finding my own earrings bothersome (like, I can't keep them in for more than a couple hours or they drive me crazy!) lately and thought I might try the sterling silver earrings too, just to see if that was the problem. And guess what? It worked. I kept the sterling silver earrings in for over a month with no issues!
And that got me thinking....
A few years ago, after William was born, I had a device called Essure inserted(It's a form of permanent birth control). It's basically a metal coil that goes into your tubes and irritates them enough for them to create scar tissue that blocks the tubes so that an egg cannot pass through into your uterus. I was skeptical, but my doctor really pushed it because it's an office procedure instead of a surgery like getting your tubes tied. When I asked about side effects my doctor said that nothing major had really been reported (just similar to birth control: changes in your period, etc) other than not being able to use it if you are allergic to nickel. I am completely oblivious to how metal allergies work so I asked, "How would I know if I were allergic to nickel?" and her response was "oh, if you were, you would know!" umm....okay....?
So, I started thinking, if I'm having a reaction to my earrings, maybe I am allergic to nickel and I never knew? So I called my doctor to set up an appointment, because if I'm having an allergic reaction to this thing and I don't realize it, it's probably a bad thing, right? And then I think, I wonder if there are any other side effects that I'm having that I didn't realize could be caused by this...so I look up the website.
"The more common symptoms reported include headache, fatigue, weight changes, hair loss and mood changes such as depression. "
"In addition, some patients may develop an allergy to nickel or other components of the insert following placement."
*sigh*
And then I checked the very reliable source...the internet...
Other women have reported symptoms that include: *WARNING: incoming TMI*
Headaches or migraines
Dizziness
Tingling sensations
Brain fog – cloudiness, forgetfulness
Anxiety/Panic Attacks
Mood swings
Depression (Sadness/Suicidal Thoughts)
Diminished brain function (brain fog, confusion,
cloudiness, forgetfulness, short term memory loss)
Dizziness
Pelvic Pain
UTI (urinary tract infection), bladder infection
Yeast Infections (Candida)
Loss of Libido
And those are just the ones that I have personally experienced...the list is about 100 items long...
Boy, that sure explains a lot...
So now I'm having the stupid thing taken out, but the only way to be 100% sure that it's all gone is to remove everything.
Honestly, I'm not too upset about the hysterectomy part of it (other than any kind of surgery being a little bit scary). I can totally do without a period for the rest of my life. We were already done with kids, so it's really not a loss. But I could have done without the 2 years of the anxiety/depression rollercoaster. Along with every other symptom that I have experienced.
Of course my doctor gave me the schpiel about how they can't guarantee that removing the device will alleviate all of my symptoms, and I am fully prepared for that. But it will be good if it takes care of at least a few... I mean, come on!
Anyway...that's set to happen next week, so I guess we'll have an update afterwards.
No comments:
Post a Comment