Well first of all, I have moved my blog from LiveJournal. I don't know what my main purpose was behind this, besides the fact that I like Google. :) I have moved all my posts from that blog to this one, so if you are a new reader (not that I think there were many readers to begin with), you can see all my old posts.
It has been a long time since my last post. And with that there is a lot of updating to do. First of all, I finished my Lupron injections. The side effects were not too bad, but not the most pleasant of medications I have ever been on either. Even though I had lots of hope for pain relief with Lupron, it provided very little. Because of this my primary gynecologist sent me to a specialist at UNC. I am soo thankful that she made this decision. I was sent to the Advanced Laparoscopy & Pelvic Pain Clinic. I haven't been back to my primary gynecologist, and don't think I will be after my last visit, when she told me my pain was normal during exams.
I was nervous about my first visit to the specialist, only because I would be seeing a male doctor. I was; however, hopeful that the doctor I was seeing would be able to help my pain. I have come to really appreciate this clinic. My doctor is wonderful and helpful, and all of the staff is nice and understanding. At my first visit, my doctor took my history (even though I could tell he had read my records). After the exam, he informed me I would need to see a physical therapist. I was curious about this, since it would be a "women's health" physical therapist. He also decided to start me on Cymbalta. He said this was because some people have a nerve condition that make their nerves not turn off the pain signals to the brain.
I started seeing the physical therapist, and am still going to see her once a week. I have to say she is wonderful and very friendly, but having a certain type of exam every week isn't very pleasant, although now it doesn't even seem that big of a deal. I have found out that I have some musculoskeletal issues. I have a misaligned pelvis bone, and some other issues. My therapist has really helped with these problems; however, my pain still hasn't gone away.
Starting the Cymbalta was a rough experience. I decided to start over Thanksgiving break since I wasn't sure how the medicine would affect me. At first, it gave me horrible insomnia and nausea. It also made my jaw tremble, which was a strange feeling. When I talked to my doctor about this, he gave me some anti-nausea medications (which I am very thankful for now, since the pain causes me to be nauseated sometimes). The insomnia passed and actually it started helping me with my exhaustion. I used to wake up and not feel refreshed and be exhausted all the time. Since starting this, I have noticed that this has been less, although now it has subsided some.
When I returned to my doctor at the beginning of February, he decided to do surgery to look for endometriosis, since the physical therapy had helped the muscles, but not the pain. I had a laparoscopic surgery on February 26. I have to say, if you ever need surgery, you should have it at UNC Women's Hospital, they were all absolutely wonderful! During surgery, my doctor found a few spots that he biopsied, although they turned out not be endometriosis. I was so hopeful that this surgery would provide me some pain relief, but yet I am so thankful that I don't have endometriosis. I am just wondering why I am still in pain. I will be returning to the doctor on Monday the 29th, and I hope he has a plan for finding out what my pain is being caused by so we can know how to treat it.
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