Plan of Action

I mentioned in the posts on my rash that I have been on the birth control pill and wish to go off. Well I will be doing just that in 1 week. Here’s a bit of back story:

I was 13 when I started having pain with my menstrual cycle. It was always heavy, 4-5 heavy days, following by another 3 or 4 light days. I would be in pain for about 4 days, with 2 days of such intense cramping I did not go to school. I would be constipated before getting it, for at least 3 days, then diarrhea for 3 days during it. BMs were quite painful as they passed too. I had nausea and mostly did not eat for the 2 worst days.

Advil helped a bit but I had to overdose on it for it to work. My doctor tried different pain meds but none worked. Most gave me heartburn that was intolerable. Finally she prescribed Tylenol 3 with codeine, which helped, and sent me to a gynecologist. The gyn said she suspected endometriosis based on my symptoms and the fact that my mother and both grandmothers had it. She didn’t want to do surgery on me to diagnosis it properly because she thought I was too “skinny” for it. So she put me on the pill at 16 years old, full time. I have not had a period since. 10 years.

The past few years I have become much more aware of treating health conditions naturally. For two years now, I have felt absolutely horrible that I’m on the pill. Every night I grudgingly swallow a little pill and swear to myself it will end soon. I know at this point that it’s hampering my healing and I need to at least try going off it. At this point I am not counting on the pill for contraceptive purposes, my partner and I will gladly use other methods. I’m actually hoping going off the pill helps with low libido and pain during intercourse, among other things.

On top of (or maybe because of?) the endo and digestive problems, I seem to have problems with my pelvic floor muscles. They are constantly clenched and tight, which makes using tampons and intercourse very painful. I have been seeing a pelvic support physiotherapist and it has helped tremendously. Basically we exercise the pelvic floor muscles and stretch them (yes manually..) and just force the body to re-learn that stuff in there does not mean pain! It has helped and I’m hoping that with more general health healing that finally I will be pain-free.

I’m really hoping that dealing with all my gastro problems will in turn help my menstrual problems. Many women with endo say that eliminating wheat and dairy has been very helpful. I have eliminated grains for almost 2 years now and only had SCD yogurt. I hope going off the pill will finally help me get rid of all Candida-like symptoms. I still have oral thrush, even after trying many things to make it go away.

I went to my naturopath who suggested a plan for me:
1. Stop the yogurt, at least temporarily. I do think I have some small problems with the SCD yogurt as I have had pale stools related to it. Pale stools can mean my liver is not producing enough bile, and you want a fully working liver to deal with endo, so bye to yogurt for now! I will attempt to reintroduce once I can gauge if it’s affecting symptoms or not.
2. Continue on my current supplements: multi-mineral, 2g vitamin C, 150mg Magnesium, B complex, fermented cod liver oil
3. Add fish oil, with more EPA than DHA, increase Mag to 600mg during painful menstrual days
4. Yoga, exercises, to relax my abdominal and pelvic floor
5. After one week (in order to give the fish oil a chance to work) I will go off the pill. I’m to keep a diary of any symptoms
6. Read the “Infertility Cure” in order to better understand what the heck is happening down there. This book is supposed to be a wonderful guide to all problems related to women’s reproductive health.

I have no idea what to expect, whether I’ll be in a lot of pain or not. I just know this is the next step in my health. Also after having that darn rash again, I really have to try something. Really, what’s the worse that can happen? I am in too much pain and go back on the pill?