My periods were hell
I started my period when I was nine years old. For eighteen years since then, I’ve battled with severe pain, heavy bleeding, ovarian cysts, and pure torture nearly every month for several days – on top of my other health issues.
Menstrual and reproductive health is still considered taboo in many places – a child with “woman issues” is even less discussed and more taboo. I had to be on birth control pills for many years and most of my teenage years and though I took them in order not to be severely anemic and full of cysts, I still had to be careful about who knew I took “those” pills.
Most people were told that I took medication for my bad periods (and nothing more) if it ever came up. A few people who knew that I had problems with my periods and had to take medication pieced it together and harassed me, saying that it would cause me to be a slut and very promiscuous – ironically I’m asexual. Or they would find out that I took birth control and use that as “reasoning” to try to coerce me into doing things that I didn’t want to do.
After my neurological injuries, I had to stop taking birth control and my drastic weight loss caused my periods to stop for ten months. It came back with a vengeance but calmed down for a while. I thought that it might have leveled out, but soon the cysts, cramps, and anemia came back. My OB/GYN at the time told me that there wasn’t anything she could do and I’d just have to “live with it”. I’m unable to have children, so why should I continue to put up with this? Surely, something can be done.
On Twitter, of all places, I read a woman’s story about getting an endometrial ablation after years of anemia from heavy bleeding. I researched more about endometrial ablation and decided that it would be worth asking if I would be a good candidate for one. Since my OBGYN had never even mentioned it, I immediately decided to switch to a different provider. I called another OBGYN, made an appointment and mentioned that I had period problems and was curious about the procedure.
In two weeks, I had an appointment and consultation. One exam, one ultrasound, and a few questions and tests later, I had an endometrial ablation scheduled. It’s been a month now, and it’s one of the best things I’ve done.
I started taking iron supplements soon after surgery, and though my digestive system was not a fan, my blood tests returned to normal after three weeks. Prior to the ablation, even with iron supplements, I would remain anemic and couldn’t keep up with the excessive loss of blood. I’d started having difficulty transferring and would faint more often – sometimes even just sitting up in bed!
In just a month, I’ve had significantly less pain, am not anemic, and have had less UTIs and yeast infections. I’m probably going to be advertising this to everyone with a uterus (who doesn’t want to get pregnant in the future).
