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Menopause Matters magazine ISSUE 81 out now. (Autumn issue, September 2025)

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Author Topic: Really struggling today.  (Read 7875 times)

BrightLight

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Really struggling today.
« on: January 05, 2016, 05:23:23 PM »

I debated about posting because this is going to be one big whinge, but I just need to get it out.  I am totally fed up of managing things, tired, despondant and confused.  This will be my 3rd year of strange things going on with my health, small but niggly, changing and developing - I can't see an end to it and it's getting me down. :(

I have been in fairly severe discomfort for nearly 24 hours with what I think is ovulation pain, in the last year I have noticed a dull ache mid cycle which I used to get many years ago, but stopped.  I also used to have IBS type symptoms (never diagnosed and maybe stress related) which perhaps were linked to this mid cycle pain.  Basically I have had the pinching, aching in the ovary and terrible bloating and the feeling a bowel movement would help (which it has).  I have recently been made aware of multiple fibroids and am waiting for a consultant appointment to discuss that.   The pain is going now and I'm pretty sure my whole system down there is messed up and several things culminating at once, but still it's hard to deal with, even though it passes, I wonder what can be done or whether this is just how things will be for a while...........that's what is bothering me.  I just don't know whats going on. 

One minute I am ok, all through Christmas I went with the flow, even though I missed a period for the first time since last January, well I had very light pale brown spotting, same as the 'missed 'period I had last year and even stopped worrying about the fibroids but as soon as symptom appears I get anxious and also want to understand what I can do (if anything).  I'm now wondering if I have a cyst, ovaries were obscured on the ultrsound by the fibroids.  I seem to get this midcycle pain when I have not ovulated the previous month or perhaps the month before.  I have been doing a rough basal temp chart to see if temperatures peak at all and I would say for the last year, they have about 75% of the time and when they don't I usually get a bleed that is more troublesome in some way or in the case of last month, hardly anything.  Maybe ovarian cysts are also an issue for me, can they make periods irregular?  It's all such a horrible unknown place to be and it's been 2 years now.  aaaarrrrgh

I hope to god that there is nothing very serious going on with me, I feel very low today and a real feeling of helplessness.  Wondering how anyone gets gynae problems sorted or if they do at all, that scares me, I feel tired of all these mostly mild but uncomfortable things.  I have had cysts in the past and they resolved, I have had a fibroid in the past but no problems, I have had bowel issues through stress in the past but they passed.  It just seems all those things are now going on again and at full throttle. 

I just wanted to offload really, I am sure once this pain fully subsides I will feel better, it's been awful ,I have felt horrible all day and at my wits end.  I will wait for the appointment with the gynae and with any luck I will learn a few things, because right now I am feeling a little confused about what is going on and whether I should be doing anything about it all.  My GP's don't seem to put all the info together and I guess in the back of my mind I am worried there is something really wrong or that without any treatment of some kind things will get worse.  Maybe I need progesterone.  This was mentioned as a possibility.  Either way I would really like to know what I am managing and how - seems to be more than just hormones for me, although an imbalance is probably at the root.

If you read this far, thank you  :)


I might add that I am beginning to feel depressed too, less interest in things, food, just generally flat.  That comes and goes as well and is usually associated with a weird period, pain or discomfort but I worry how I will cope if things get even more challenging.  Still no hot flushes, though I was hot in the night the past few nights and felt fairly weak.
« Last Edit: January 05, 2016, 05:42:38 PM by BrightLight »
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babyjane

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Re: Really struggling today.
« Reply #1 on: January 05, 2016, 05:25:15 PM »

Have a ((hug)).  I haven't felt too good today either. I don't usually for a while after Christmas/New Year
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BrightLight

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Re: Really struggling today.
« Reply #2 on: January 05, 2016, 05:29:44 PM »

Have a ((hug)).  I haven't felt too good today either. I don't usually for a while after Christmas/New Year

Thank you - yes, the January blues are playing their part.  Struggled to get the Christmas tree down today.  I ended up yanking it through the window and dumping it on the front garden! (unlike me not to do a 'proper' job).
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dazned

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Re: Really struggling today.
« Reply #3 on: January 05, 2016, 05:40:45 PM »

 :hug:

No answers sorry but didn't want to read and run. This time of year definitely doesnt help does it !  :(
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BrightLight

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Re: Really struggling today.
« Reply #4 on: January 05, 2016, 05:44:25 PM »

:hug:

No answers sorry but didn't want to read and run. This time of year definitely doesnt help does it !  :(
No answers required x  Thanks for saying Hi.
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BrightLight

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Re: Really struggling today.
« Reply #5 on: January 05, 2016, 05:46:40 PM »

Hug from me too BrightLight, if its any consolation I'm sitting here with a hot water bottle stuffed up my jumper as I've had the most horrendous pains in my left side and bloating since Sunday.  I think it's diverticulitis but tlit could be ovary related, or maybe both!  I've lost my appetite, well I can eat a bit but just don't fancy anything. I don't feel sick, no headache for a change but I'm thinking if it isn't better tomorrow I'll have visit my second home, the gp's surgery!

Like you I'm so fed up with feeling OK for a bit and then bang, something else pops up to spoil it all.

Sorry, that's not much help but just wanted you to know you're not alone.  If only we could save a magic wand and make it all disappear!s x

Oh no, not you as well.  I have the hot water bottle too, but it's not helping much.  I hope you feel better soon too and you have helped, I do know I am not alone in these uncomfortable things, but it's lonely when you get into your own head about it all.  Everything becomes urgent and I want it sorted!  So hard to just chill out - though you do sound a bit of a pro Sparkle, your way of dealing with things lifts me. 
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BrightLight

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Re: Really struggling today.
« Reply #6 on: January 05, 2016, 06:21:16 PM »

Sparkle. I appreciate you sharing your own experience, really I do.  I think if pain goes on at a certain level for a few days or more, then it's quite normal to go and get it checked out. 

My issues rarely last more than that and hence I haven't mentioned all the things to my GP - although when they rang before Christmas to tell me they were referring me, he asked about symptoms and I told him, cyclical mainly.  So I have fingers crossed that it's ok for me to wait to see the consultant - I haven't had the appointment offer yet, it could be 4-8 weeks I guess. I phoned the booking centre before christmas and they explained a relevant consultant would be chosen for my issue and then I go on the waiting list, then I get an appointment, this bit takes 2-3 weeks and then the appt could be a couple of weeks or more away.  This is all new to me.
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Kathleen

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Re: Really struggling today.
« Reply #7 on: January 05, 2016, 07:00:32 PM »

Hello BrightLight.

I just wanted to send you a hug as well. As I've said before the power of hormones is mind blowing, if only they could be kinder to us!

I hope you feel better soon and whinge away at any time. We feel your pain!

Take care.

K.

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CLKD

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Re: Really struggling today.
« Reply #8 on: January 05, 2016, 07:01:05 PM »

Stop apologising!  Your pain and symptoms are real.  Caused by HORMONES  >:(

BrightLight - do you take any pain relief until symptoms ease?  When I had periods I would get the need to rush to the loo with diarrhoea 10 mins before a bleed began, even if I wasn't due a period.  So I had to watch my calendar carefully as there was no way that I dared to travel 2/3 days before a bleed.  I HAD to use a toilet  :o :-X.  I had awful period pains which required lots of medication ………..

I've had IBS for years.  Anorexia caused my gut spasm to almost stop and on 13 June 1998 I was suicidal as I couldn't' bear the constant nausea and inability to go to the loo plus belatedness  :'( - fortunately my GP was able to diagnose and treat the IBS and within 3 days I felt a different person.   It took a few months before it was under control and now I find that Actimel helps my bowel regular.  I have added muesli for breakfast which also helps and I no longer require prescribed medication.  Stress or anxiety will set it off. 

Nowt wrong with some pain relieving medication and a hotty for comfort.  I find my leecy blanket helps when I'm weary. 
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BrightLight

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Re: Really struggling today.
« Reply #9 on: January 05, 2016, 08:02:41 PM »

Sparkle - I feel so unproductive as well.  Oh well, nothing I can do about it, I think I might need to learn to accept it.

Thanks Kathleen - yes, they are powerful things and so often the mayhem they cause has caught me unawares.

Finally, the pinching and ache is all but gone, back is still tight and general sense of feeling those fibroids but not feeling like I cannot focus on anything but discomfort - phew

CLKD - apologising is a habit, think my mother taught me stoicism and I have been trying to break the habit for years!  It's not useful.   I take paracetamol and very rarely, I did last night.  Your pains sound horrid and the spasms in the gut too.  I have been feeling these spasms the past day - when this happened in my 20's it was a bit different.  They gave me fibrogel, but it didn't really help.  All that helped was lying flat until my insides calmed down or the 'gas' moved!  I remember lying in the back of a car one time it was so painful, but very shortlived.

I am thinking this pain I had is cyst related and kicking off digestive things due to fibroids crowding - it seems rational.  Maybe with not ovulating regularly cysts appear more often :( 

I think I might want an electric blanket soon :)
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CLKD

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Re: Really struggling today.
« Reply #10 on: January 05, 2016, 08:37:43 PM »

Is Paracetamol the 'correct' medication?  I would speak with a Pharmacist to see what is available!

I never knew when I ovulated.  Life went on until the period pain began  :'( ……… and the clots, heavy bleeding, spasm …...
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BrightLight

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Re: Really struggling today.
« Reply #11 on: January 05, 2016, 09:45:35 PM »

Is Paracetamol the 'correct' medication?  I would speak with a Pharmacist to see what is available!

I never knew when I ovulated.  Life went on until the period pain began  :'( ……… and the clots, heavy bleeding, spasm …...

That's the only pain relief I have ever used - maybe I need to check out others.  So relieved the pain has gone, I feel exhausted now.
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CLKD

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Re: Really struggling today.
« Reply #12 on: January 06, 2016, 01:04:55 PM »

Different medications are designed for different conditions, i.e. some relieve spasm, others relieve pain, some target temperatures   â€¦.. it might be worth asking  ;)
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Briony

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Re: Really struggling today.
« Reply #13 on: January 07, 2016, 08:00:53 PM »

Brightlight, firstly wanted to send you a hug as, like so many others, I can identify with so much of what you say.

I too have been having a few wobbles lately. Mine have taken a slightly different route - shooting pain in neck/arm, then tingling fingers (heart attack, of course) and sudden fatigue. The end result is that, like you, I feel flat and anxious. All I can suggest is the 'it's not you, it's your hormones' mantra, as others have said.

With regard to the bloating, I would really recommend Bio Glan's Probiotics. They were not cheap, but they have massively helped my stomach cramps and bloating. For pain killers, if it's muscular or cramping type pain, I find the one which has Ibuprofen and Codeine helps (though it cant be used for more than three days due to the Codeine being potentially addictive). That said, we're all different so what works for one may not work for the other.

Really hope things ease soon (the only good thing about iffy hormones is the fact they can, sometimes, randomly improve).

B x
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Nefersmum

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Re: Really struggling today.
« Reply #14 on: January 07, 2016, 10:21:57 PM »

Hiya

Sorry you are feeling low.   I'm more fortunate that some I've read on this thread.  I am fortunate that I haven't had the physical pain that some seem to be enduring but I'm in tears at the drop of a hat.  I can barely watch the telly without blubbing my silly eyes out.   I watched Ashley on Emmerdale earlier and was nearly through a packet of tissues.   What with that and fatigue I'm doing really well.   ::) ::) ::)
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