I'm writing a post for my youngest sister who is 22. She has short 1-2 day or 2-3 day periods, a hard abdomen & painful cramps each month. I know Endo may be a culprit due to her painful periods (and our family history), but I'm not sure what would cause the short periods or the hard abdomen.
My mom wants her to use homeopathy & have my sister see a homeopathic doctor to treat / prevent the Endo & growth, which may work. But after my experience in high school with painful periods ... being asked a zillion questions ... trying a bunch of remedies that didn't work ... & getting frustrated with it all. I ended up taking ibuprofin to give me relief from all the pain, as well as recommending my sister take it for pain relief.
Does anyone have a recommendation of a doctor in Central Nebraska that would be a NaPro doctor? I have looked at the following website: http://www.fertilitycare.org/nebraska-medical-consultants/ . I know that Dr. Skoch is retired, but it also listed a Dr. James Craig in Red Cloud. There are other doctors practicing in Lincoln & Omaha, but Central NE is where my sister is located.
My sister doesn't have the resources to go to PPVI right away, so I recommended that she start with a NaPro trained doctor first. She would need to chart first anyway to keep a record of her cycle patterns. My sister is seeing a general practitioner doctor right now, who is no help. Even though they have done blood & hormone tests, they all come back "normal." We all know what normal means. (eyeroll)
If you have any ideas, input or suggestions, it would be great!
Have they done an ultrasound on her? Does her abdomen get hard right before her period? I noticed that my lower abdomen (where mu uterus is) got hard right before my period, I think I asked both my NaPro and general Dr. And they didn't think much of it. Does she have clotting and heavy bleeding during her period? If she is charting these are some basic questions that her practitioner can help her with and maybe with her own knowledge she can be an more of an advocate for herself with her Drs. until she can go to PPVI. I will pray for her! It is so frustrating to have tests come back "normal" when you know there is something wrong!
ReplyDeleteI haven't done ultrasound yet on her. So far I think it is just bloodwork. Aside from the general practitioners recommendations of the bloodwork, and some pregnancy tests, that is all she's done. I know with my history of infertility, and my second oldest sister's infertility, She is already thinking infertility as well.
ReplyDeleteI didn't ask her if her abdomen gets hard right before her period, I know she does have clotting and heavy bleeding. She has thought that she has miscarried before, but I'm not sure if that is accurate. She's never had a pregnancy test come back positive, but she thinks she's pregnant. I know it maybe just from wishing and over analyzing the pregnancy symptoms, which is exactly what I used to do what I wanted to be pregnant as well. I think maybe her periods of a few days are leading to a buildup of lining, and that's why she's getting the clots???
Also, she has taken an NFP course, but I'm not sure if she's doing daily charting or not. I did emphasize that she needed to do that so the doctors could review it and look for symptoms there.
DeleteLow progesterone can also cause heavy bleeding and clotting. Pregnancy symptoms are also similar to PMS symptoms so she can be confusing the two, I know I did that many times. All of my blood tests came back normal until my NaPro Dr. saw how severely low my progesterone was. How frustrating for her! Recommend the anti-inflammation diet to her because that is something that is in her control that should hopefully help with the painful periods and clotting. The inflammation in my body is down and I am taking progesterone capsules when I do this I have no heavy days, almost no clotting and cramps are bearable.
ReplyDeleteKat, Thanks so much!!! Will the progesterone lengthen her cycle days? I think PMS is valid. She has some bad days where she is a total witch, and has had them as long as I can remember. I will ask her (or her hubby LOL) if they are cycle related. Thank you!!!
DeleteThe progesterone will probably lengthen her cycle days because it will hopefully give her better post peak support and help with PMS. She might have a short post peak phase due to her cycle being so short. If progesterone doesn't help I believe they give HCG injections then if that doesn't work they may try a Low Dose Naltrexone for PMS. Progesterone helped with my PMS, I call it my happy drug, LOL. My DH is now safe during the post peak phase ;)
DeleteI would do an ultrasound to check for fibroids, ovarian cysts etc. Cysts can cause a lot of pain when they pop. I take progesterone and it makes my cycle 4 weeks long. Without it I would only have 3 week cycles.
ReplyDeleteThanks Simone!!!
ReplyDeleteI don't have any doctor advice, but I suffer from Endo too and I take Endovan (www.endovan.com) and have great results!! You don't need a script and it's easy to order on-line. Check it out!!! It has changed my life!
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DeleteI don't know why, but I keep stumbling into blogs that have adopted ..is this a sign? If so, god help us!...tears rolling...
ReplyDeleteLove this blog!