Making some connections...

I hinted last time that I thought I might have made a couple of connections in regards to my medical situation. First maybe it would be best if I clarified what my situation is in total. Obviously my weight is an issue and losing weight will only help all of the other medical concerns that have developed over the years. I never had a weight problem as a kid but as a girl I had terrible menstral cycles. The very first one was painful -even before I began to bleed I was having cramps. I was 11 and they didn't get better. I was always regular, ran 7-10 days (5 of which were heavy) and pms was standard. By the time I was 18 I was taking 1400 mg of Ibuprofen every 4 hours until a doctor gave me Flurbiprofin which worked much better. I had what was possibly a miscarriage at 19; but due to drug use use at the time there was never a definitive answer. I had my one child at 23 (1993) via emergency c-section. I did not dilate past 6 and she was stuck. After having her my marriage ended and I became a single mother. By 1997 I was living on my own and had experienced several physical and emotional 'traumas' within a short period of time. Quick recap: moved away from family, started full-time college, started par-time job, car accident requiring surgery to repair broken hand, confirmed pregnancy before surgery, miscarried(had to have DNC) and ex appeared out of no where. I found myself very depressed, to point of not being able to get myself out of bed on the weekends. I managed to function enough to get to class and essentials taken care of and that was all. I was also having bad periods along with typical Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Put me on birth control to help with the periods - which it did for a while but depression got worse. I felt like I was in this swirling cycle that kept spinning me round and round and I couldn't get off or get well. Things were spiraling out of control. Counselors wanted me on anti-depressant but I resisted for a long time. After almost losing it and taking it out on K I decided I had better take their advice before something serious happened. Tried a couple finally settling on Welbutrin and things seemed to get better for a while. But weight was still an issue.

The next major events occur ed after moving to California. Within a few months of being here I found a gyno that was a woman in a women's clinic. She was wonderful and she is still my doctor today. I shared my problems and she began the process of trying to figure out what was wrong. Ruled out Polycystic whatever it is and eventually found that I had 3 fibroid tumors. Had my first fibroidectomy in spring of 2003. They ended up removing 5 tumors and leaving what was possibly two more. Within one year my symptoms were back and there were 3 more visible tumors. I had been on birth control which is supposed to slow the growth but didn't seem to work in my case. At this point I am faced with a couple of choices: leave them and deal, have a hysterectomy. Because I already had so much scar tissue we needed to keep the surgery number down. Since JT and I had decided we weren't going to have any children I opted for the hysterectomy, leaving at least one ovary ( she already new that one probably needed to go). To shorten the story some: I started bleeding again (I still have my cervix - which can 'bleed' during your normal cycle time) and after many tests have concluded that I have extensive endometriosis that is in the process of invading my bowels near my rectum. A quite common place for endo from what I have read.

Now we are to the Spring of 2007 and I am working on losing weight again controlling what I eat. I was following the Schwarzbein general plan. One of the foods I incorporated into my diet was a protein bar made by Kraft in conjunction with South Beach Diet. That spring I suddenly began to lose weight without even trying. It was dropping off, I felt good, had energy and then it started. Suddenly I was having panic attacks, was going to the bathroom (number 2) 5-8 times a day, my hair was falling out and all this just made the endo problems even more aggravating.

MY CONNECTION (in case your scanning because your tired of all the drivel) Those protein bars have lots of soy in them. I've been trying to figure out what happened then, trying to recreate the good without the bad - not sure its possible now. At the time I really felt like everything was finally falling into place, my body was 'functioning' again. Maybe if I ate soy products with the supervision of my doctors so it was controlled? I know this all goes together. I really don't think I need to be on all this medication. Oh, I'm not finished yet...I have also been diagnosed as having hypothyroidism and am on Levoxyl as well as Bipolar2 and am taking Cymbalta for that. The drugs I think I should be able to eliminate if I can get my hormonal system working like it should: Welbutrin, Levoxyl, Cymbalta, Vicadin and ibuprofen.

Well, it's getting late and I have things to do tomorrow.