My Medicine Journey

 My Medicine Journey

             When you tell a doctor that you are in a great deal of pain the first thing they tend to do is give you pain medication. When I was 15 years old I went to my pediatrician telling her how bad my cramps had gotten. She looked at me with sorrow being that she had been my doctor since I was a newborn. She prescribed me my very first prescription pain medication. It helped for about 2 days and then all of a sudden it just stopped. I went back to her in agony and she said she thinks it is time I see a gynecologist. My mom took me to hers and that is when my journey really began.

          I went to my first appointment and she did her evaluation. I was then put onto birth control. I was on birth control from 2012-2017. My experience with it was very interesting. The first one I took was Lo Loestrin Fe. It stopped my cycles completely and I was in heaven. Time passed and I had to stop taking it because the price went up to $90+. I was then put onto about 3 different pills after that one. My last pill, Minastrin 24 FE, caused me to have migraines and to feel bad overall. Birth control can be taken in many different forms orally, as an implant in your arm and an IUD. For some women this works great. For me personally after time it did not.

             The Lupron Depot shot has to be the worst mistake I made regarding medicine. I was on it for three months. It stopped me from having cycles true. However, once they came back all hell broke loose in my body. The pain was so bad I could barely stand let along walk, my flow was even heavier than before, blood clots constantly, migraines, weakness, exhaustion and more. The doctor who gave it to me said she would give it to me whether I had endo or not. I had been going to her since I was 14 or 15 years old so I trusted her. I called that doctors office and demanded that surgery so quick. I would highly recommend doing deep deep research before getting that shot !

                   Antidepressants , Muscle Relaxers, &  NSAIDS (Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) seem to be a common thing with people who have chronic illnesses. I was personal placed on an antidepressant to "cope with the pain and to not think about the pain so much" I have a serious newsflash for some of you WE DO NOT THINK ABOUT OUR PAIN ALL OF THE TIME. IT IS NOT SOMETHING THAT GOES THROUGH OUR MINDS EVERY SINGLE DAY OF OUR LIVES. If I got paid a dollar every time I was told to see a therapist or to stop thinking about it I would be a millionaire right now. If you do not have a chronic illness you simply do not understand. I didn't know me sitting in class paying attention and doing my work counted as thinking about the pain too much. I am not thinking about it but when I am trying to focus the fact that my reproductive system feels like it is about to come out of my body in one large chunk is going to be on my mind in some way. 

                    As far as anti-inflammatory medicine I have had my share of those as well. My body doesn't react well with those either. I still have the same results even after months of being on the medication. Like I've said what works for one person does not work for everyone. Suppositories included. I had to take one and it was unpleasant and uncomfortable. I still have muscle spasms and sharp pains months into it. 

              Narcotics ohhhh dear old narcotics. Pain medicine is a common way to treat pain of all sorts. When it comes to a chronic illness it makes it a little harder to find that one that will work long term. Back in middle school I could take 2 regular pain pills such as Advil and be just fine. As time pasted that was no longer even an option for me. That is when I started to be given Naproxen, Tylenol 3, and etc. It seems that the older I get the less my body accepts pain medication. It is not something I can count on to get me through the day any longer. Going to school has become near impossible some days because I don't have that support to make it through. 

              

             The way pain medication makes me feel makes me not take it often at all. Since I've gotten older it is rare that you catch me taking a pain pill. If I take one that is an indication that I cannot continue to fight on my own anymore. I have never been addicted to pain medication. I have heard many stories of how doctors and nurses assume some fellow endo warriors are because they are always saying they are in pain. None of us are addicted we just can't always fight alone. After my laparoscopy surgery I had to be given 10 different narcotics in different forms because the pain from the surgery would not go away. That's just how much my body rejects it. 

                 

                  When it was suspected that I had Fibromyalgia along with the endo, I was given antidepressants, NSAIDS and Lyrica. Lyrica was too strong for me personally and caused me to pass clean out. I remember waking up to very concerned parents who I somehow managed to inform that I had fallen. I wasn't too happy about the results of that and guess what I did stop taking it immediately. My body is so weird sometimes. Maybe it was because I actually did not have fibro and it was my muscles the whole time. 

                  It is always a good thing to be optimistic about a new medication. Give it a try and see how it personally works out for you. Do your research before you just accept a medication from a doctor. Side effects do matter in some cases. I personally experience a lot of them when I did not before. Research Research Research ! If you do not feel comfortable taking a medication or it makes you feel like you are not yourself talk to your doctor. I stopped taking every single medication that was prescribed to me on my own without talking to a professional and I honestly felt better not taking it than taking it. I AM NOT A DOCTOR I DO NOT RECOMMEND THAT FOR EVERYONE !  

How is your journey with medication ? Let me know in the comment section.