diary of an unhappy uterus | part seven.

Sorry for my lack of activity on the journal, the past year has been extremely difficult due to my chronic pain, however I’m back with a lengthy update, enjoy xx

For the entirety of 2020, I was in chronic, debilitating pain. After my surgery in Feb (which you can read about here) I was really hopeful that things would be okay, but unfortunately my life after surgery drastically changed for the worse.

I tried just about everything I could, I went on a Keto diet, removed gluten, sugar, diary, I tried pelvic floor physio, meditation, relaxation. I tried so much, and yet nothing seemed to help. Most of 2020 was spent in my bed, living with constant dread about waking up the next day and not knowing if I was going to have a bad or very bad day. 

At the end of 2020, I was fed up with my journey. I was thinking it was time to see someone more specialised, and I had heard about Dr Graham Tronc, a gynaecologist who’s wife has, and successfully manages, her Adenomyosis and endometriosis.

I managed to score a last minute appointment with him just before Christmas, and our 10 minute consultation turned into an hour and a half of him listening to my symptoms. He was thorough and did not dismiss any of my symptoms, no matter how un-important they seemed. We decided that in January, we were going to do a hysteroscopy and he was going to insert 2 mirenas. 

His theory was that my pain was mainly stemming from my Adenomyosis, which most gynae’s don’t seem to care that much about. Adenomyoisis is an oestrogen dominant disease, meaning that with two mirenas, my body would be getting enough progesterone that I would not be in pain.

However, in order to get through Christmas in as little pain as possible, he wanted to start me on progesterone tablets. Once of the side effects was an increase in depression, which I have a history of, and unfortunately, after a week or two on the progesterone, despite being in no pain for the first time in 18 months, I plummeted into a deep depression. It was so bad that right now, as I write this, one week post operation, I’m sitting inside a psychiatric ward.

Last week I had my surgery, and it went really well. I had a few biopsies taken of my uterus and the 2 Mirena’s were inserted. The pain healed quit quickly, and today was my first day with no painkillers. So far things are looking good, and I’m hoping they stay that way.

Unfortunately, despite beginning to wean off the hormone tablets, I am still in a pit of depression. I’m finding it really hard to concentrate, to sleep, to do anything except thing for sit with my thoughts in silence. I recently did a reel (which you can view here) sharing a day in my life in a psychiatric ward, and I was BLOWN away by the amount of support I received. I was really nervous about sharing that I was in a mental ward, due to the stigma surrounding it, but I was extremely grateful for everyone’s kind comments. 

I will, in time, share more about my mental health journey, but for now I am focusing on my recovery, both physically and mentally.

Sending love to all you beautiful beings ✻