As we are trying to raise awareness of Endometriosis this month, I thought it would be a good time to share what happens on day 1 of my period. I know there are so many women who are in a lot worse pain than me. This week, I went to my first local support group meeting with Endometriosis UK. It was so good to meet others who have the same issues as myself.
A few days before the actual event, I have a migraine and bladder pain. This is always a sign that it's on the way! My cycles are a bit all over the place at the moment so I rely on pain symptoms to tell me when my actual period is coming.
Last night the pain became more severe. I have a yuyu (long) hot water bottle but after I fell asleep on it, it burst! I'm actually really upset as I rely on it way too much! I'm currently using a standard hot water bottle. I'm aware that I really need to dig out my TENS machine.
So, it's now day 1 and I can't stand up without feeling a gush of blood. My pain is also a lot worse. My lower back and my abdomen are throbbing. I feel nauseous, dizzy, extremely tired, and I can feel another migraine coming. I know I need to line my stomach before taking my pain relief otherwise I'll end up in a worse situation with my acid reflux. I need to force myself to have something.
I have endometriosis attached to my bowel and my pouch of douglas (yes, this is a real area that I only learned about a couple of years ago!). The pouch of douglas is basically the area between the uterus and the rectum. Because of this, I constantly feel like I need to empty my bowels and spend a lot of time crawling to the toilet (I told you this post would be a bit graphic!) while trying not to bleed everywhere. I will have severe constipation in a couple of days. I also have a cyst on my left ovary that seemed to be dormant until now. This is now another area of throbbing pain.
I'm currently lying on a towel because I know it's not enough to be wearing 2 pairs of period pants along with countless incontinence pads. I can't wear tampons because I find them too painful.
This is only day 1 and I normally feel like this for another 3 - 5 days! I'm hoping my pain relief will kick in shortly. I have my nurse looking after me too (until he gets sick of me disturbing him!).
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