Quick Health Update
Posted on January 26, 2024 by Ching under Health.
Every now and then I get a random text from a friend asking me if I got my results back or if the doctors have figured out what’s going on with me, etc. I forget who I have shared my health problems with and who I haven’t so I guess it’s time for a general update. This is for anyone who has been aware of my struggles and wants to know the recent developments.
My problems really started a couple of years ago. Since I started menstruating, I have been blessed with a very predictable and consistent monthly cycle. I have zero cramping. I bleed heavy for a couple of days (heaviest on the second day) but, by day four, my period is over. It is as regular as the sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening. And, up until a couple of years ago, pretty painless.
Over the last couple of years, I started getting headaches and menstrual cramps. The period cramps are excruciating and terrible to the point I just want to crawl into a ball and die. My periods have become quite irregular also. They’re not coming on schedule. Sometimes I’m skipping months. I have spotting in between periods and sometimes I bleed for several days. It is completely abnormal.
The unpredictable bleeding is very inconvenient (and quite embarrassing at times) but I was thinking maybe this is what happens when you hit menopause? I was enduring it all but the cramps were getting worse and, having had to play in pickleball tournaments while suffering through the agony of period cramps, I started to wonder if this is at all normal. Not having period cramps for most of my life, it definitely did not feel normal to me. It finally bothered me enough to consult my doctor at my last well-woman exam, which resulted in a succession of tests including lab work, a sonogram, and even an MRI.
First there’s the fibroids, which I have known I’ve had for a long time but have never bothered me. Brian thinks the fibroids flaring up are probably causing my cramps. Anyway, what’s special about my fibroids is that they’re not in my uterus lining but rather outside in the muscle. I don’t even know if I’m explaining it right. Speaking of my uterus, it also has a very weird texture apparently.
One of the solutions we talked about was an ablation but, because of where my fibroids are, you can’t really scrape them out. Also, the texture of my uterus is just that way it is so even if you scrape the lining eventually it’ll be back to the way it is again. A more permanent fix would be to get a hysterectomy. But I’m thinking, I should be menopausal. If my cycles are going to eventually come to an end, is it really even worth it to go through surgery. Also, I am very anti-surgery and would rather not have anything removed that doesn’t have to be removed. Honestly, if the doctor hadn’t been so stern with me years ago I probably wouldn’t even have gone through my thyroidectomy.
We agreed maybe I should get on birth control pills to help regulate my monthly cycle. They’ll be more predictable and the pills could help alleviate the period cramps as well. So I am now on Lo Loestrin and, with the exception of the time in November (while we were at Nationals) when my period lasted two weeks and I suffered from menstrual cramps almost the entire time, it’s actually working. Brian really wanted me to pull the plug on the birth control pills because he was concerned about the side effects and didn’t really think it would work. And then, having suffered through two weeks of hell, he was thinking that maybe the pills were actually making things worse for me. However, I was only a couple of months into the treatment and so I was thinking maybe my body was still trying to make sense of everything and trying to establish balance. I decided to keep going and my period in December was almost like it was before I started having problems – short (about four days) and painless. It’s been pretty good since then. I haven’t had menstrual cramps since November so I think it’s working.
So my cramping problems are pretty much resolved but now we’re looking into some other things. Because, as with anything, when you start investigating stuff you end up finding some other potentially related or unrelated issues. After my well-woman exam when I shared all the problems and symptoms I’ve been suffering the past couple of years, they looked into my labs and it showed that my prolactin was elevated. I had to provide a blood sample again a couple of weeks later just to make sure it wasn’t a false reading. Anyway, it was still high so then that’s where the MRI came in. Apparently, sometimes your prolactin can be high if there’s a tumor in your pituitary. We did the MRI to make sure I didn’t have some sort of tumor that we didn’t know about. MRI results came back good. No tumor but no answers as to why my prolactin is high either so then they decided to refer me to an Endocrinologist, who was supposed to call me to schedule an appointment.
When I had my follow up appointment at Center for Women’s Health late last year, the doctor asked if I had seen the Endocrinologist yet. I told her they haven’t called me. She’s like, “That’s strange. I need to look into this because they should have seen you by now.” Come to find out, the Endocrinologist’s office had been trying to reach me but they had an incorrect phone number down so they never could get a hold of me. It was really a blessing in disguise because, in the meantime, I asked Brian to see if Dr. Dany Zayour was still in town. He is the doctor who helped me with my thyroid issues. As luck would have it, he’s still practicing. He’s just not with Ascension Via Christi anymore. We ended up not going with the Endocrinologist I was referred to but we ended up scheduling with Dr. Zayour instead. Even though it’s been ten years, I felt more comfortable seeing someone who knows my history.
While all of this is going on, Brian and I went in for our annual checkup and screening with our general doctor, Dr. Scott Hane, last month. A couple of years after my thyroidectory, once my medication was stable, I didn’t have to see my specialist Dr. Zayour anymore so he turned over monitoring my thyroid hormone levels to my general doctor. Dr. Hane looks at my labs at our annual checkups and decides if my Synthroid dosage needs to be increased or decreased. At my checkup last month, Dr. Hane and I both agreed I probably need to increase from 112 to 125 (because I’ve gained a bit of weight in the past year) but, after I told him I was seeing an Endocrinologist again, he decided that we should wait and see what the Endocrinologist says. They are, after all, the expert on these things.
Here’s a picture of me and Dr. Zayour when I met with him last week. He looks almost the same as when we first met over 12 years ago. He was a new physician at Via Christi back then. Now he has tons more experience and several awards and accolades to add to his CV. LOL.
Part of me hesitates going through with all of these doctors visits and tests (all of which I have to pay for) because the birth control pills have pretty much resolved the main issue that I needed help with anyway. I am no longer suffering from my debilitating cramps and my menstrual cycle is under control. My high prolactin is a concern but it’s not really hurting me. I don’t think it’s causing me adverse symptoms as far as I can tell. I think my doctor at Center for Women’s Health (and also my general doctor) recommended that I continue down this path to cover their bases. Their obligation is to inform me of what they found and refer me to a specialist and then, if I don’t take their advice and something happens to me, then it’s on me and not on them. I think it’s just everyone trying to cover their butts so no one gets sued. Honestly. Because I feel totally fine right now.
I love all my doctors but sometimes I feel like I’m just paying for all these tests and it’s just busy work. It would be nice to know why my prolactin is high but is it keeping me up at night? Not really. I feel healthy. I feel good. And, other than the fact that I’m actually starting to feel my age, I have zero complaints. And, I am extremely grateful for it.
Related Stories
« The Joys of Home Ownership « this post » Zumba Is and Will Always Be »
