Tag: Medication

Decisions, Decisions, Part III: Medical Treatment

Published on by Bubbles in the Brain1 Comment

TW: weight gain/loss, disordered eating, suicide, depression.  

I apologise for my delay in posting, dear readers.  Yet another cold has been kicking my backside.  

I am not a doctor.  Nothing in this post should be considered to be medical advice.

I know for sure that I am not the only endo-haver out there who has had a medication, experienced horrific side-effects, and decided that it simply isn’t worth it, or had second thoughts about whether they should have surgery or not.  These days, I’m relatively confident in making my own decisions about medication and treatment, occasionally in defiance of doctor’s orders.  However, for younger, less confident, or less experienced people, this might seem a very daunting decision,  so I want to write a bit about how you make it.

First, let’s talk about medication or surgery and whether or not you want to take it/have it or stop taking it.

If your doctor is suggesting you go on a new medication, you should ask the following:-

  1. What do you expect the medication/surgery to do? (e.g. reduce pain, remove pain, increase fertility, etc)
  2. How does the medication/surgery work? (e.g. by blocking nerves, by slowing endo growth, by changing hormone levels, removing endometrias)
  3. What are the likely side effects?
  4. What are the possible but unlikely side effects?
  5. Which side effects should I just deal with, which should I see a doctor about, and which should I go to emergency for?
  6. How long will it take to work/relieve my pain?
  7. If it doesn’t work, what are the next steps?
  8. If I don’t take this medication/have the surgery, what will happen?
  9. What are the alternatives?
  10. How much does the surgery/medication cost? (I hate that this question is relevant, but it is.  My current meds are more than $350 every six weeks, which may be a bit more than some people can reasonably afford).

A good (or legally savvy) doctor will tell you stuff like this without asking.  Most medication also lists all this stuff on the leaflet that comes with it, but it’s good to hear it from your doctor (and ensures that they are familiar with what they are prescribing you).

Pay attention to the possible side effects.  Just because a side-effect sounds appalling, don’t assume it will happen to you – remember, the worst side-effects tend to be rare.  However, do look out for effects that will be particularly problematic for you.  If you have thyroid issues, diabetes, or PCOS, watch out for medications that mess with your weight.  If you have a history of disordered eating, pay attention to side-effects that may cause you to lose or gain appetite, either one of which could cause a relapse for you.  If you have a history of depression or suicide attempts, look out for medications which exacerbate those.  If you have concerns of that type about the possible side-effects, raise them with your doctor.  Explain your history, ask how you can manage the symptoms, and talk about what to do if they become an issue.

If your doctor does not acknowledge your concerns or does not take them seriously, go and get a second opinion before taking the medication.  Mental health is serious and you should not mess around with it.

Bear in mind that side-effects for surgery are likely to be far more long-term and less easy to reverse than side-effects for medication.

Many people also ask their peers in support groups or forums online about their experiences with the medication or surgery.  This is all well and good, and can be useful if you are experiencing some unusual effects and want to check you aren’t alone.  However, remember that everyone’s disease and responses are different.  Six people could take the same medication and have extremely different responses.  Just because others in a group have had bad experiences doesn’t mean you will.  Likewise, just because others have liked it doesn’t mean you will.  Ask, by all means, but more to be prepared than to determine whether or not you will take it.

How you actually decide is based on what you value most.  Is the doctor really hopeful about the meds helping you?  How concerned are you by the potential side-effects?  Do you trust the doctor prescribing the medication?  In the end, you have to do a cost-benefit analysis and decide if you think it is right for you.  Generally speaking, I take the approach of “give it a go” with medication, because I can always stop it.  With surgery, I am now fairly cautious, because my first one really messed me up.  That being said, I also had three surgeries between November 2017 and October 2019.  I kind of let my level of desperation for pain relief be the guide on whether or not I have surgery.  Doctors (most doctors, anyway) don’t tend to jump straight to surgery., so generally it is a “desperation” sort of remedy.  However, I don’t know if that is necessarily the soundest reason for making a choice.  Please do consider it all carefully, even when desperate.

Now let’s turn to what you need to consider when deciding to discontinue a medication.  For this, there are really only two questions, unless your doctor calls you in a flap saying something has changed (like they’ve found a cure, or the medication is actually killing you).  These questions are:-

  1. Is it working?
  2. Can you deal with the side effects?

Sucktastic as it is, I have yet to encounter an endo medication that doesn’t have a side-effect.  It’s currently just one of those things that are part of our very annoying fate.

Now, if you answer the above two questions “no”, then the answer is that you should speak to your doctor urgently about discontinuing the medication.  Now, please don’t take this as medical advice, but if a medication is giving me no relief or improvement and the side effects are driving me mad, I will just stop taking it and tell my doctor, not ask them.  This is something I am particularly likely to do if getting in to see my specialist is going to take a while.  I’ll give you an example: Visanne, for me, gave me no relief whatsoever, and in fact made me feel like my pain was worse.  It also gave me a rash of gross, painful, itchy, pustules across my face, neck, shoulders, back, chest and scalp.  It was horrible.  My specialist was a three-hour drive away and appointments would be a few weeks to get.  I just stopped taking it.

It becomes more complex if the medication is actually helping your pain, but also causes you horrific side effects.  At that point, I would generally wait to consult with your doctor if you possibly can, and compare your pain levels on the medication to your pain levels without it.  Which is worse for you, the side effects, or the pain?  What are your alternatives if you stop this medication?

Ultimately, I can’t tell you where to draw the line.  You need to choose what’s best for you, and what you can or can’t live with.  However, I hope that this post has given you some guidance about what to factor into your decision.

Have you had to decide to stop a medication?  What drove your decision?  Is there anything I haven’t considered?  Let me know in the comments!

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2019 Election: Health and Disability

Published on by Bubbles in the BrainLeave a comment

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past month, you are probably aware that we have a federal election happening on 18 May.

Now, I have my own views on who to vote for and on the policies of the major parties.  I definitely encourage everyone to read up one who is saying what about all the important matters.  However, there are two policies particularly relevant to those of us with endo that I want to summarise here: health and disability.  I’m going to outline the policies of Liberal, Labor, the Greens, One Nation and the United Australia Party (aka the Clive Palmer party).

This should not be treated as a how-to-vote guide.  A party may have great policies on health but terrible policies on another area that matters just as much.  It’s also not going to capture my views on the parties: this is literally just a summary of what their stated policies on health and disability are.  I also acknowledge that other issues directly impact women with endo, such as issues around homelessness and employment.  I’m only going to touch on those where I think they will have a very noticeable impact on people with chronic illness, rather than a general one.

If you are struggling with keeping up with all the different views of the many, many parties contesting, I encourage you to have a peek at Vote Compass.  It can be really helpful in figuring out how you align with the major parties on big issues.

Now, without further ado and in no particular order:-

The Liberal Party

The Liberal Party, for my non-Aussie readers, is our current government.  They fall to the right on the political spectrum, generally speaking.  So far in the election they have been running on an economic platform.

The Endometriosis Action Plan has come to be during the Liberal Party reign, although it received perhaps its strongest support for Labor Senator Gai Brodtmann, who has been a fierce advocate for people with endometriosis.  As far as I am aware, the plan received bipartisan support.  Although the Plan puts some money towards improving care, the majority of funding goes to education and awareness.

When it comes to welfare, the Liberal focus appears to be on those who can work, but are currently unemployed, rather than those who can’t.  Their website talks about initiatives such as cashless welfare cards and work the dole programmes.  I strongly encourage those with endometriosis or chronic illness to research these initiatives and determine whether they are likely to hurt or help.

In their health policy, Liberal pledges to:-

  • commit up to $29.1 billion to hospitals by 2025, including increasing funding to specialist care for chronic pain treatment;
  • continue funding Medicare and the PBS;
  • invest $308 million in reducing the cost of medication for people using multiple medications;
  • increase access to MRIs;
  • devote $4.8 billion to mental health care; and
  • Put an additional 3,000 nurses and allied health professionals in rural medical practices.

The page also talks about reforms made over the past 4 years, but it is not clear from the page whether that funding and policy will continue.  One assumes that that is the intention but I don’t want to put words in their mouths.

When comparing themselves to Labor they emphasise that they have committed greater funds during their term than Labor did during theirs, and that Labor once blocked 7 medications from being included on the PBS.

The Labor Party

The Labor Party website is a little less easy to navigate, with policies laid out singly rather than grouped by area, like “health”, but I’ve gleaned what I can and summarised below for you.

In disability, Labor pledges $10 million to disability advocacy (although it isn’t clear whether endometriosis or chronic illness more generally would be considered a disability).  They aim for a 6% disability quota in the APS by 2022.  They say they will reform the NDIS to close the gap between it and mainstream services.  They will also amend the Terms of Reference of the Royal Commission to include redress.  They will invest $300 million into students with a disability – again, it is unclear how disability is to be defined in this context.

Under Hospitals, Labor pledges to restore the $2.8 billion of funding to hospitals that they allege the Liberal Party is cutting.  They also pledge $500 million to reduce emergency room waiting times.  They state that they will close the gap in health care between rural and metropolitan areas.  They will increase staffing at Medicare and Centrelink, which would hopefully improve access and decrease wait times.

They state that they will reverse Liberal cuts to penalty rates.  I include this because many people with chronic illness find themselves working in casual positions due to the unpredictability of their illness making full- or part-time work impossible.

In the mental health area, Labor will invest $200 million in Headspace.

In reproductive rights, an area the Liberal Party doesn’t touch on at all, Labor will work to decriminalise abortion, and (significantly for those who use contraception to manage their endo) increase access to contraceptives, particularly long-acting ones such as the implanon and mirena.  They also directly mention endometriosis, saying that they will be

“Addressing specific reproductive health issues such as endometriosis, polycystic ovarian syndrome, transvaginal mesh and female genital mutilation.”

They have committed to continuing the Endometriosis Action Plan.

The Greens

The Greens have kindly collated all this information on just one page, which made accessing it nice and easy.  From this page you can download individual, more specific plans.  Say what you will about their policies – this website is very helpful.

The Greens say that they will fund a “truly universal” public health system, and reduce hospital waiting times (not clear if this is for surgery or emergency rooms or something else).  They will do this by funding Medicare – there is a big emphasis in their platform of ensuring that people don’t feel they have to pay for private insurance to access quality care.  It is worth reading that document – it includes details such as a $3.5 billion plan to increase care for people with chronic physical and mental illness, including $750 worth of care and a national framework for diagnosis and treatment.

They will increase mental health funding and work to destigmatise mental illness.

They pledge to raise Newstart and the New Parenting Payment by $75 per week, which will help those people with chronic illnesses who are too sick to work but can’t meet the very strict requirements for the DSP and so get stuck on Newstart long-term.

They will increase general accessibility for people with disabilities.  It’s worth noting that the Greens do have a Senator who uses a wheelchair (Jordon Steele-John), who would likely appreciate the systemic barriers people with a disability can face.

The United Australia Party

I love you, my readers, but I don’t love you enough to listen to all of Clive Palmer’s speeches in the hope one of them mentions health.  They don’t talk about them in the title.  You can do that here if you want to.

However, I have scoured his “Vision for Australia” document looking for policies.  Basically he keeps talking about boosting the economy through his various strategies, and mentions health only tangentially.  He will

  • build more hospitals;
  • reduce income tax (helpful for those sickies healthy enough to earn enough to pay tax but who are struggling financially);
  •   commit $80 billion in funding to health for the next three years;

and that’s all I could find.

I’m also not 100% clear when this document was published, as the URL includes “2015” and the stats all seem to be from around then.

In summary, the UAP is very much about the economy and getting the money – the details on how it will be spent may be available but if it is, it’s not easily found on the website.

One Nation

One Nation has a very pretty website, but not a lot of detail on health or disability.  There is definitely more of a focus on immigration, Islam and refugees.

All I could really find in the health sphere is support for sick people accessing medical cannabis, although they don’t outline specifics of how that support looks (legalisation, decriminalisation, licensing, etc).

In terms of accessing Centrelink, they want to introduce an identity card to fight against people rorting the system.

That’s all I could find on their website.  Really, that’s it.  If someone else finds more, please let me know, because this just seems lacking.

 

I hope that may have been helpful to those who didn’t want to sift through reams of election promises to find out how folks with endo would be effected from 19 May.  Please remember to vote properly and consider voting below the line to control where your preferences go, or research who is referencing whom to make sure you know what happens if your party doesn’t win.

Here’s hoping for a great future and ongoing support in the health arena.

Secondary Conditions: Fybromyalgia

Published on by Bubbles in the Brain1 Comment

I’ve written a lot about endometriosis.  I’ve also written about some of the “side-effects ” people with endo often suffer, such as back pain, digestive issues, and gastritis.  Now I want to write a little series on other chronic conditions that often appear alongside endometriosis.  Today, it’s fibromyalgia, aka fibro, FM, or FMS.

Before I carry on, I just want to apologise for this post being a little tardy – I’ve been very sick with a nasty, persistent cold and some rather bad flare-ups, so I haven’t had any energy to spare for writing this week.  I suspect there will just be one post next week as well, so bear with me for a bit whilst I recover.

Of all the chronic conditions that people with endo often end up with, fibro is probably the one I fear the most.  The reason for that is that my endo pain is generally confined to my torso, and at worst may cause shooting pains in the legs.  Fibro is just pain everywhere.  All over.  Muscles, joints, bones, the whole shebang.  Imagine that – pain embedded in your skeleton.  It can be limited to just a few spots on the body, true, but it can also effect the whole body at once.  People who have fibro have described it to me as hellish, rendering them completely unable to move.

In addition to pain, it can cause such delightful symptoms as tingling, muscles that twitch, cramp or go suddenly weak, headaches, dizziness, generalised weakness, sensory overload, impaired concentration so bad you can hardly string a thought together (aka brain fog), insomnia, restless sleep, intolerance of hot or cold, stiffness, irregular periods, depression, bowel troubles, bladder issues and more.  Doesn’t it just sound like a hoot?

Of course, the best part is that, just like endometriosis, we don’t know what causes it, and there is no cure.  We do know that stress exacerbates it and there seems to be a link between onset and physical trauma, but not all physical traumas cause fibro and not all people who suffer from fibro have experienced a physical trauma.  We also know you’re more likely to suffer from it if you’re a woman (80-90% of sufferers are female).

Because of the wide variety of exciting symptoms, fibro can be difficult to diagnose.  There’s no conclusive test, even through surgery.  It’s mostly a case of ruling out other causes for pain.  Unfortunately, this can often result in delays of diagnosis for sufferers of fibro.

The treatment is also difficult.  Mostly, it’s lifestyle management, like identifying and avoiding triggers (difficult to do when triggers can be things like, well, moving).  Many doctors recommend physio and gentle exercise, such as water-based exercise, yoga, or tai chi.  It’s also recommended to eat well, avoid stress (lol) and get plenty of rest (extra lol). (I note that I am laughing at how they make that sound so easy, not the idea itself – lots of rest and minimising stress are important in battling any chronic condition). Unfortunately, some things that can cause flare-ups can’t be avoided, such as weather changes (yes, seriously), and travelling.

There are medical treatments as well.  Some people can get along well with panadol and ibuprofen, but others may need to resort to stronger drugs like pregabalin and gabapentin.  Like treatment for endo, it can get expensive quickly.

The connection between endo and adeno and endo and PCOS probably seemed quite logical, but why have I linked endo and fibro?  Well, because studies suggest people with endo are more likely to suffer from fibro.  We’re also more likely to get chronic fatigue, a condition we tend to have in common with fibro sufferers, and which I will be writing about next.

I live in deep admiration for people with fibro, especially those who also suffer from endometriosis.  I have a really hard time sometimes just dealing with one condition.  I know how deeply it impacts every aspect of my life, from my relationships to my job.  Fibro just seems like…what fresh hell is this?  I know how you get through it – you have to, and do you do – but I am in such awe of your strength and willpower.  Keep fighting, my friends.

Do any of my readers have fibro?  I would love it if you could share your experiences with diagnosis, treatments, and just life with fibro generally in the comments.

 

Secondary Conditions: Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome

Published on by Bubbles in the Brain4 Comments

I’ve written a lot about endometriosis.  I’ve also written about some of the “side-effects ” people with endo often suffer, such as back pain, digestive issues, and gastritis.  Now I want to write a little series on other chronic conditions that often appear alongside endometriosis.  Today, it’s polycystic ovarian syndrome, aka PCOS.

What is PCOS? Well, it’s a condition whereby the ovaries become enlarged and prone to cysts. Tiny little follicles grow on the ovaries, containing partially formed eggs that rarely grow to maturity or become fertile. The body produces too much insulin and androgen (a male hormone).

PCOS can cause weight gain, excessive hair growth on the body, hair loss on the scalp, depression, sleep apnea, acne, pain, infertility , increased likelihood of diabetes, and irregular periods.  It’s a nasty disease and the side effects (wrongly) carry a lot of social stigma.

Like adeno and endo, no one is really 100% sure what causes PCOS. It does appear to run in families and is more likely to effect women who are overweight, but neither of these is a guarantee of getting it, nor are slender people with no family history automatically exempt. What we do know is estimates suggest it could effect as many as 20% of people with ovaries of reproductive age, and often goes undiagnosed.

As with any disease where weight increase is both a symptom and increases the risk of either contracting the disease or exacerbating the symptoms, doctors will urge sufferers to make healthy lifestyle choices, particularly around diet and exercise. Not for a moment will I pretend this is a bad idea.  Sufferers can achieve significant relief from symptoms with only a small amount of weight loss (which sounds a lot easier than it is when your own body is fighting you every step of the way).  However, I do urge people not to allow doctors to attribute everything to their weight and offer no other assistance. Hormonal treatments can also be an important part of dealing with PCOS, both to block and to raise different hormones.

It’s also a good idea to have a mental health professional as part of your treating team. Dealing with difficult symptoms that our society wrongly but consistently perceives as “gross” or symbolic of laziness is hard enough. Dealing with a disease that also can cause depression is an extra battle you shouldn’t have to fight alone.

Before you can start to be effectively treated, however, you need to be diagnosed. There is no 100% guaranteed method of diagnosis. Scans may show cysts on your ovaries, but you can have ovarian cysts without having PCOS. Likewise, you can have PCOS but not have anything visible on scans. You can also have blood tests that will look at hormone levels in your blood to see what, if anything, is elevated.  Like endo, though, it can just be a lot of guesswork and diagnoses are often based purely of reported symptoms.

Endometriosis and PCOS, unfortunately, often travel in packs, and it is relatively common to have both.  However, plenty of people only deal with one or the other.  I’m lucky enough not to have had to deal with PCOS. I have friends, acquaintances and possibly family members with it, and their experiences have ranged from annoying to devastating. Have any of my readers experienced PCOS? What was your path to diagnosis?  If anyone wants to write a guest post about how PCOS really feels on a day to day basis, I’d love to publish it.

Dear Ella: What I Wish You Knew

Published on by Bubbles in the Brain3 Comments

It was June 2016 that I was first diagnosed with endometriosis. Since then I have learned a lot of things that I desperately wish I could go back and tell that young woman. If I could, these are some of the things I’d really want her to know. Some of them are personal to me, but most of them have fairly general applicability.

1) Don’t go to that doctor

I had no idea back then that there were different types of gynaecological specialities. I thought it was all much of a muchness. I was originally diagnosed and operated on by a fertility specialist. Whilst she knew about endometriosis, as any gynaecologist should, endometriosis was not her primary area. I don’t know if my increase in suffering after that operation was due to a lack of knowledge and skill on her part, her preference for surgery rather than attempting to manage the condition with medication first, or simply something that would have happened regardless of who I saw. Whichever, I wish I’d seen someone else, because when the problems arose, she was stumped and essentially told me she had no idea how to help me. Which leads me to…

2) Don’t have the surgery

I honestly thought I’d tried every medication I could to reduce my period pain and that surgery was the only option open to me now (an illusion that the abovementioned doctor did nothing to dispel). Whilst surgery is incredibly useful for many people, it was devastating for me and I wish I had been given other alternatives to at least try.

3) Find a doctor that you can trust

I don’t know if I could have done anything about this sooner than I did, because it took a while for me to realise each medical relationship wasn’t working, but I wish I had been with Dr Edi-Osagie from the start. I have yet to present a problem that he hasn’t been willing to try and beat or said something he hasn’t listened to. Previous doctors have either been stumped by my issues or decided that they’ve given me sufficient quality of life and I just need to be satisfied with that. I’m not, and neither is Dr Edi-Osagie. I trust him, and that’s a big deal.

4) Trust yourself more

Endometriosis is one of those diseases that plays tricks on your mind. There’s few visible symptoms, and people around you question and downplay your pain. This makes it very easy to doubt what you are feeling and convince yourself that you are wrong about the severity of your pain and the appropriateness of your reaction to it. The gaslighting effect is horrible and I think it causes delays in getting effective treatment. If I had had more trust in myself, I may not have had a better medical outcome, but I would have been a lot happier.

5) Be prepared for physical changes

I’ve been really struggling with body image (again) lately. Being in menopause has me putting on weight even though I’m exercising regularly and eating well (and yes, my caloric output exceeds my input by a decent margin). Between that and the swelling, I feel a bit like a pig, only without their body confidence and contentment. I wish I could brace my old self for those changes and revel in the body I had while I had it. Not just for looks, too – I’d take it for more runs just to feel the power in my legs, and lift more weights to experience that satisfying burn in my arms.

6) Do your research in the right places

Scouring WebMD for the clinical definition of endo doesn’t prepare you for what it is actually like. Even the list of symptoms is not exhaustive, and some website actually provide complete misinformation (the most common being that pregnancy or hysterectomy will cure you). The best source of information I have ever found is my local endo support group. I have learned so much from them and I should have joined and engaged the second I was diagnosed, checked if I was seeing the right doctor and being given accurate advice, and built connections with women who could help me.

7) Do better record-keeping

This is still something I could improve upon. Record-keeping on both a micro and macro level is really useful. By macro I mean having all your medical records collated and a timeline of major events (diagnoses, procedures, dates of starting and stopping medication). This makes it super easy for you and your doctors to review your history at a glance. By micro, I mean tracking your food, sleep, stress, exercise, mood and pain. This helps alert you to trends and triggers, which teaches you how to help yourself better by avoiding stuff that hurts and engaging in stuff that helps.

8) Understand that your life will change

The biggest thing I was unprepared for was how much I wouldn’t be able to do. I took it for granted that I could sit at a desk for hours at a time, walk 5km and then eat a garlicky meal with onions and beans. I took it for granted that I could shower at the end of a long day. Never did I think I’d become an occasional wheelchair user. I thought I’d be diagnosed, cured, and that was that. In fact…

9) Realise that a diagnosis is just the beginning

If you get a diagnosis and if that diagnosis is confirmed, that is not the beginning of the end. It is not as simple, sadly, as problem then solution. It is problem then several attempts at solutions and then many sub-problems, all requiring different solutions, some of which are in conflict with each other. It is not a simple journey, and while a diagnosis offers some hope, it is not a fait accompli from thereon out. I want to go back and seriously manage 25-year-old me’s expectations.

However…

10) A diagnosis is not the end

I cried the day I was diagnosed. It is scary being told that you have a disease that you didn’t know was there, even if you expected it. It is even scarier realising that you have it for life. I cannot properly convey the enormity of that. It’s not the end, though. Life may be very, very different after a diagnosis, and it may well be harder, but you also learn a lot of things about love, true friendship, your own abilities and limits, and weird medical facts. You have to change your life in a hundred annoying ways, but it does become the new normal and you learn to live with the differences. Endo is chronic but not terminal. While there’s life, there’s hope.

What do you wish you could say to your younger, pre-diagnosis self? Would you do anything differently?

Pills and Thrills

Published on by Bubbles in the Brain7 Comments

CW: drug use

Does anyone else get really really annoyed at the number of side-effects doctors expect us to tolerate?  

I warn you now, this is a rant and not a useful post.

On Sunday night I was in bad pain.  I don’t really know why or what was causing it, but I knew it hurt more than I could cope with and that I needed to be at work the next day.  So I did what I have been told to do when the pain gets really bad, and took some tramadol.  

I haven’t taken tramadol in a long time because it has a habit of making me a bit whacked out.  I avoid endone for much the same reason.  Both make me spacey and sleepy but send my mind racing at a million miles an hour, leaving my super-active brain stuck in a body that feels like it is suffering sleep paralysis.  I also don’t feel that they have much of an impact on my pain levels.  The next day I feel weak and shaky.  I don’t really like either of them.  Also, they both make you constipated.

Sunday night took things to a new level.  I took my tramadol at around 9pm.  I was fine at first in terms of side-effects and went to bed with a heatpack to wait the pain out. Half an hour later I was genuinely concerned that the doctors had replaced my innocent painkillers with hardcore hallucinogens.  

I’ll preface the rest of my experience by saying I’ve never taken illicit drugs of any kind.  I’ve never even been drunk.  I have no interest in perception-altering substances, so drug users out there may read this and go, “ah, you innocent child, thinking this is bad.”  I don’t know.  My poor little mind was bending.  

By midnight I was still not asleep.  My brain had carried out a really, really detailed mediation between my cat and my dog.  I could talk to animals, you see.  I forced myself to get up and go to the loo and was swaying like a drunk woman.  I could feel the world tilting, melting and floating around me, like my foothold on the earth was tenuous at best.  

When I got back to bed, I started crying because I felt like my arms were melting into one another, and I couldn’t tell my elbows apart.  I felt like my hands were on backwards.  I was being eaten by the bed.  I couldn’t move.  I could just about articulate to my husband what was happening, and I know I sounded pathetic and barely coherent.  

I was awake, my mind racing and my body distorting, until around 4am.  It was nightmarish.  I felt like I was living the Coraline movie.  

When I woke up the next morning, my body was wracked by tremors and I was so weak I could barely hold my phone to send an email to work saying I’d be late.  I was dizzy and nauseous.  The whole day I was tired and weak, couldn’t eat properly until mid-afternoon, and was really struggling to articulate my thoughts.  I would just lose the ability to say things halfway through the sentence, even though my brain was making the right pictures.

The only thing that made my pain reduce?  Time.  And quite frankly, even if the tramadol had worked, I’m not sure it would be worth the hassle.  

I know that I’m far from the only person to experience problems with the pills meant to relieve pain.  I’m far from the only person to have horrible side-effects with something as fundamental to the treatment of endometriosis as hormonal birth control.  I consider the issues I get – bloating, abdominal pain, tender breasts, mood swings, weird cravings, reduced energy – to be relatively minor, because we are told they are common and not really worth troubling a doctor about.  

Why are we expected to have to deal with this?  Why must sick people choose between pain and suffering from their illness and pain and suffering from their treatment?  Why am I in the situation where I’m forced to call in sick, not because I am ill, but because I attempted to use my prescribed medication?  Why, if I go to the emergency department, will I be offered endone as my only option, and be kicked out as soon as I take it?  What else can I possibly do?

Gosh, I hate endo.