Return of Butt Pain

Things have not been going too well for me health-wise.

I have coughing fits now. And my voice has not returned completely. I am still averaging 4 hours sleep per night.

And my ass is throbbing like a nuclear reactor again! This endo ass pain has not made an appearance in months but it's back. And it has gone on for 2 days now.  I even felt some pain radiating through my ovaries. Sometimes I think I've conquered endo because I've had blissful months with little or no pain. But it always seems to find its way back. I guess an endo girl will always be an endo girl... :-(

I also went for a u/s scan today. Dr.NeverGiveUp was eager to get me scanned on CD13 incase the royal jelly has been working miracles on my body and causing me to ovulate early. Well, no follicles in sight. No surprise there.

It's been a sucky week!

Is Ms.Nasty Turning Over A New Leaf?

Ms.Nasty, my uterine-fibroid-slash-adenomyosis-slash-endometriosis-mass-near-my-ass gave me a shock today! She measured in at 38mm during my ultrasound scan! That folks, is shockingly good news because she's... Wait for it...

10mm SMALLER! (Gasp! Gasp!)

She has shrunk!

A week ago during my period, she was still the same size, as she always is at all my u/s scans-A big fat 48mm! 

Dr.NeverGiveUp doesn't know what's going on. But I think I do. (More later).

"Can the fluctuations in hormones during a menstrual cycle cause the size to change?" I asked.

"No. Fibroids do not change like that."

 I knew from his expression that he was puzzled, but he kept quiet. And didn't want to offer any explanations. He wasn't treating me for Ms.Nasty but I have been secretly battling Ms.Nasty on my own. And I am hoping that Ms.Nasty's retreat is the result of that, and not a fluke. 

I was so astonished and happy after the u/s scan that I forgot to ask for a picture of it. But Ms.Nasty actually looked smaller. She's flatter and not so round. Oh please, please, puhleeeze let this be a permanent change!

She may have behaved like a saint today, but yesterday, she was one nasty devil, being a real pain in my ass. Literally. Just like clockwork, "Ass-throb Day" turned up on CD10 and attacked me out of nowhere! My rectum felt like it had been impaled by a knife. It was like a major serious period cramp in the wrong place--Up my butt! It was so bad, I had to get off my computer and lie down. If you had a period cramp you could put a heating pad, or massage your tummy, but how do you do that when the pain's inside your ass? I had never had it so bad before and I was seriously contemplating taking a painkiller for it. But I stuck it out. The most intense pain lasted for 20-30 minutes. And then it lingered for a total of 3-4 hours before it vanished! Thank god it did, because if Ms.Nasty's being particularly mean, she can make it last for days.

For a long time I never knew what caused the pain, but after seeing the u/s scan of Ms.Nasty leaning right next to my rectum, I knew she had something to do with it. And for some strange reason, she likes to wreak havoc on CD10. Surprisingly, she went away as quickly as she came. And today, she's even made herself smaller!

Today, I also managed to ask Dr.NeverGiveUp my burning question of the week:

Can sex induce a period? The answer is "Yes!"

For that reason, he advices that women trying to conceive should stay away from sex during the last 3-4 days before their period. So I was panicking for no reason when AF came on 11DPO after sex. Rest assured girls-these things do happen! And talking about sex, he has already scheduled when we should be having sex next-today (Friday), Monday and Wednesday! It's very weird having another man tell me when to have sex!

My next post-I'll let you in on the secret stuff I've been doing behind Dr.NeverGiveU's back and why I think Ms.Nasty has calmed down a notch. Stay tuned.

Cold As A Witch's Tit

My apologies for having been missing from my blog. I just haven't had any inspiration to write. Not even to rant or vent! My cycle has been less than stellar-Infact I would give it a "D+" which is just short of flunking!

My body's as cold as a witch's tit! I kid you not! My body should be warm and lush and fertile if I want to have any chance of conceiving. But nope! I've been going for moxa and acupuncture, plus drinking my herbs everyday, yet my body's struggling to stay warm. My uterus, or lower abdomen rather, is cold to the touch. Even my moxa-woman (yes, the kind dear soul who's been administering moxa to me daily and putting up with the stink!) kept asking why my legs were so cold! My TCM doc told me that I've been better and I am nowhere near my peak. Hmphhh! Wonderful! I don't think I'm gonna get my Christmas wish this year...

Well, the weather has something to do with it, apparently. I haven't seen the sun in days, and it has even snowed! Well, it should come as no surprise to you if you think I live in some temperate climate that enjoys four seasons. But I live in the tropics where it's a balmy 30˚C/86˚F year round! I have banana trees growing in my garden!!! Last weekend, the weatherman reported that there would be hail. Well, it snowed! These weather people are always wrong, wrong, wrong! My TCM doc told me he saw snowflakes floating gently from the sky and then hit his window and eventually melted into drops of water. If that's not snow, I don't know what it is! So my TCM doc has excused my body for "misbehaving" due to the colder than usual conditions we are experiencing! Err...Did somebody say we're having global warming? I wouldn't have known!

So I guess that is why my endo rescheduled Ass-throb day for  Days 13 & 14 of my cycle on the really cold, wet days. I really thought I had dodged fate when it didn't appear on CD 10 or 11. I was not happy.... My lower back hurt and my butt throbbed. I swear-I think my butt should work for the weather department! It has an uncanny talent for predicting rainy weather! Thankfully the moxa and acupuncture gave me relief for a few hours. So something about TCM actually works, though I don't know how exactly. I only wished I could be hooked up to the electro acupuncture machine and have moxa-woman burning me up all day throughout the pain--even though all the patients at the clinic hate me by now! "What is that SMELL?!!!" can be heard ringing through the clinic when I'm there! It's CD15, so they will have to put up with this for just a few more days until I ovulate.

Tomorrow I will have Moxa No.7 which will hopefully put me on defrost mode. I am really keeping my fingers crossed that my eggs will miraculously thaw out this cycle in time to meet one of my husband's super hunky soldiers!

My Attention-Seeking Endo

Every tenth day of my cycle, my endo always comes knocking on my ass's door to make sure I haven't forgotten about it. And it is right on time this month as always. Today is CD10 and my rectum has started to feel tender and tingle with a slight pain. Oddly enough, I've always felt like my endo ass could predict the rain because they always coincide. Well, lo and behold - it rained today again while my ass throbbed! I was hoping that all that moxa would have cast away that evil ass-throbbing menace, but it didn't. I'm disappointed, but I am thankful it wasn't as annoyingly painful as last month. I know I'm a tad too impatient and expect miracles to happen, but this ass-throb has brought me crashing back down to earth. Healing takes time. I've had this disease for years - it's not going to disappear over a few days...

There's A Pain In My Ass

Yes, literally! My rectum is painfully throbbing away today. It is all sore and tender and feels like it is a radioactive reactor pulsing away inside. 

Although the stress of having Aunt Flo around left a couple of days ago, it really sucks now to have to deal with this pain! It is Day 10 of my cycle today, and coincidentally, I have read that many women suffering from endo also seem to experience pain out of the blue on Day 10 of their cycles! I often experienced unexplained pain during mid-cycle, but never realized there was a pattern.  After reading about it, I started to chart my pain and was blown away by how "punctual" my ass throbs every cycle! I find it puzzling that for a disease that has "no cause", it causes such a distinct series of symptoms in its victims. 

Anyway, I decided to take my body temperature today, thinking that perhaps a cold condition in my body was causing blood circulation problems-hence the cramps or pain. (I am always trying to figure my body out!) It had also been raining and the weather was cooler than normal. Well, I was surprised that after having been awake and active for 3 hours, my temperature had only climbed to 97.9˚. Normal human body temperature should be 98.6˚.  Hmmm... Maybe there is a relationship there between the pain and a cold body. Or maybe I'm just a cool babe.... Or maybe like Arthritic sufferers, my talented throbbing ass can tell when the rain is coming!