Lyme disease and menopause

MENOPAUSE AND LYME
Three months on, I'm wanting to report on how I'm doing having come completely off HRT. (HRT? Yes, thanks to a full hysterectomy in 2016, courtesy of Lyme disease playing havoc with the endocrine system, I was put on 75mcg of Oestrodot overnight).

STOPPING THE HRT
So what happened? Tits sagged, eyes sagged, gut sagged? Perhaps a little! And yes, my Lyme regressed. As the Chinese Med doc suggested it would. And together with no downtime as a result of the school holidays, I found myself back to boringly bedridden for a burst. It was a case of riding it out, and thanks to the help of good friends and grandparents alike, I took the time to rest and gather my energy and sense of recovery once more.

STEP BACKWARD
After getting better to a degree and feeling so good in May, it was a huge surprise to remember exactly how Lyme and co-infections hit hard. Symptoms literally blow you away, as you helplessly sit by and watch your body fail, multi-systemically. First thing I noticed this time were the lumps and bumps of Bartonella as it marched over my scalp, resulting in a head that was painful to lay down. Then came the headache and hangover feeling each morning, temperatures, uncomfortable aches and pains, memory loss, weight loss and of course exhaustion; all courtesy of the Lyme and Babesia bacteria also gaining a foothold.

HRT WITHDRAWAL
Along with acknowledging the bacteria, I also weathered the usual kind of menopause mayhem. Crazy hot, freezing cold, insomnia, feeling emotional over the slightest thing.

ACUPUNCTURE?
For all the emotional upset however, I never endured the see-sawing moods and irrationality that can arise due to a sudden departure of oestrogen. I wonder if this is down to the weekly acupuncture I've been receiving? Or the diet and supplements this new form of Chinese Medicine dictates? Natural oestrogen's, Wild Yam and Rhodiola Rosea included.

THREE MONTHS ON
So where am I now? Not doing too badly at all, safe in the knowledge that my lyme disease and co-infections are no longer able to hide behind HRT - which helps to mask symptoms. Instead, after the chronic fatigue passed, miraculously I realised my body was starting to work again for itself. For example; I've been waking up hungry! Hunger pangs are something that haven't happened since 2015, so at first I worried about this rather strange sensation, wondering what was wrong? Of course as soon as I realised it was a natural sensation, there was only delight at the prospect of remembering what it was like to have an appetite. It's all good!

Fighting lyme naturally during the menopause - the final hurdle

My Chinese Med Doctor told me, in order for the true treatment of my lyme disease to begin; to truly balance my system, I have to come off HRT. COME OFF HRT. Yeah right, whatever!

If you read LIFE AS IT IS, you'll know that since starting Five elements TCM, I've seen gains, and although admittedly, at first I felt A LOT worse when I dropped my HRT from 75mcg to 50mcg - I almost cancelled New York, I then picked up, as he had suggested. A few weeks on, my body stabilised, and New York was a walk in the (Central) park.

A week ago today, I got brave and dropped my HRT from 50 to 25. A few hot flushes and a few headaches later, (and not the sort that I associate with the killer head of lyme disease), I'm doing fine, so guess what? Today, I've really gone for it... from 25 to 0mcg. I've literally just taken the final patch off. How liberated and empowered do I feel?!!

Not sure what sort of week lay ahead, but with a positive mind and natural oestrogen x 2: Wild Yam and Rhodiola Rosea in my system, I'm going for it, pleased to be free of synthetic hormones that are screwing my endocrine system as far as making a full recovery from Lyme disease.

Two years ago today I had a full hysterectomy...

This photo never ceases to amaze me... 2 years ago today I had a full hysterectomy. My surgeon removed a 7lb fibroid that was the size of a football. Turns out it was actually very likely down to the lyme bacteria invading my uterus - which soon became known as the womb of doom. 

I suffered painful periods, heavy too. I'd go through a box of super plus in a day. The PMT was horrendous. Emotional twists and turns which I could never see coming included outbreaks of anxiety and depression. Small wonder when you consider by the time a fibroid (cyst) is this big it becomes a little being, having a hormonal production and vascular system of its own.

My gut and tummy were plagued with problems; mainly the bloating which could look like this... My 'baby' sat on my bladder and bowel affecting how I slept too. It was like a pregnancy in so many ways. Not surprisingly many assumed it was and answering the question of 'when was I due?' became far the most difficult association attached to how I looked and felt at the time. 

But what I want to shout about here is how at the time I had no idea this was in fact all symptomatic of chronic lyme disease (lyme when it is dormant goes into cyst form, hence I’ve since had 3 breast lumps removed in 6 months). Now that I have a lyme diagnosis and I have the sometimes warped benefit of hindsight, it’s time to spread awareness on just how lyme can manifest. 

Don’t take exhaustion, fatigue or chronic fatigue lying down - excuse the pun. Recognise that it is not any kind of normal for a young woman (I was 44 when I underwent this operation) to feel that sort of tired. That sort of hormonal. That sort of anxious. That sort of sad. That sort of bloated. No, it's not actually any kind of normal full stop.

#checkyourself

#health

#raisingawareness

#wellness

#wellbeing

#hysterectomy

#womensproblems

#female

#gynae

#notpregnantinthisphoto

#LymeDisease NOT #LymesDisease

Post hysterectomy

No longer do I have to explain it is not a pregnancy.

Is it morning yet?

Even on those mornings when they could potentially lay in, there's often a mishap. Take this morning - "Mum, it's 7.10 and the clock's up."

It's 6.10 and frankly the clock needs throwing out. Fat lot of good it's ever done. The idea behind it is that when the sun comes up (i.e the smiley face turns from blue to yellow) the children are able to see it's time to wake too. Unfortunately, even on the days the clock hasn't been tampered with, they've always been wide-eyed way before the sunshine ever put in its appearance.

Such a shame I'm not.

HYSTERECTOMY - 10 Reasons for and 10 reasons against

10 NOT SO GREAT reasons to have a Total Abdominal Hysterectomy

1) Major operation comes with all sorts of risks.
2) Meds to help can equal nasty side effects.
3) One being you can't shit for days - bring forth laxatives, stool softeners and suppositories and hope...
4) Trapped wind brought on by laxatives, stool softeners and suppositories can end up causing more grief on its mission to break free than the actual surgery - have you ever felt wind in your shoulder of all places?
5) Having to eat all manner of food stuffs to get the digestive system working again such as prunes and papaya causing yet more wind in a freakishly continually evolving catch 22 scenario.
6) Being observed for blood pressure, temperature and oxygen levels around the clock, which although a necessity is of course a tad annoying on the sleep front.
7) A bloody great scar.
8) Post operative blurred vision (this might have been down to the epidural rather than the anaesthetic, either way, it's getting better a bit too slowly for my liking).
9) Bed rest boredom. Although to be honest, I am toying with the idea that this is actually not a valid NOT SO GREAT reason at all, for I'm enjoying the rest immensely and am yet to be bored. (I know you're hearing me mothers of small children).
10) Watching the dust gather due to being unable to vacuum for weeks on end (actually, what am I thinking, this surely needs to go on the list of GREAT REASONS)?

10 GREAT reasons to have a Total Abdominal Hysterectomy

LIFE AS IT IS - This week in... May 2016

Praising the sisterhood, periods and apathy

In the week we found out that Madrid dog owners who refuse to pick up their dog poo will have to clean streets, I got the painters in. Physically and metaphorically. Our lovely neighbour is doing a fab job for us, and the kitchen is coming to life as I write. I on the other hand feel anything but lively sat here. At least the sun is shining. And at least I found my purse (after cancelling my cards, of course).

So yes, as I was saying the painters are in. I've got my period. And as I type that sentence I'm faced with the actuality that it is my last period ever. Period. The final monthly cycle I will ever experience - after over thirty years of bleeding every single month (give or take a pregnancy here or there of course). That is a bizarre feeling.