Sciatica

Really struggling with this again the past 2 weeks. I actually had to take Ibuprofen and spend a day in bed on Wed with ice packs and just trying to reduce inflammation and tightness so that it could relax and stop being stretched/pinched, etc... I am doing some better and on Monday and Thursday this week actually was able to be pretty active and not notice much, but the next days were a bit more painful. I guess I am able to push myself, but not sure that's the best long-term. It is a throbbing/aching/pulling pain from below my hip bone in back and down through the buttocks and into my leg. I also at the same time get pain and a deep internal itch in my right hip where the hip bone sticks out the furthest - which can drive me crazy and the pain can get pretty intense especially at night when I try to sleep. I cannot lay on my right side for long which is annoying. I have noticed this time that I am also very constipated these last 2 weeks and that can make the pain and pressure much worse (enemas relieve it a bit). I can imagine everything in there inflamed and rubbing/pinching/constricting, not a good combination. It really makes me wonder about endometriosis on the sciatic nerve, uggh... I know I likely need some exploratory surgery, but uggh..... :-(

Plans (occupying my mind)

Hanging in here!  I am trying very hard not to look for signs, but it's hard!  8dpo and nothing exciting to report, my lp is 12-13 days normally.  We'll see.  I try to use this time to consider the cycle and what worked and what changes, if any, to make for next cycle should it come (that way I have something to look fwd to if af shows).  I am thinking that I will take the soy isoflavones again at 150mg days 5-9 and I also will commit to getting maca in me.  I really, really dislike the taste of maca and just cannot get it down in smoothies or by just guzzling it in a bit of water (that was about disastrous).  I am planning to capsule it and commit to taking 4 capsules a day which should equal 2 tsp.  Starting Monday, I also plan to exercise for 30 min daily whether af comes or not, and work more on eating well - low carb whole foods.  I did get a menu made for this week and did grocery shopping based on it yesterday so that shouldn't be too hard!

Oh, one thing to make note of is that I have had the sciatica pain on my right side and that strange itchy nerve pain in my right hip for the past 4 days.  It seems to be subsiding today.  Very annoying, painful and frustrating!

Painful cycle

 I am in lots of pain today.  I get this way every few months, so far this year has been December, January and April and now today.

I am on CD 21, taking no medications currently.  My ladycomp says that I ovulated on CD 16 (not sure why) my temp has been up the last 3 days.  According to my mucus symptoms, I would guess maybe an ovulation on day 18, but not quite certain.  I am still trying to learn how to tell the difference between semen and my mucus.  I had right abdominal pain/twinges  for the past 4 or 5 days.

Today, I have lots of lower back pain and sciatica pain, my legs are achey, I have this very irritating itchy feeling inside my right hip (nerve being pressed on? - can't scratch it!), I was very hot during the night last night and have slept restlessly the last couple of nights, I have joint pain and a slight headache today, I am SO tired... with the pain and exhaustion, I have been in bed for most of the day today, sleeping for 8 hours of it.

Not sure whether to associate it with actual ovulation, attempted ovulation, enlarged ovary, ovarian cyst, endometriosis, what???  I have 3 weeks until my appt with my specialist, but meet with my charting instructor next Thurs and will ask her if other clients have had this too... very curious and painful... wondering where it fits into the puzzle.

Failure?

Okay, so confession time: It has been a hard week. Thursday was very, very hard. Kids tummies were feeling better, but they were still weak and whiny. Will was having a hard time getting any energy or eating anything at all. I was in a lot of pain with my back/sciatica and had barely slept even with the heating pad. A wonderful friend brought us some herbal teas, and bless her heart some chicken noodle soup, a loaf of fresh whole wheat bread, basket of oranges and several DVDs. I gave up and served it all for dinner.... and then, I.... well, I convinced myself that I was battling depression and PMS and I *really* needed some chocolate.... so, I made brownies. Tom came home as they were coming out of the oven and made a hurtful comment, not on purpose, but ouch! So, I was in tears all night long (I NEVER cry). I felt sooo overwhelmed and tired of pain. I won't go into it all, but we talked through some stuff and I unloaded all my sorrows and yesterday was better, today is much better.

So.... today we have a church meeting and a planned meal at a local burger joint with the church officers and their wives (my hubby is a deacon). We will get more groceries on the way home. I am regrouping and re-evaluating. I am not sure what is going on with me, but I am thinking detox/die-off may have contributed. The kids were not very happy with eating soups for 3 days and were feeling very deprived. I *thought* it would be a good time to start since soups are great for sick tummies, but apparently not. I didn't think the food was that bad. Tom even liked the soups we had for dinner. But, I think we are going to step back and do the full GAPS diet for a while (meat, fruits, veggies - no sugar, no grains - broth and fermented at each meal) and reconsider doing Intro in a while, maybe then detox won't be as hard.

So, no failure, just learning and starting again. I need to do better about taking my supplements too, the last couple weeks have not been very good.

Pretty miserable today

All of us, well almost all, are feeling poorly today. Rose woke up feeling sick to her stomach and has lain around and slept most of the day without eating. Will is not vomiting anymore, but feels tired and says his tummy still hurts, he has not eaten either and took a good long nap today. Heather is feeling fine, Tom is feeling fine. I am in quite a lot of pain in my back, sciatica and legs. I have no idea if it is pre-cycle stuff or detox stuff or what, but not feeling well at all. I'm trying to get office work caught up on and I have a lot of other paperwork to do pre-taxes, but having trouble focusing and getting much accomplished. I took a small nap yesterday and today. I sure hope this all passes soon! We will all get salt baths again today to be sure we are detoxing well, I already got one and did my skin brushing.

Been sick

Came down with a cold / cough / sinus infection Thanksgiving day, been pretty miserable. On top of that, started spotting and then full-blown cycle at the same time. Very short (16 day) cycle this month. :-( It wasn't too bad as far as sciatica pain, but the endo spot on my nose did flare up and bleed the last day of menses as usual. Not sure if the sciatica wasn't as bad because I was already in bed and not moving around on it or what. I have been taking my supplements this past week, but not my smoothies (just no energy to make them and keep forgetting to ask Heather to) and I have been eating poorly (whatever Tom brought home / felt like warming up). So... not feeling great still, but feel like it's improving slowly. I hope to get back to my good diet and all the supplements by this weekend at the latest, I will weigh on Monday and survey the damage.

I am contemplating starting the GAPS diet in the New Year. Any thought or experiences anyone?

More endo info

Endometriosis develops when endometrial-like tissue starts growing in places where it shouldn’t be, away from the lining of the uterus, often in the abdominal cavity or pelvic region, but sometimes in lungs or arms, and elsewhere. These tissue growths respond to hormonal signals in the menstrual cycle in the same way that uterine lining does, building up and breaking down each month. But while the uterine lining can be flushed out of the body during menstruation, the tissue remains of endometrial growths have no place to go. Internal bleeding, inflammation and other problems result.

Conventional diagnosis is difficult because even using a technique such as laparoscopy, in which the abdominal cavity is inspected through a fibre-optic tube inserted through a small incision at the navel, in many cases the endometriosis cannot be seen. Often the first clue a doctor has, especially if there are no obvious symptoms, is when a woman complains of infertility.

But for most sufferers, the symptoms are obvious and painful. Since endometrial tissue responds to the same hormones as the uterus does at menstruation, the sufferer has the same cramping pains, bleeding and irritation that are a familiar part of a normal menstrual cycle. Imagine agonising period pains that spread throughout the abdominal cavity and you understand why some women with severe endometriosis faint with pain.

Orthodox treatment is with drugs that all have unpleasant side-effects. According to Merck Manual of Medical Information, danazol, one of the most common treatments, can lead to weight gain, acne, a lowered voice, hot flashes, vaginal dryness, muscle cramps, bleeding between periods, mood swings, hair growth, liver malfunction and carpal tunnel syndrome.

Some things I can do (many I am already doing):

• WATER - lots and lots of water!!! (see below post)
• Evening Primrose Oil
• Eat more salmon
• Magnesium
• Red and green veggies
• Berries (anti-inflammatory)

Some things I need to reduce or remove from my diet:

• Caffeine
• Chocolate
• Alcohol
• Wheat
• Dairy

Update on last couple weeks

A quick update... my cycle started again this past Friday, 29 days since the previous one - that is improvement! I was pretty tense the night before and very tense the morning of, but once started I felt much better. I don't know how my family lives with me some days. It was only about 12 hours this time with the horrible pms - that is a bit of improvement too. This cycle has been very light so far, not sure what that is about. No migraine - woo hoo!

I have had some pain in my thyroid over this weekend, Fri - Sun. Not sure if it was hormonal due to the cycle starting or what, but it has gone away now.

Two weeks ago (Oct 7-12) I had some very bad sciatica pain. It started out the first day in both sides and I was taking it easy, but able to function - the next day was in my right side, horrible pain and pinching and tightness - I could not sit up at all and being upright made it spasm. I was bed-ridden. The next day I forced myself to take the kids to classes, I took tylenol and got through the morning (though near tears for most of it) but was back in bed all afternoon once I got home. It improved quite a bit by Sunday and Monday I was pretty close to normal. I remembered Friday night that a homeopathic blend had been a help to me in the past for relaxing the muscles and allowing the nerve to move out of it's pinched position. I think that helped get me on the mend.

In other news, I am feeling pretty good about the weight loss so far, but definitely need to step up and exercise to get it moving a little faster. I am having very little to none of the panic/anxiety and have started taking 400mg of the SAMe and 1 tsp of the maca. I do think both of these "new additions" are helping me.

Need a booster

Only lost one pound this past week, so time to start making some changes to speed things back up. Shall I drink more water and exercise or cut out beans and nuts from my diet? Hmmmm, think, think, think...

In other news, the SAM-e does seem to be helping my panic attacks/ breathless / heart palpitations. I am managing well currently.

My smoothies have been giving me a bit of nausea right after drinking. The maca seems to give me a headache when I started and when I upped my doseage - only for a day though and not a bad one.

Feeling pretty good overall, been a bit moody this week but starting the progesterone cream seems to have helped some.

Symptoms today

Horrible migraine started suddenly mid-day. Very constipated and some stomach pains. I had flashy lights in my vision, mostly left eye - almost completely obstructed vision on that side. Pain was quite bad and after some sleep seemed relieved but returned due to a short trip out of bedroom into the lights. I did a water enema, skin brushing and salt water bath, felt some better but not completely. I was nauseous and finally gave in and took some tylenol. It took at least a good hour until I could sit up and then was able to eat dinner and visit as long as it was dark in the room. Around 11pm, I got up and turned off most of the lights around the house and then worked on office work until around 4am when I went back to bed and slept until 7:30. Another symptom I had was my heart was racing and I was jumpy all day. I was wondering if it was too much of the glandular support, but it started before that.