to IUD or not
I'll admit that I might have hypochondriac tendencies. (serialkarma commences hysterical laughing). I don't run to the doctor for every little sniffle though, cause I really don't like going to the doctor at all. I'm the type of hypochondriac who gets a headache and immediately thinks I have a brain tumor, but doesn't get it checked out because of the aforementioned I don't like going to the doctor. (This in part I think stems from a traumatic childhood incident where I was forced to strip naked in the doctors office and then walk across the hall on the cold floor to get weighed, and being a rather prudish child [seriously, I was, stop laughing] it made me very uncomfortable because I was sure everyone in the waiting room could see me and I wound up vomiting purple puke all over the floor.) So basically in the last decade, I've been to a doctor maybe all of three times. I don't get sick all that often.
I haven't had anything more powerful than Tylenol in my body in that time, either, so therefore it would reason that anything I put into my body at this point is probably going to have a stronger reaction than with most other people -- it's probably been fifteen years or more since I've had any kind of antibiotic, so my insides are pretty damn clean.
Bear with me, this is all leading to the part where I tell you that almost a month ago, I started birth control pills. I went to the gyno last month, for the first time in twelve years. Yes, you read that correctly, twelve years. I haven't been on any form of birth control, except condom use, in all this time but I wanted to Take Control of my options now that Tech is in the picture.
(Tech! He alternately thrills me and drives me crazy! hetrez says this means it's going to last. I should disclose that I alternately thrill and drive him crazy as well, so it all evens out.)
So I WENT, you see, to the GYNO, and I had the exam and it was FINE (while she was up in there she chirped, "Your cervix looks great!" and I half expected to look down and see her giving me a thumbs up sign.) We had a long talk about birth control options, because I wanted to Take Control over my body and over my choices, and in the end she gave me a pack of pills and a prescription for more and sent me on my merry way.
I started the pill.
The first two weeks were okay, nothing odd or off. However, this is where being a hypochondriac came in handy! I was convinced that I was going to develop a blood clot from using the pill, so I stopped smoking. (Almost two weeks now, no cigarettes). I didn't want a pulmonary embolism! No swelling of my legs! Because I did think, rationally, alright in all reality the only side effects I'll likely get are weight gain and moodiness what with the change in horomones, but I'll just irrationally focus on the BLOOD CLOTS since that's what is keeping me from smoking. So convinced was I, that I was going to develop the EXCEEDINGLY RARE side effect of blood clots that I totally ignored the OTHER symptoms.
Like the tingling in my hands and feet. Or the sudden weakness in my leg muscles. Or the fact that on Sunday I began having problems seeing, because the lights were too bright. I kept asking SerialKarma to turn off the lights, and in the end went to bed early because it just hurt too much to keep my eyes open. I should have totally seen the big fat whopping migraine that woke me up four hours later.
Y'all I had a headache for two days. I'm not talking off and on, my head hurt CONTINUALLY for 48 hours. Throbbing, squeezing, omgIwanttodie pain. I had what I think were migraines many MANY years ago, and at that maybe only less than I can count on one hand. This was unlike ANY HEADACHE I have ever experienced. I didn't sleep on Sunday night, called into work sick on Monday, and basically could not MOVE. At all. The only thing that felt good was to lie really really still, with the cold air moving over me and all the light blocked out of the room. If I so much as rolled sideways the right side of my head felt like it was going to explode.
I was pretty sure that it was because of the birth control pills, but at the same time, I was like, okay. Maybe I am overreacting because I am a HYPO, and it's just a bad headache, and the tingling will go away, and I need to just get over myself.
Yeah, uh. So the tingling hasn't gone away all week, and last night I woke myself up because I was having spasms in my legs -- they were stiffening up and gahd, they hurt in this really weird way where they were tingly and weak.
Fuck. This. I thought. I called my doctor this morning, and spoke with her, and told her I might be overreacting but here are my symptoms, and she was like STOP TAKING THE PILL IMMEDIATELY. And then phrases like "sending you to a neurologist" were thrown around and I got somewhat freaked out, but I figure, hell, SEND ME, let's just get this over with if I need to see someone just to have the peace of mind. I mean, shit, in all this high drama of saying I have lung cancer when I sneeze, the idea that there might actually be something wrong like, blows my mind.
Okay, so the point of all this was to ask y'all what method of birth control OTHER THAN THE FREAKING PILL you use, and the pros and cons. Right now my doctor doesn't want me on any pill, and brought up the idea of an IUD. Please to leave comments and help a girl out? I would like to be able to not have to use condoms, and Tech would appreciate it, too. :)
I haven't had anything more powerful than Tylenol in my body in that time, either, so therefore it would reason that anything I put into my body at this point is probably going to have a stronger reaction than with most other people -- it's probably been fifteen years or more since I've had any kind of antibiotic, so my insides are pretty damn clean.
Bear with me, this is all leading to the part where I tell you that almost a month ago, I started birth control pills. I went to the gyno last month, for the first time in twelve years. Yes, you read that correctly, twelve years. I haven't been on any form of birth control, except condom use, in all this time but I wanted to Take Control of my options now that Tech is in the picture.
(Tech! He alternately thrills me and drives me crazy! hetrez says this means it's going to last. I should disclose that I alternately thrill and drive him crazy as well, so it all evens out.)
So I WENT, you see, to the GYNO, and I had the exam and it was FINE (while she was up in there she chirped, "Your cervix looks great!" and I half expected to look down and see her giving me a thumbs up sign.) We had a long talk about birth control options, because I wanted to Take Control over my body and over my choices, and in the end she gave me a pack of pills and a prescription for more and sent me on my merry way.
I started the pill.
The first two weeks were okay, nothing odd or off. However, this is where being a hypochondriac came in handy! I was convinced that I was going to develop a blood clot from using the pill, so I stopped smoking. (Almost two weeks now, no cigarettes). I didn't want a pulmonary embolism! No swelling of my legs! Because I did think, rationally, alright in all reality the only side effects I'll likely get are weight gain and moodiness what with the change in horomones, but I'll just irrationally focus on the BLOOD CLOTS since that's what is keeping me from smoking. So convinced was I, that I was going to develop the EXCEEDINGLY RARE side effect of blood clots that I totally ignored the OTHER symptoms.
Like the tingling in my hands and feet. Or the sudden weakness in my leg muscles. Or the fact that on Sunday I began having problems seeing, because the lights were too bright. I kept asking SerialKarma to turn off the lights, and in the end went to bed early because it just hurt too much to keep my eyes open. I should have totally seen the big fat whopping migraine that woke me up four hours later.
Y'all I had a headache for two days. I'm not talking off and on, my head hurt CONTINUALLY for 48 hours. Throbbing, squeezing, omgIwanttodie pain. I had what I think were migraines many MANY years ago, and at that maybe only less than I can count on one hand. This was unlike ANY HEADACHE I have ever experienced. I didn't sleep on Sunday night, called into work sick on Monday, and basically could not MOVE. At all. The only thing that felt good was to lie really really still, with the cold air moving over me and all the light blocked out of the room. If I so much as rolled sideways the right side of my head felt like it was going to explode.
I was pretty sure that it was because of the birth control pills, but at the same time, I was like, okay. Maybe I am overreacting because I am a HYPO, and it's just a bad headache, and the tingling will go away, and I need to just get over myself.
Yeah, uh. So the tingling hasn't gone away all week, and last night I woke myself up because I was having spasms in my legs -- they were stiffening up and gahd, they hurt in this really weird way where they were tingly and weak.
Fuck. This. I thought. I called my doctor this morning, and spoke with her, and told her I might be overreacting but here are my symptoms, and she was like STOP TAKING THE PILL IMMEDIATELY. And then phrases like "sending you to a neurologist" were thrown around and I got somewhat freaked out, but I figure, hell, SEND ME, let's just get this over with if I need to see someone just to have the peace of mind. I mean, shit, in all this high drama of saying I have lung cancer when I sneeze, the idea that there might actually be something wrong like, blows my mind.
Okay, so the point of all this was to ask y'all what method of birth control OTHER THAN THE FREAKING PILL you use, and the pros and cons. Right now my doctor doesn't want me on any pill, and brought up the idea of an IUD. Please to leave comments and help a girl out? I would like to be able to not have to use condoms, and Tech would appreciate it, too. :)