What I think you should know...before you cut...

[mandra609]

 

OK, I've got to say something about this cause I can not keep my mouth shut anymore,... especially this time of the month. Once a month every woman goes through the ordeal of a period, and for some of us it can be a nightmare. Never did I imagine that my monthly bill would cost me so much until after I got my tubes tied. I had the procedure done during my second C Section. I had tried taking the pill, and just ended up spotting all month long. I didn't want to go back to the pill, for several reasons,... one being the spotting and two the hormone levels and having a slight heart problem, I decided that the tubaligation was the way to go for me and my hubby.

The surgery thankfully went without incident and seemed like it was the right choice. I went home and within three days of arriving at our house, got migraine after migraine after migraine. These headaches were so bad that taking Percocet wasn't enough. I called my Dr and was told this can be normal for some woman as their hormones calm down. So I was advised to take 800 milligrams of Advil along with my meds. They finally started to go away and I was able to enjoy being a mom and a person again.

By the time I had my regular period, I noticed how heavy it was immediately. Knowing how it was the first time with my first son, I told myself it was no biggie. Then around,  6 or 7 months after my second birth, it wasn't getting better... it was actually worse. Along with the monthly migraines,  I bleed 12 to 14 days a month now {two years later}. The cramps are so bad that they honestly make me catch my breath and I need to sit down. The clotting is so heavy that there is NO way I can wear a tampon. I can feel these large clots pass and I seriously must run to the bathroom and wipe it away. These clots {WARNING; THIS IS PRETTY GRAPHIC....} are enormous, larger than a couple of quaters in my hand. It frightened me the first time I saw one and with the heavy cramps I ended up in the ER. I was told by the ER Doctor that is actually "normal" after a tubal. She also said that just skipping a period for a few months was normal as well. "What?!?!"  I said... I had read a lot of information before I did this stupid procedure and I wasn't told a thing about how bad it really was. But even dealing with that wasn't as difficult as going through these mood swings each month that started about a week or more before my actual period. I would {and still do} have feelings of depression, loneliness, and overwhelming sadness. I remember getting down before my cycle but this was ridiculous!!! I always feel tired, run down and nothing at all like how I used to feel. But what has caught my husbands attention more than the mood issues was the massive memory loss. I can't remember anything anymore. Now, I know and was told by my physician that this memory loss can also come with just having children... but the depth of mine, is a scary thing some days. 

I started looking into this last year to see how many, if any... other woman felt like me. And then I found it. Its called Post Tubal Ligation Syndrome. "PTS is an an iatrogenesis condition meaning "doctor-caused" or "doctor produced."  There are many many women out there experiencing the same symptomsas I was..... and many physicians who won't acknowledge it. It was like all of these huge pieces of a puzzle that had consumed my life came together to form a picture of what was really going on with me. Here are some of the terrible symptoms that women {myself included; highlighted in RED} are dealing with.....

 

*** SYMPTOMS OF POST TUBAL SYNDROME ***

1. Eptopic pregnancy or pregnancy (welll known risk of tubals)

1a.Hot flashes, flushes, night sweats and/or cold flashes, clammy feeling, chills

2. Bouts of rapid heart beat

3. Irritability

4. Mood swings, sudden tears

5. Trouble sleeping through the night (with or without night sweats)

6. Irregular periods; shorter, lighter periods; heavier periods, flooding; phantom periods, shorter cycles, longer cycles

7. Loss of libido (see note)

8. Dry vagina (see note)

8a.Itchy vagina-at time raw like, can radiated from whole area, with absence of yeast infections. (see note)

8b.Color change in vaginal area. (color gets darker - purple/black)

9. Crashing fatigue

10.Anxiety, feeling ill at ease

11.Feelings of dread, apprehension, doom (see note)

12.Difficulty concentrating, disorientation, mental confusion

13.Disturbing memory lapses

14.Incontinence, especially upon sneezing, laughing; urge incontinence (see note)

14a.Prolapse of uterus do to rapid decress in estrogen levels.

15.Itchy, crawly skin (see note)

16.Aching, sore joints, muscles and tendons (see note)

17.Increased tension in muscles

18.Breast tenderness

18a. Decress in breast mass

19.Headache change: increase or decrease

20.Gastrointestinal distress, indigestion, flatulence, gas pain, nausea

21.Sudden bouts of bloat

22.Depression (see note)

23.Exacerbation of existing conditions

24.Increase in allergies

25.Weight gain (see note)

26.Hair loss or thinning, head, pubic, or whole body; increase in facial hair

27.Dizziness, light-headedness, episodes of loss of balance

28.Changes in body odor

29.Electric "shock" or "stabbing" sensation under the skin.

30.Tingling in the extremities, (see note)

31.Gum problems, increased bleeding

32.Burning tongue, burning roof of mouth, bad taste in mouth, change in breath odor (see notes)

33.Osteoporosis (after several years)

34.Changes in fingernails: softer, crack or break easier

{{taken from http://members.tripod.com/~sterilization_rights/Symtoms_PTS.html }}

 

Now, I know that a few of these can be explained by having children or just being a woman dealing with a heavy menstrual cycle. BUT when you lump it all together and hear that thousands of woman out there are dealing with it ...well, then you have to wonder. I can not ignore this since I deal with it every day and struggle with my horrible decision. So my point is,... to get the word out... get some knowlege out there for women that are considering this surgery. The ironic thing here is that my own mother had a tubal 32 years ago and never had a problem,..and many woman don't ever expericence these problems and issues at all. But I feel since a lot of us do have to deal with this that it is important to make sure that you've got all the info in front of you before you make a choice ... to cut or not to cut.

Thanks for your time...

Mandra609

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

more info from: http://members.tripod.com/~sterilization_rights/Symtoms_PTS.html

PTS is often the result of a rapid decline in estrogen levels due from the blood supply being damaged to the ovaries during the TL surgery. Depending on the damage to the veins and capillaries, blood volume to the ovaries may slightly decrease or can be eliminated completely (isolated ovarian syndrome, common with hysterectomy operations). Many of the symptoms of PTS are associated with having an estrogen/progesterone imbalance.

Other symptoms, such has heavy painful periods may be caused by a hormonal imbalance, could be caused by adenomyosis (bought on by uterus mussel and tissue being damaged, effected by the TL surgery impairing the blood supply to areas of that organ/mussel) or a combination of both.

Other theories of PST and the hormonal imbalance that results after a TL is that "target" or "receptor" cells that are important in the relay of hormonal messages are damaged, destroyed, and or removed during the TL surgery. It is derivable that these target or receptor cells are located within the fallopian tube.

With this in mind, it's possible for a woman to have both her ovaries still functioning to some degree (if blood supply was not damaged), have no major problems with her uterus (again if blood supply was not damaged to that organ), and still be experiencing a PTS in the from of a hormonal imbalance caused by change in her hormonal message relay system.

more info; http://ccli.org/nfp/contraception/tubal.php 

more: http://www.tubal-reversal.net/post_tubal_ligation_syndrome.htm

 

[Angiechls]

Nov. 13, 2008 at 6:52 PM

wow, i'm so sorry honey.  I had my tubes tied and I have none of that.  In fact my periods are very light and only last four to five days.  No cramping really either.  I had no idea that was possible.  My doctor never told me about any of that while talking about having my tubes tied.  I got lucky I guess.  I'm so sorry this is happening to you. 

[TwinsMom1299]

Nov. 13, 2008 at 10:14 PM OMG...... so let me get this straight... this didn't happen until you had your tubes tide? MOST of what you described above is me every month! It's horrible to go thru! But I've never had my tubes tied. tried 'oblation' 3 years ago, cost me $4,000 & they couldnt even finish the surgery because my uterus is heart shaped & the instrument wouldn't fit..... so they didn't finish, it didn't work, but I still had to pay for it.... sucks..... I'm about ready for a hysterectomy just to be done with it!!! So sorry for you and what you are going through!!!!!

[MomW773]

Nov. 13, 2008 at 10:27 PM

Wow!  I'm so sorry for what you've been going through.  I am so glad that you post this, though.  Really makes you think!