Hello, my name is Alyssa, and I am 18 years old.
In 2006, at the age of 15, I was put on Birth control because I had very irregular periods, heavy bleeding, and very bad cramps. The pill took care of it all, and everything seemed fine.
In the Summer of 2010, I started to get frequent UTI's, and were always treated with antibiotics.
However, in late September 2010, I started to to get a dull pain pinpointed in my lower abdomen/pelvic area, symmetrically on my left and right side (Where my ovaries are). Thinking this was odd, my mother and I went to our family doctor, who ordered an Xray of my stomach, and everything came back
normal. He also performed a pelvic exam, and did a vaginal culture to check for STD's, which also all came back
negative. Then I got my period, the pain stopped, but once I was off my period, it started again. This was when I realized that my pain was cyclical along with my periods. Also, whenever mad bladder is extremely full or right after I urinate when it is empty, my pain level rises significantly.
In October, my pain was so bad that I went to Urgent Care, they did another pelvic exam, and gave me antibiotics for possible Vaginosis. I did the antibiotics, but nothing helped. I was then referred to a Gastroenterologist, who tested me for Celiac Disease and allergies, which also came back negative. He ordered an ultrasound, which showed nothing but a possible Kidney Stone. I have had every urine and blood test known to us at this point, and all signs are normal.
After the possible Kidney stone, I was referred to a Urologist in November. He did absolutely nothing, except rule out IC.
This was when I started to get depressed. I was missing most of my senior year of high school because the pain was too bad to get out of bed.
In December, I found that Norco helped the pain, but only for so long, because each month, it seemed as if the pain was getting
worse and worse. Finally, at the beginning of 2011, I was referred to a Gynecologist. He ordered an Internal Ultrasound, and everything cam back
normal. After telling him all of my symptoms, medical history, and performing more pelvic/vaginal exams, he suggested we do a Laproscopy, looking for endometriosis.
In March, I had the Laproscopy. However, they did not find anything, ruling out endo. All he had to say was the I should try Pain management, or that I should see someone else, hinting that the pain could be in my head
At this point, the pain was so bad that I could barley walk the week before my period, and each month, the cycle would be worse.
In April, I went to an internal physical therapist. She noticed that my abdominal wall muscles spasm when touched. She asked if I could wear tampons, and when I said no, she said it makes sense. However, what does not make sense is that I have
No physical pain with sexual intercourse. However, she then gave me my TENS machine... which has been God's gift to me. It helps me so much that I am able t perform normal daily activities a couple more hours a day than I usually could.
Now, I have not been able to find another doctor who can help me. My Pain has only gotten worse and worse each month and now when I have my period, I am clotting very bad. It has now it has almost been a year of dealing with this undiagnosed illness, and being so young, it is definitely hurting my day to day living.
If you can help at ALL, please do. Thank you for listening. -Alyssa
