I finally got to sleep this morning at about 8am and woke up at about 1:30. So no progress with the sleeping habits... I must go to bed early tonight, even if I have to take 5-HTP, because I will be having an early breakfast with my housemates tomorrow morning. I had been planning to stay awake to ensure that I would be tired enough to sleep tonight at 10 or so, thus re-setting my body clock, if you like, but I developed a terrible pain down my right side through the night. By 6 I was in agony and I went to bed at 8 with a hot water bottle to alleviate the pain. I have no idea what this pain is but it is just one of many incidents over the last several weeks- I seem to be getting pain everywhere from the ribs down lately.
It was just over a year ago when I first started getting these pains- after a short hospital stay involving morphine that left me constipated for several days. First it was confined to the pelvic area, and then I developed back pain and occasional loin and groin pain. My doctor ran all of the liver and kidney function blood tests and various vaginal/urethral swabs and urine tests for bacteria. The doctor didn't find anything and told me that we should put the investigation 'on the back burner' for a while!! (Whatever that means!!)
I have been having cystitis symptoms on and off for several years and despite the doctors never finding any bacteria I have taken a few courses of antibiotics (when I was in so much pain that I was desperate and not thinking clearly). The climax was about two or three years ago when I was sometimes stuck at home for days at a time with incredible pain. I was going through extreme levels of stress at the time- homelessness, financial problems, academic problems and a very nasty feud with in-laws. Since this time I have learned a number of strategies for controlling the symptoms- anti-fungals, alkaline forming foods, coconut water, probiotics etc. This has meant that I have been able to avoid taking antibiotics for about two years (until very recently which I will get onto in a minute).
So the last year I have had vague pains everywhere from the lower ribs down, underlying persistent low-level on and off cystitis like symptoms and sometimes extreme fatigue. During the initial investigations my doctor found that I was anaemic and supplementing iron has helped a bit with the fatigue. I only do this intermittently and particularly around the time of my period. The iron prescribed was awful and instead I use 'Every Woman's Iron Support' by new chapter, which is fantastic and causes me no problems at all. I lost quite a lot of blood during that hospital stay and so I believe that the anaemia may have been a temporary thing- I haven't shown up as anaemic on the tests before or since.
About three weeks ago, I suddenly developed a fever, extreme nausea and pain all over accompanied by numbness in the arms and legs and over the solar plexus. I had one episode of diarrhoea and started vomiting violently. The moment this began my hands cramped up into tiny claws and I could not open them. This lasted for several minutes!!! I was terrified and screamed for my boyfriend who quickly called a taxi to take me to A&E. They were very busy and I spent the whole night there waiting around and I was given two drips and paracetemol (which I just pretended to take) by the nurse and eventually some codeine and anti-nausea pills.
When the doctor eventually came to talk to me he explained that they had initially suspected a kidney infection but that they had ruled this out. He said that my symptoms could be gastroenteritis but that they hadn't found any bacteria. Later he changed his mind and proposed that I was suffering with Pelvic Inflammatory Disease and advised me to go to a clinic the same day to have it checked out (it was now about 5am). I argued with him and explained that I'd had one sexual partner in four years and numerous clean STI tests. He prescribed me painkillers and Ofloxacin, an antibiotic, on the advice of the supervising doctor. He didn't explain this but implied that it was for the gastroenteritis (confused yet?) I spent that day sleeping but went to the STI clinic the following day. I decided not to take the antibiotics until I knew what was wrong.
The doctor at the clinic could not believe my notes. He said that gastroenteritis was nonsense and it was nonsense that they had not found any bacteria in my blood, he said that this would not be possible to establish in the time that I had spent in hospital. He was sceptical about the PID diagnosis. However, after examining me, he gave me a 'clinical' PID diagnosis based on the location of my pain and symptoms although (guess what) they could not find any bacteria in my swabs and urine samples. He asked me to hop onto the couch for an injection.
I think that I may have gone into shock at this point. All of my naturopathic alarm bells were going off like mad. The doctor seemed surprised that I wasn't on the couch but was instead cowering on my chair in the corner staring at the information sheets that he had thrust at me. He asked what was wrong. I asked him what the injection was for. He explained that it was an injection of antibiotics. I asked against which strain of bacteria. He replied; 'gonorrhoea' but, as though realising how ridiculous this sounded, launched slightly defensively into an explanation about how some of the test results may take longer to fully develop and that he was simply following the recommended treatment protocol for PID. I asked him what the rest of the protocol entailed. He explained that I would be prescribed two more oral antibiotics to cover the full range of organisms that could possibly be causing my symptoms.
'So… ' He said. 'If you could just hop onto the couch for you injection...'
I looked down at the information sheets on my lap, explaining PID. I saw the part about the high risk of loss of fertility if treatment was delayed. It was approaching 5pm and I hadn't eaten a thing and felt faint and confused. The doctor asked if I would like to come back for treatment tomorrow, if I was too upset now. If I had plans to have biological children, I would have stayed for treatment then. Since I feel quite strongly about my intention not to have biological children I decided to go. I needed time to think about this. I was certain that antibiotics had dramatically worsened my cystitis symptoms in the past and the diagnosis didn't male any sense to me. I felt sure I didn't have gonorrhoea and I did not want that injection.
I left the clinic and went straight away to a restaurant across the road. I ordered soup and read everything that the doctor had given me, printouts form two different websites detailing PID- causes, treatment etc. After eating and feeling closer to normal, I checked my hospital prescription. It was for Ofloxacin- an antibiotic very good at treating Chlamydia, the major causative organism for PID. It seemed to be the major antibiotic in the PID treatment protocol. The hospital doctor had misled me- tried to trick me into taking it because he knew that I had doubted his PID diagnosis! I felt quite angry but decided to pick up my prescription. I didn't want to wait until tomorrow. We had to get a taxi to catch the hospital pharmacy but we just about made it. I took my first pill and decided to visualise it helping my body to stop myself reacting negatively to it.
The following day I returned to the STI clinic and saw a different doctor. He gave me another antibiotic explaining that it was for 'anaerobes' and said that he was happy to skip the injection in my case. He said that Gonorrhoea symptoms would show up 'quite dramatically in a man'. I felt happy about this and rushed off to catch the opening night of the play that I was co-directing and had three parts in.
This was more than three weeks ago and I have long since received the lab results, no gonorrhoea, Chlamydia or anything else. I am still getting pain. Notably this loin pain today. I intend to see the doctor tomorrow and I believe that the next step should be an ultrasound scan. This was initially advised but when they 'found' the PID my referral fell by the wayside.
This sums up the majority of my recent health issues. My diagnosis? I am really not sure yet and I am particularly confused about the loin pain, but I feel that I may be experiencing a range of non-serious things. The pelvic pain could be my sciatic nerve as my pelvic symptoms worsened when I stopped doing so much ballet to study for my exams. The back pain could, similarly be related to a lack of core strength. I believe that I may have some sort of bowel problems as I have been having a few other symptoms in this area lately- and have been constipated around the time of my period for years. The cystitis symptoms could be interstitial cystitis caused by food allergies of candidiasis or both. I am going to continue my investigations with my doctor but I feel that they have ruled out most serious things. The ultrasound may give me some info but ultimately, I want to press on with some colon, gall bladder and liver work, and anti-candida protocol and more raw and living foods (not necessarily 100%.
I can't wait!! And it all starts tomorrow with our group liver cleansing week with liver/gallbladder flush.
