Also just to note- my periods are black. The entire time. I was told it's just old blood and nothing to worry about. But it just doesn't seem normal. Why is it staying in me long enough to turn black?

Adrenals eh? That's pretty interesting. I get worse pain if I eat too. Man. Be over already!!

I wish baths didn't make me so sick. I stick to my heating pad and that helps. Castor oil packs help too. Just miserable. Totally miserable.

I used to, before cancer and menopause.

I would get depressed and nauseous, and I would feel like throwing up.

Basically, I felt like crap.

Now, post menopause, I'm hot basically all the time, and can't sleep!

Margaret

I feel great during my period it's the PMS that is horrific. Serious depression, irritability, anxiety and insomnia. Oh and I drop everything but that is not so bad.

The symptoms are serious enough that it has interrupted my studies and over four semesters of University I've have to drop out of two of them.

I've been wondering why no one has been able to figure out my PMS. Progesterone and adrenal levels are all normal. I think for me it's just the infection that gets worse with stress and causes PMS.

IHL - The dark blood is strange (I have had it in the past). Red means fresh and oxygenated I think.

I'm curious to hear more about your cycle.

Yes, IHL, I've always gotten them with your & Sayyadina's same symptoms. I'm very lucky that I don't have the usual PMS or bloating.to add insult to injury. I do get total exhaustion 2 days before starting. Vomiting and sometimes fainting from the pain in the first 2 days. I would sometimes miss school or sports practice it was so debilitating. Used to take more than the recommended doses of pain meds to try to take the edge off in the first couple of days of misery. The following final 3 days were never too bad.

Once, I was at the mall w my teen sis and cramps came on suddenly. I made her run to the novelties store on the lower level to buy me some pain meds. It seemed like she was taking forever so I hobbled to find her. She said it had only been 5 minutes and that when I was walking toward her I was hobbling & bent over like an old lady and my face was actually green. I made her drive us home from the mall even though she didn't have her license yet. I vomited the whole way home.

But honestly, I thought this was all normal. My sister always fainted from the pain & a few of my friends got it just as bad as I did every month. They don't have lyme. Interestingly, it got better for each of us after having our first children. Also interesting is that we all had incredibly difficult pregnancies and labors--not sure if the violently ill periods were related to the rough childbirth stuff. Another weird thing is that (now that my cramps are usually not debilitating) I've noticed I get a surge of energy on the first day of my period. I usually exercise on the first day, which helps minize the cramps and nausea. Then I'm pretty tired the next day, then so-so for next 3 days.

So anyway, I'm not sure if it's lyme. **But I do know that my cycle has always been shorter than the norm: mine has always been 23-25 days per cycle instead of 28. The most interesting thing to me is that on abx it quickly switched to a normal 28-day cycle,** but with some cramping and spotting about 5 days before starting, which has never happened before. I took it as a sign I'm getting better. I've wondered if Nyone else had this happen to them.

Have you noticed any changes or improvements since having your son? I believe you've said you had a very difficult pregnancy so I again wonder if these things are related...

Post Edited (mauihawaii) : 6/15/2015 6:19:13 PM (GMT-6)

No changes or improvements. It's almost worse. Now I have adhesions twisting my uterus into a weird shape and it's stuck to my stomach wall. Like.. where my 6 pack muscles are its glued to there and then glued to my bladder. I have suspicions that it might be caught up in my intestines too. I have a lump on my right side that gets bigger and smaller and I'm pretty sure it's the adhesions stuck something that not supposed to there right there.

I think my periods are black because the blood gets trapped for a long time. Probably due to the odd shape. I was told my cervix is deformed but it's "no big deal". Ha! I've already had one surgery to fix my uterus since I had my son. I probably need another one I think the same thing happened. I cried to my doctor for 18 months that something wasn't right and when they finally did the surgery I was proved right. My uterus was attached to my effing belly button! It was way out of place. In the picture is was stretched into the shape of a tube sock with rocks in the bottom of it. Jerks!!!!! I don't think it's that bad right now. But I'm pretty sure something is wrong again along those lines.

I've bled for 5 months straight and I've also not had a period for over 6 months. The gynecologist always tells me it must just be normal for me. Such a lame excuse. I'd rather hear he just doesn't know.

The pain a period can cause is incredible! I'm so so sorry you guys suffer too. I totally empathize. I'm actually scared to get my period because it's so awful. If there's anything I need to do its just simply not going to get done. It's disruptive to my life. It's not the kind of thing you can just push yourself through. People that haven't experienced it just can't relate at all.

Wow! I'd fire him on the spot! I much prefer female doctors for female problems.

I don't blame you for being afraid. I would be too. I hope there's a doctor in your area that would take you seriously and do the necessary testing and treatments to help you. No doctor should turn you away with symptoms like that. I'm sorry you have to go through it. Can your Lyme doctor help you find someone else?

My cycle-related cramps & migraines are only bad when I've been exposed to Gluten. Had migraines from age 9 until I went gluten-free, and the cramps started with my first period as a teenager.

Got glutened 2 weeks ago, and the cramps were insane. The pain was shooting from my pelvic area to my back, shoulders, chest, abdomen, hips, and down my legs to my toes. And it was severe.

What works for me (besides avoiding gluten):

Homeopathy. Arnica Montana 50M potency at onset of pain, then 200C potency as needed after that.
For the nausea associated with my cycle, I find homeopathic Pulsatilla (I usually use 30C potency) to be like magic.

While waiting for the Arnica to kick in:

A Thermophore heating pad on my lower back. This heating pad pulls moisture out of the air to provide moist heat, and it is wonderful. And an activated hand-warmer placed on my pelvic area over my uterus seems to help also.