Another, but different, Dr's Appt

 So yesterday was fun...

I had an pelvic ultrasound, and everything looked good - ovaries, uterus (it's tipped to the back, who knew!) and all that. Then the Dr came in, took a biopsy of my cervix, and to be honest the pain was that of one of my mild to middle type of cramps during my period. It wasn't bad, I didn't even react to it. Mainly because I am used to that type of cramp and in full honestly, I am used to a LOT worse (I wonder if I should do a "put a finger down" TikTok on that??). But it did cause bleeding and I wasn't prepared for that at work AND I was a bit nausea after the appointment. (This made it an easier decision to go home and nap instead of back to work the rest of the day)

Then, they did a Saline Infusion Sonohysterogram, which was a new experience. You could see on the screen pretty easily that I have a polyp. The Dr said this could be causing my heavy ass period bleeding. By heavy, I bleed about 160-195 ml of blood each month - all in about 2 day span - and this does not include any spotting/light period stuff either. The average period is 5-80 ml with 80 ml being heavy.

Suffice it to say, I'm a heavy bleeder.

I told the Dr. I would prefer a more permanent solution, because removing the polyp will LIKELY reduce my bleeding, it won't fix all the other issues going on. I much rather remove the whole package down there if that is possible please. 

He said the biopsy will be back in a couple days, and from what I've read they are usually benign. However, I just had a precancerous polyp in my last colonoscopy, so I am definitely keeping my fingers crossed this one is a plain jane.

What a week!

This week, wow, has been so incredibly busy and crazy and with so much going on with everyone I care about.

But seriously, I am not sure if it was the new moon this week or what, but whatever was going on affected everyone. Thankfully things are starting to even out and there are more positive outcomes happening, so that's good. Stay focused on the good, on the positive and keep moving forward.

For more good news, I did an egg fast and stuck to it and lost 12 lbs. Holy Fuck. Yes, it's a lot of water weight, but it's also a great way to jump start back into a healthy life style and keep on losing weight and figuring out healthy options. I love that more places offer Keto friendly options, both at places to eat like Chipotle and at grocery stores. It really does make it a lot easier to plan and enjoy what you're eating.

Oh and I finally got my period. After literally 73 days. Yesterday the cramps reminded me of high school where I was nauseous and puke-y and the pain was insane. Whereas today, it's been a non-stop flo. Literally since 3 am, and every 3 hours until 10pm tonight, where it's finally starting to slow down a bit. Now, I use one of those menstrual cups, which holds 32ml or 1.08 oz, so far since 3 am it's basically 208 ml or 7 oz - literally today alone. Now, according to google:

"Most women will lose less than 16 teaspoons of blood (80ml) during their period, with the average being around 6 to 8 teaspoons. Heavy menstrual bleeding is defined as losing 80ml or more in each period, having periods that last longer than 7 days, or both. But it's not usually necessary to measure blood loss."

Thankfully my period lasts about 3 full days, but damn, this is one heavy mf right now. Well, at least today's day is heavy.

I am so exhausted, not just from my period, but also from the politics of the day, Covid-19, and people that just can't help but be stupid. I know with the fast this week, sleep has been difficult. It's also been no alcohol, which has been mostly successful. I had 1 sip (SIP) of whiskey, due to my period pain yesterday. But, I need a vacation. Like a nice, week long vacation with nothing good food, drinks, maybe a pool or something. Maybe 2 weeks. My vacation time is mounting, so hopefully sometime soon I can at least a few days in a row. Without having to clean the house or do laundry, or anything else that is a chore.

In other news, I am working on a new tattoo design that will cover up my partially removed moon. I am pretty excited about it. It's nice to have a symbolic and meaningful artful idea for a piece. I've been using my bf's ipad to use the images and add/remove/combine things to it. The next step is find a good (maybe local, maybe not) artist that can do the cover up.

I think it's time to relax, watch some Netflix and think about the dishes that need to be done tomorrow.

Diva Cup - My Period (PCOS) and probably a TMI post

So, I have been using Soft Cups for a while now, about 3 years or so and was on the fence about going the route of the Diva Cup (or something similar). I saw a post in one of the PCOS groups I'm part of on facebook and finally moved the item from my saved for later list to the cart and checked out. It arrived 2 days before my period started (score!).

One cool thing I did not realize is that it has measurements on the size, ml and ounces. Which then made me turn to Google to see how much the average women bleeds during her period. The answer, typically 30 ml (1 ounce) but can range from 10 to 80 ml. So, when I filled up the cup (15 ml) the 1st day, I was like - damn! Add another almost 7.5 (ok, let's say 7.5 ml due to all spillage, leakage, etc) for the hours after work and before bed, because I had changed it out again, before the cup was in for the night. I had almost another full 15 ml again this morning. DAMN. So, my normal period in the first 24 hours is MORE as the average woman's 5 day period! No fucking wonder I get so tired!!!

Now yesterday, day 1, I did drink a lot of my Moon Day tea and Organic Ginger tea (3 cups of each). They both are really good for flushing your system and helping your uterus out. I will be doing the same today. My periods are usually about 3 days long now. Which is a lot shorter than they were in the past. No need to go into all those gory details!

Because of PCOS, I take Pregnitude (and no, I am not TTC (trying to conceive) I am pretty sure that ship sailed!!) because it comes in this nice little packets that contain 2 grams of Myo-Inositol. I take 2 packets a day. Sometimes 1 at a time and sometimes both at once.

From my pcos-information-herbs-and-supplements page:
Myo-Inositol " Encourges Ovulation in women with absent or irregular menstrual cycles with PCOS. Decreases Leptin, and helps with Wieght loss in PCOS. Improves Mood, and can help depression according to studies. It is really good for your liver. Helps hirsutism. Decreases androgens. Helps Insulin Resistance. Decreases acne. Lowers total and free testosterone levels. Improves quality of eggs."

For me, I take it for the mood, liver (I have a fatty liver, stupid body), IR and helps with my minor hisutism (and by minor, I mean that I pluck every day let's say 10 little stupid hairs off my neck/upper lip/chin or wherever facial area). I have not experienced any weight loss with this. But I REALLY like it. I am not some angry pissed off freak of a monster with hormones raging all through me. Yay no jail time ;)

I also take progesterone cream - "can help to supplement your body’s own progesterone levels and lead you back to a state of natural balance."

Because those of us with PCOS are typically LOW on this. Ha, Google low progesterone and PCOS and you will see a lot of info out there.

One of the things I've read is that it helps your uterine lining shed more, which is important because a thick uterine wall is one of those "things" that gets associated with cancer. And with my family genetics, I need to be aware of shit like that. My grandmother on my Dad's side had Ovarian cancer.

So I am happy to know how much I am shedding, at least to some degree, by using this Diva cup. Of course, I could still have a thick wall but some things I just can't help. I know that when I was about 19 I saw an OBGYN for a pap and she had said my was thicker than normal, like I had already had a kid (which was a negative in that!) and I've always remembered that comment because I thought it was a bit unusual.

I have this learning curve with the Diva cup, which I knew would happen. As long as I can get this thing down either this cycle or the next one or 2 I will be happy. It's a better long term solution for my period and better for the environment. No major leakage thankfully, just minor tweaks so far.

I seem to rotate what I am taking for my PCOS, depending on what I need at that moment...and also because it's good to change things up every now again, you know, get off that plateau and shift the scenery.

Oh and did you know? That when you get a cramp during your period, it's your uterus contracting, like it does in childbirth? Uh huh. I get back pains with my period as well as cramps and it wasn't until last night that I realized, NO WONDER I had back labor with my son!! Ahahahahahaha. I knew cramps were muscles, well, cramping, but for whatever reason I didn't think of my uterus doing gymnastics was my period as such.