In my last post I blogged about how I took myself off the pill. But what happened? There is so much out there about side effects to expect while on the pill, but nothing official about when you come off the pill. The only stuff I could find was from women’s' forums online and health chat forums where people were sharing their, what I started to call, 'come down symptoms'.
I didn't wait till I was done with the pack. I decided that this was it - I am coming off the pill! It was mid-pack if I remember correctly. Two days after I came off it I was sat at my PC playing The Sims (shhh! I find building homes and having minions very relaxing!) and I suddenly got this sharp stabbing pain on my left side, near my pelvic bone, on my groin area. It was so painful! It felt like a hot poker had been thrust into my side. I got up and walked to the kitchen (really slow) to get a glass of water. The hubby was making us cups of tea and I just grabbed his arm tight and said to him "Babe, I don't know what's wrong with me!" He helped me to the sofa, got me some pain-killers and we started to knock heads about what this was. We'd decided on groin strain and/or possible hernia. Earlier that day I had taken one of my nephews swimming and been in the pool for a good four hours. I had not exercised in a few weeks cause I pulled a muscle in my shoulder while working out, thus, we thought that because I just hopped in the pool and swam for so long after such a while of inactivity then groin strain it is. But no, this could not be groin strain when come another day I was feeling this across my lower abdomen, sort of into my uterus.
I went to the Doctor (brilliantly awful as he is and I mentioned in another posting) and I was told to go take some fiber pills or Sena. I was told it's constipation. This is even after I told him I'd just taken myself off the pill, when I did, the swimming blah blah etc. No exploration of possible causes from him at all so, unhappy with his diagnosis and armed with the power of Google, I started searching, digging, uncovering articles, forums, people's blogs and finally read enough to conclude that I was having Mittelschmerz. Or simply: Ovulation Pains.
What is Mittelschmerz or better known as Ovulation Pains? - Simply putting it, it is when you experience pain and/or discomfort when an egg is released as you start to ovulate. Why had I never had this before? Because being on the pill stopped me from ovulating so you can imagine the shock to my system when I started to for the first time in seven years! Adding it all up it worked out that the time I decided to call the pill quits just so happened to be round the time my body would ovulate naturally. I ended up with a withdrawal bleed followed by my period. I know, lucky me right?
For me as time has passed the Ovulation Pains have gotten better (subsided to a twinge now) and I now don't think I will suffer long term with the actual condition Mittelschmerz. When I got this the first time and the second month I was literally bed ridden. I could not move cause I was in constant agony on my side. I have been off the pill for four months now but how long will it take for your systems to clear from the side effect of your come down? I don't know and you know what? No one knows! That's right. If you're reading this, feeling all this, the truth is that no one can tell you how long you will suffer from ovulation pains as a side effect of coming off the pill. From what I have read of various women’s' accounts it could be a month, a few months and some even up to a year.
For further reading I suggest visiting this link to the Mayo Clinic website. I found it really helpful. Here is the link:- http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mittelschmerz/DS00507
Now, I best stop blogging here. Cheese and bagels are calling me. Doo doo! I need to not touch the cheese! But if I have a tiny bit no one will know right? Not even my diet right? *grins mischievously*
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