- Post starter
- #37
littleoc
VIP Member
Hey, y'all. I'm still in the hospital but after about four hours we're done here. I'm a bit surprised at the results so I thought I should tell you all, so others with similar issues can maybe get the help they need.
So this morning I went into the doctor's office with a piece of paper with the years 2005 and 2006 written, and the ages 10-11. I showed it to her, explained -- and apologized in advanced if I went mute. She understood and didn't press.
She asked me general questions about my health, and then asked me to describe my symptoms. Afterward she reassured me that she didn't think I was suffering from anything scary, and that she would order some bloodwork (checking for auto-immune disorders or infections) and a treatment option she would let me control.
The first she said something she WASN'T giving me unless nothing improves. She said at this point a colonoscopy seemed to be potentially too traumatic and not a good idea, and she doubts it will become a good idea at my age. We'll go back to it only if nothing else works.
Then, she told me she could get a medication for me to help with pain, which she would hope I would only need for three months WHILE doing one of the other options -- again, citing that I am young and she would hate adding onto my medications long-term at this point. I actually refused this for now in favor of some over-the-counter meds she recommended.
She does think I could have an inflammation thing, but besides that, nothing that should become a syndrome/disorder besides maybe IBS, hopefully.
The other two options were ... I forgot the first already (I was amusing doctors with forgetting what I was doing while doing it, lol, nothing too bad though). But the second was physical therapy -- there was a trauma sensitive physical therapist who focuses on the pelvic floor.
Just remembered the first option. It was seeing a nutritionist to work on figuring out which foods could be increasing or decreasing stress.
Anyway, I asked mostly out of curiosity if the PT was available today, and she was. I go to that PT office for the rest of my body, so why not.
PT was surprisingly extremely effective... and had a private office for this instead of out in the open. She was very mindful and let me talk about what was going on in a slow pace.
She also gave me three options, after educating me briefly on the processes that the pelvic floor does (it turns out my bladder issues seem to be related to this as well).
First was to try biofeedback (will explain momentarily), second was something about the belly muscles, and third was a brief exam of the rectum and vagina but without stirrups or other things that would hurt -- because she'd only need to feel the muscles to be sure they were okay.
I could choose one for this time and later on schedule a follow-up appointment for either another option or to revisit whatever I chose today.
Exam sounded like a terrible idea, and for some reason I didn't understand the belly thing and also didn't think to ask for a repeat -- so I chose biofeedback because she had already let me touch the device and it was pretty cool.
She brought in a second therapist to block the door on the outside (for me to feel better).
The thing was... the biofeedback sensors needed to go on the sides of my hips and.. a couple places near the anus. I tried to cooperate but got afraid and was too tense to make that work -- therapist wasn't going to force it obviously. So she suggested she put the sensors on the cheek instead so my shaking wouldn't continue, and then we could see the outside muscles instead.
Turned out to work VERY well, and was not too intrusive to be alarming to me. She helped me figure out how to relax those muscles, and very quickly my pain started to feel somewhat soothed. My back and thighs felt better, as did other things. Pain diminished.
She said this is pretty common, especially since I've been afraid of toilets and going... and it seems when my brain instructs those muscles to relax, they don't. They fight and tense -- probably a fear thing that's been going on for years. That's been causing extreme pain and other symptoms, just from keeping those muscles so tight for so long that they had forgotten how to relax a bit.
So, I will be practicing that and then going back in about a month.
Other symptoms are being addressed as well. It seems PTSD/fear and stress were affecting me pretty strongly.
So if you've had problems that could have to do with years and years of fear... a doctor may be able to pinpoint your problems and help you focus on solutions.
Thank you all for your advice and help
So this morning I went into the doctor's office with a piece of paper with the years 2005 and 2006 written, and the ages 10-11. I showed it to her, explained -- and apologized in advanced if I went mute. She understood and didn't press.
She asked me general questions about my health, and then asked me to describe my symptoms. Afterward she reassured me that she didn't think I was suffering from anything scary, and that she would order some bloodwork (checking for auto-immune disorders or infections) and a treatment option she would let me control.
The first she said something she WASN'T giving me unless nothing improves. She said at this point a colonoscopy seemed to be potentially too traumatic and not a good idea, and she doubts it will become a good idea at my age. We'll go back to it only if nothing else works.
Then, she told me she could get a medication for me to help with pain, which she would hope I would only need for three months WHILE doing one of the other options -- again, citing that I am young and she would hate adding onto my medications long-term at this point. I actually refused this for now in favor of some over-the-counter meds she recommended.
She does think I could have an inflammation thing, but besides that, nothing that should become a syndrome/disorder besides maybe IBS, hopefully.
The other two options were ... I forgot the first already (I was amusing doctors with forgetting what I was doing while doing it, lol, nothing too bad though). But the second was physical therapy -- there was a trauma sensitive physical therapist who focuses on the pelvic floor.
Just remembered the first option. It was seeing a nutritionist to work on figuring out which foods could be increasing or decreasing stress.
Anyway, I asked mostly out of curiosity if the PT was available today, and she was. I go to that PT office for the rest of my body, so why not.
PT was surprisingly extremely effective... and had a private office for this instead of out in the open. She was very mindful and let me talk about what was going on in a slow pace.
She also gave me three options, after educating me briefly on the processes that the pelvic floor does (it turns out my bladder issues seem to be related to this as well).
First was to try biofeedback (will explain momentarily), second was something about the belly muscles, and third was a brief exam of the rectum and vagina but without stirrups or other things that would hurt -- because she'd only need to feel the muscles to be sure they were okay.
I could choose one for this time and later on schedule a follow-up appointment for either another option or to revisit whatever I chose today.
Exam sounded like a terrible idea, and for some reason I didn't understand the belly thing and also didn't think to ask for a repeat -- so I chose biofeedback because she had already let me touch the device and it was pretty cool.
She brought in a second therapist to block the door on the outside (for me to feel better).
The thing was... the biofeedback sensors needed to go on the sides of my hips and.. a couple places near the anus. I tried to cooperate but got afraid and was too tense to make that work -- therapist wasn't going to force it obviously. So she suggested she put the sensors on the cheek instead so my shaking wouldn't continue, and then we could see the outside muscles instead.
Turned out to work VERY well, and was not too intrusive to be alarming to me. She helped me figure out how to relax those muscles, and very quickly my pain started to feel somewhat soothed. My back and thighs felt better, as did other things. Pain diminished.
She said this is pretty common, especially since I've been afraid of toilets and going... and it seems when my brain instructs those muscles to relax, they don't. They fight and tense -- probably a fear thing that's been going on for years. That's been causing extreme pain and other symptoms, just from keeping those muscles so tight for so long that they had forgotten how to relax a bit.
So, I will be practicing that and then going back in about a month.
Other symptoms are being addressed as well. It seems PTSD/fear and stress were affecting me pretty strongly.
So if you've had problems that could have to do with years and years of fear... a doctor may be able to pinpoint your problems and help you focus on solutions.
Thank you all for your advice and help
