I just have to do a post simply to say to each and every one of you, THANK YOU!
I almost burst out in tears reading all the responses I get from you all.. I feel so honoured that I can be some form of help.. This is what I vowed when I went to go for my reversal after discovering what PTLS was... That I would keep reaching out to women all around the world.. Letting them know they aren't alone.. Letting them know they aren't 'going crazy'..
I am full of emotion as I type this actually because I am so moved by the courage PTLS women have..
If you suffer with PTLS whether you have known for a while or just discovered, here is what I want you to know right now.. (From my own words & experience)..
I Understand...
You were once a lot stronger than you are right now. I understand. You were so much more active, bubbly, predictable with a higher zest for life.. You may have had some troubled times in life but what on earth is all this trouble stacking up on top and inside you like unwashed dishes? Why you? .. I understand..
You find yourself now sitting with a friendly familiar face and watching that persons face change to something else.. While you rattle off all the unbearable things going wrong with your body, your mind and your life.. You realise that familiar face just don't seem to familiar any more and feel so alone..
I understand you feel like a raging hypochondriac.. A woman who has her own body mould in the chair at the Dr's surgery.. Possibly seen more specialists than you could remember.. The silent tears you cry when your strength breaks in the still of the night that you just don't want to wake up another day feeling like this 'monster'..
Just the same as the Dr's results that claim "I'm sorry but the tests come back 'normal' so how about you try this anti-depressant now?" I understand..
I understand how life feels like the light is caving in to doom and despair.. I understand because I have been there..
I understand how maybe you never felt you looked good enough and now you find you certainly have a reason to feel disgusted in your reflection.. What happened to you? You look aged, baggy, pale.. sick.
I understand all this.. As well as the reflection, there is what you feel that you can't see.. That pain and discomfort surely would make a grown burly man fall to his knees and weep..
Maybe it's age.. like a few of your friends suggested? Or maybe those women chattering about how child birth does this kind of stuff to a woman were right? Or were they? The insanity you go through wondering.. I understand.
Will you ever have the doting eyes you had for your partner/husband again, or is this just 'what happens' as the relationship goes on..?
Is the rope you are dangling on to going to stretch any further?? Because frankly it is feeling so weak and what on earth is this word 'strength'?? You are sinking in the sand... I understand..
So now that you know you are not alone, the tears drain out of you.. You want to show all them bastards that you are NOT CRAZY! You want to take this blog to your bedside table so you know it is not a dream.. You want action immediately..! This is everything you have needed to find and read!!
But wait............................!!
How do you know if the reversal will really work? What if it don't? The Dr's are going to think you have really, truly 'lost the plot' now!!
Your anxiety rises just thinking of these things!!
PLEASE SWEETHEART............. Take a deep breath... Another.... Have a sip of water.. It is ok, I understand.. Because this was once a lot like me..~Written By N.P.Smith 2014.
I knew in my heart God led me to it and I had nothing to lose.. I went right ahead with my reversal and I am now PTLS free.. Was the recovery a fairytale? No. It was patience. But I will tell you that I knew it had worked the moment I opened my eyes after reversal surgery. I knew I was a "woman" again!
Not this raging woman-man-monster-losing-my-mind!
I can't describe that feeling to you.. But If you know yourself well enough to have found that you have this horrible condition called Post Tubal Ligation Syndrome, you will certainly experience the immense enjoyment of welcoming yourself back when a reversal takes place..
Stay strong! Pray! You are not alone.. You can read through this entire blog to read my full story.. You can join my FACEBOOK Page... It is hard to answer everyone individually on this blog but I find a lot more success with private messages on the Facebook Page.. Every one of you struggling or overcoming is strength! Never forget that..
P.s. I am going in leaps and bounds, but I will save that for next time :-)
Wow. This is so inspiring. I have been reading through your blog and I am so hopeful. I too am a sufferer of PTLS. I had a TL in 2013 and I am scheduled for a TR may 20 2014. I am looking forward to having my life back. Would love to chat with you about how you are recovering.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for reading and. I am so glad it has helped anyone searching for answers. I have not logged in here for a while. But I really hope that your reversal went well and you are feeling much more like yourself again. I have fully recovered. It is such a relieving feeling to know that I got the opportunity to have my reversal and the research was available for my husband and I to recover from the mess PTLS caused. I am so grateful to God! Once again, thank you for your support.
DeleteHi, could you please share where, what type of HCL, you got please? Did you go to a naturopath or anything or work it all out for yourself ? While still suffering from PTLS the low stomach acid is where I was led to in my research, post PTLS, tyis is definitely I believe wha I am chasing now, & im wondering how you knew your stomach acid was so low please ?
ReplyDeleteHi, I am sorry it has taken all this time to reply. I really hope you have definitely found a source of help with the low stomach acid by now.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I did so much researching into not just PTLS but after with things like the PPI's, Magnesium and calcium etc.. I had a very sensitive stomach and had so much trouble digesting. So it can be daunting when researching online as there are many medical articles and other people's posts. But in the mist of it all we discovered that indeed I did have low stomach acid as we were wondering if I possibly had a gut thing such as Helicobacter Pylori.. There we stumbled across low stomach acid mimicking high stomach acid and they had me on PPI's for a few years at a high dose! So we researched how to sort out the low stomach acid. It was by ordering HCL tablets from a health store (off the top of my head I can't remember the brand or dose) - hubby is pretty sure they were 1000mg HCL and it was not apart of any other vitamin. Just on its own. So the thing was, I was to take one capsule with water straight after a meal. If I felt no warmth or slight burning at all I would take 2 capsules in my next meal. If no reaction again I would take 3 in my next meal. This pattern would go until I got that slight burning sensation. (If it is super uncomfortable I would put just a tiny pinch of bi-carb soda in 1/4 glass water and sip it slow.)
I ended up getting a reaction after a staggering 10!!!!
Ok, so when I got to 10 and felt that reaction, my next meal I would take 9. I would stay on 9 with every meal until I felt the reaction. I would then go to 8 with each meal until I got the reaction and so on until I was down to none. It reset my system. I also would suggest keeping your fluids up and laying off acidic foods or drinks while doing this. Natural yogurt was good too and gentle on the stomach to help with neutralising it I found.
If I didn't have low stomach acid, I would have got a reaction after one capsule. My husband is extremely healthy and never had any medications or anything (apart from pain killers with dentist!) and he tested it on himself and he got a great burn in his gut from the one he took. So that is all I can explain. I really am once again sorry for such a long delay in response but I hope all is ok with you