Hi. I’m Beca & this is my story. Sept 2008: I gave birth to my youngest son. His birth was difficult yet wonderful but also meant that at 23, I had 3 children. I had also been told after child 2 that any future pregnancies would be high risk due to trauma sustained while delivering child 2; for this reason I started discussing permanent birth control with my ob/gyn. I knew I didn’t want any risk of becoming pregnant so we (my now ex-husband, doctor, & myself) decided sterilization was the way to go. I had 3 kids under the age of 6, was a full-time student & employee, & had many other things happening in my life; so when my doc explained how the Essure procedure would be far better than a standard tubal ligation: I was all ears. He told me how quickly it could be done, how fast I would be back on my feet, & best of all how it could be verified to be fully effective. I compared his pros with the other surgical options, with non-surgical options, & then looked at the cons he provided on all my options as well. Looking back I realize the information I was provided was limited & had major bias. But at the time Essure looked like the answer to my needs; so in November of 2008 I went to the hospital & had the procedure done.
I hurt like crazy when I woke up from the procedure! And after a medicine free delivery of a large baby I was pretty sure I knew what pain was even if my OB/GYN was looking at me like I was nuts. This was touted to be a basically pain free procedure after all. I was sent home with a prescription for pain medication for a few days & told any pain or spotting would cease within a week. A week later my doc proved to have been correct. I went back after the required 90 days to have the effectiveness verified. Everything looked good per my doctor & his scans. Great right? Not so fast…it doesn’t end there…
For the first 3 years or so, everything seemed normal other than the heavier periods with outrageous cramps & the reappearance of acne. I figured that if those changes meant no high risk pregnancy & therefore being around for my children I would & could deal with the side-effects. Then in early 2012, I began to have severe PMS symptoms which I’d never experienced before, bloating to the point I had to have a second wardrobe, cramps that made normal activities for this now single working mother nearly impossible, & migraine headaches for a day or 2 as my period would start. Then came my actual period, which was now so heavy that a super plus tampon lasted an hour or two at most, was laced with very large clots, & lasted 6-8 days opposed to my previous 3-4 days of lite & regular tampons which I’d change after 6 hours because that was safe & hygienic. Then my regularity changed…or disappeared would be a more accurate description. And that is just the changes to my menstrual cycle. It went far beyond just that aspect of my life…
I began noticing swelling in my hands, feet, & other joints, more shedding of hair from my head while the other hair on my body (arms, legs, etc.) seemed to be getting darker & thicker, & daily bouts with a queasy stomach and IBS symptoms lead to drastic but desired weight loss. I went from a size 22 down to a size 8 or 9…With the aforementioned second wardrobe in a size 12 to compensate for PMS bloat. Top it all off with certain sex positions being painful & sometimes pain for 2-3 days after sex. Pain that felt like the hardest contractions imaginable or like I was going to split in two… This was just the beginning of the downward spiral of my quality of life.
Now, late March of 2015, I am facing numerous appointments with specialists to determine if I have MS, fibromylgia (sp), or a different autoimmune disease; diseases that are generally found with some type of family history & I have none. I am in constant pain! Generally this pain is coming from my lower back & right hip area. I suffer from depression, mood swings, anxiety, & lack of self confidence. I have gained back 30-40 lbs of the 100+ I had lost (but it’s all in my belly), have been on & off steroids for the last year to help manage the pain, & have had pain management injections in my spine. Add to that, that I suffer from headaches of differing severity on a daily basis, have total body muscle pain, sleeplessness resulting from the pain (as I write this at 2:37 am), so I fight fatigue every single day, & a host of additional issues. What kind of life do I have now? Where did the girl with the world at her feet go?
I feel like I’m sleeping my life away… I can sleep 4 hours, 8 hours, or 16 hours & still feel like I need a nap by late afternoon. I take 2 pain medications (1 of them narcotic), an antidepressant, nerve pain management pills, muscle relaxers, Xanax, & a prescription weight loss drug everyday. Even with all these medications to manage the symptoms I hurt; plus they make me that much more tired. And then there’s the countless hours & hundreds…no thousands…of dollars I have spent in an ER, at my primary care physician’s office, or having some type of test run–yet again. Only to be told they can’t find anything wrong; that there is no medical reason for what I’m feeling or the way I’m suffering! Between the pain & fatigue, & the doctors I have missed so many important moments in the lives of my children & my partner. These are moments I can’t ever get back! And my desire to be an active mom to my 3 little folks & truly be a partner to the wonderful man who holds my hand through all this is never met. Wasn’t the whole point of the procedure so that I could enjoy life? So that a medical condition didn’t rob me of my family & quality of life? So far that hasn’t been my result…
I am a creative, passionate, outdoor loving 30 year old woman & I want my life back!! I want to be the mom I am in my heart; to be the life partner my man deserves.So in order to try to be the me I am inside, I have made yet another appointment to see my primary care physician to discuss how Essure could be the source of all these ailments because I no longer have faith in my OB/GYN who has said the procedure was successful. Hopefully, he can send me to someone who will listen, someone who will hear my concerns & cries for help. I have just started this journey & know I have a long road ahead but it will be worth it to enjoy my life again. But I find some consolation in knowing that I do not walk it alone anymore.
And a huge thanks to my friend Molly who took the time to direct me to this page; she knew because she suffers too… Maybe one day, sooner rather than later I pray, we can all celebrate a life free from the prison that Essure has created for us. Bless you ladies & Erin for sharing, caring, & refusing to settle…it does matter! We matter!