Girl Talk // Periods, Smear Tests and Ovarian Cysts // A Personal Account.

Afternoooooon!!!

It is September... Which means we are heading into autumn and I am SO excited about it. It's my favourite time of year and this only means the countdown to Christmas can now begin!!!

I have decided to do a more of a chatty and informative post today for all the girlies out there. As you would of guessed from the title of this post I want to talk bout all things 'woman' which means, all the not-so-nice things that come along with being a lady. I want to chat about things that have happened to me personally and touch on subjects that don't always get discussed by us gals. 

Periods, smear tests and ovarian cysts are some of the things that us as women have to contend with but can freak some people out, especially the mention of the dreaded "smear test". If you are a guy reading this, I suggest you sign off now before you are grossed out! Ha. :) 

Okay, so I have never been pregnant so I cannot add this to the list of things that we have to deal with. But the things I have had to deal with I wanted to share with you to ease your minds slightly if you are worried about the above. 

" I love my period" says no one ever!!

Periods, I have THE WORST in the world I swear. I am on the pill and have been since I think I was sixteen years old. I got put on them originally because I was having really painful monthlies. Now I double up on my pill to try and settle them some more because as I have got older the pain has returned. So, I will have my period, then I will take my one pack and then once that has finished I will then move straight onto the second pack. That way I have 6 periods a year instead of 12. Don't worry the doctor told me it's fine to do that.   

That aside jeeze they are vile little things. The pain I get is horrendous and on the second day I usually feel so ill, I get a headache, cramps, almost pass out and feel very sick. I think a lot of it is to do with the pain and to make matters worse I seem to have occurred what me and my friends call "the bum pain". I won't go into it but if you know what I mean, you will know how excruciating that is. In short, I suffer big time. 

I end up looking even more like Casper than I do now with dark rings around my eyes. I look disgusting. These are the times I thank the lord that I am single. :D

I end up looking like something from the walking dead!!!

Does anyone else have this problem? Mine aren't particularly heavy, just normal but the pain is the big issue. Most of the time I cannot move out of my bed, let alone function. It's a pain in the ass when I am working too. 

I also cannot use Tampax due to the fact I had a reaction to them back in the day so now I have to use the frickin towels which, lets face it aren't the most attractive of things to use. The night ones are like a frickin nappy and they are uncomfortable and I just feel very vulnerable. 

I would like to know if anyone else has had the whole 'reaction' thing like me? 

I don't think it is 'normal' to be in this much pain when I have a period because it has progressively got worse and as most people know, doctors just seem to fob you off. The amount of times I have heard "you just have bad periods" is stupid. If that is the case, I don't know how I am meant to put up with the feeling like I am giving birth each time I have one. (I wouldn't know what it is like to give birth but surely it's about on the same wavelength?)

I NEVER take painkillers. Call me The Hulk.

Onto the those two words that will fill most women with dread and anxiety when they hear them... SMEAR TEST.

Honestly guys, it really isn't as bad as most people make out. Okay I have a pretty good pain tolerance, which is apt especially as 6 times in the year I have to be like The Hulk. So PLEASE don't listen to anyone that says any different. If any of you guys reading this haven't had a smear test yet but are maybe due one this could be of interest to you, especially if you're anxious. 

I cannot stress anymore on how important it is for you to go to your smear test appointment. It can save your life, literally. 

The first time I had mine was when I was 25 and I was really nervous as I didn't know what to expect. Literally it takes seconds and it is done. Obviously, have a lady doctor do it as you will feel more comfortable and will relax you more. She will then use this plastic like duck beak (ha ha) kind of instrument so she can access what ever she needs to access down there. That for me was a little uncomfortable but as soon as that was done she took a swab and that was that. Done. You will feel a little scratch possibly when the doctor takes the sample but that is it. No pain, no torture chamber just a normal procedure.   

For me, the results bothered me more. Unfortunately for me when they did come through they came back as abnormal with mild dyskaryosis. The first thing that ran through my mind was "oh my goodness, do I have cancer?" That is and was not the case. Even so it still put the fear of god into me. It is not something every 25 year old wants to hear *covers eyes*. What my results meant was that I have some small changes to my cells in my cervix which needed to be investigated, just to be on the safe side. 

I freaked out. Not going to lie. I was in tears a lot of the time. I had to go for an appointment at the hospital where I would need to have a colposcopy done. I had to have a sample taken away from my cervix/womb to be tested for any abnormal cells that could develop into something more serious. Again that procedure wasn't the best but it wasn't the worst either.

That wait was horrible, I just wanted it to be okay. And it was!! :) 

My test came back with the results lower than CIN 1 and the abnormal smear test came from some 'acute inflammation' which could be down to anything like irritation from soap. 

I had my other one the other week (as I went back to normal 3 year screening) and it came back normal!!! Yay! I was DREADING those results understandably. Ha. 

The importance of my personal account is ten fold, because what if I hadn't of gone for that test. That COULD OF been something sinister and this story might of  not had a happy ending. 

Ladies. YOU MUST go for you smear tests. Yes it is nerve-wracking but think about the satisfaction that you are gaining just knowing you have done something that could potentially save your life. Not everyone is as lucky as I have been but 9/10 your result will be normal. :)

My hot water bottle is my best friend." A friend in need is a friend indeed". 

Ovarian cysts. They are the devil incarnate let me tell you. I have never ever had one up until recently and by golly I wish I had never encountered one!!! This is saying something. The pain is WORSE than my period pains, I have never felt pain like it. Since having one and talking to people about it a lot of women have said having one of those rupture is worse than labour pain. Well I had one and mine ruptured. It was no fun and games, I was admitted into hospital with mine. And oh, guess what. I am experiencing another one as I type. 

Apparently, they can "just appear" It is nothing you have done and you cannot do anything to stop them occurring. :( 

The first time I had one I came home from work and felt really odd. Ill. This pain in my lower left abdomen started and it would not go. I could not sleep, I couldn't move. There was no relief. 

I almost called in sick at work the next day but I went in thinking it would pass. It didn't, the pain then became excruciating and was coming in waves of like 5 seconds. I almost had to call the ambulance out to me. I didn't know what was going on. The only way I could describe the pain was like a stitch sensation that turned into major stinging and then when it reared up, it felt like I was being stabbed. It is hard to describe pain.

I went to the doctors and he had a feel and he then kindly informed me that he thinks it is definitely an ovarian cyst. I was shocked. What the hell? 

I spent the rest of day in bed at home and I ended up ringing the doctor back saying it was getting unbearable and he ended up sending me to hospital where I was admitted overnight into the gynecology ward. It was horrible. I had to undergo various invasive tests and yes those hurt. And my cyst had ruptured hence the pain. They couldn't see my ovary fully on the scan as an organ got in the way, so they couldn't check if there were others on there. I was also nil by mouth too and I was really hungry. All I kept thinking  about was  my mums brownies!!!

The cravings. Junk. Standard. 

Well obviously there was other cysts because I now have had another rupture. In the same place as before. On top of my period too, so lets just say I have been really ill this week. 

 I am waiting for a scan date to come through as my doctor wants to know what is going on. He mentioned me going to hospital gain but I really didn't want that. All I can say is I DO NOT want another one. I would also like to add, I never take tablets (painkillers) and when I do take any that means I am in a lot of pain. How I didn't take any with the first cyst is beyond me. I did take some this time though. It was BAD.  

This has been a wordy post but I thought it would be something informative to read, you may be going through the same things or you are interested to know about the things I have mentioned? These topics have all included my person accounts and I hope it may help some of you if you are experiencing anything similar. I would love to hear your thoughts and stories. It's nice to know you're not on your own!!! 

L xx      

B12 Deficiency // Welcome To My World : A Silent Epidemic With Serious Consequences.

Hey guys!!! 
So today I have decided to do a 'Serious Sunday' post and talk about something that affects me and maybe a lot of other people too, that don't actually know about it. 

I found out that I have a B12 deficiency a few years back now, maybe 3 years? I cannot exactly remember, but yeah it doesn't seem like anything to someone just reading those words. However it can be a lot more serious than you think!!

I went to the doctors with my mum because I needed to see someone about my periods (we are all girls here, so I hope you aren't grossed out by that) ha. I was getting quite bad ones which were really painful and I still get them really painful to this day. On the second day I would start to pass out and it made me so ill I couldn't move. So when the doctor asked if I was anaemic, due to me being really pale I thought it was linked to my bad periods.

Nope.

If it wasn't for that doctor investigating my 'paleness' I most probably wouldn't even know to this day that I had a problem. I have always been pale, and maybe that's why but she checked the redness in my eyes,under my bottom eyelid and decided they were too pale and did some blood tests. 

For quite a while I had been breathless, I couldn't get upstairs without gasping for air and I went to the doctors time and time again about it, but nothing was done.

 I had continuous insomnia and just couldn't fall asleep, I was losing weight rapidly even though my eating habits hadn't really changed. I was getting dead legs constantly and pins and needles in my right leg. I kept forgetting the simplest of things. I was getting a lot of headaches and thought that was because I changed my pill. I was also getting a lot of palpitations which were really uncomfortable and at one point I could see a weird like 'popping' movement coming from the skin in my chest. And a patch of skin on my right foot lost all feeling. It went dead and that scared me. Actually...

It freaked me out!!

I looked awful as you can see. Ha. I did have a real bad picture but I no longer have it. My face was really thinning out.

I started to really notice these symptoms (but obviously thought nothing of it) when I was performing in my first ever singing competitions. I had all these effects going on and it really affected my singing. I couldn't keep the breath on notes and in Worcester's version of 'Britain's Got Talent' (Worcester's Got Talent) I was in the semi-finals singing Jessie J's 'Do It like A Dude'and I was soooo ill. I just couldn't hold the notes, I was dancing around too which made it worse and I was having to gasp for air. It was horrendous trying to perform when I was anxious anyway, my immune system was low too so I kept getting tonsillitis to top it all off. In the video which is on my old YouTube channel you can see at the end of the performance when being interviewed I almost passed out. I cried after I felt that bad. 

Not long after that I was in the 'Text Factor' competition, again another singing comp. And once again I wasn't well but I soldiered on, I was then called to come into the doctors to discuss my blood test results. 

I got told that the blood tests actually come back saying that I had a condition called Macrocytosis which is where my red blood cells have enlarged quite dramatically and that means not enough oxygen is being carried around my body. This explained the breathlessness and that fact I couldn't breathe properly. The doctor then told me I had to have more tests to determine what was causing this. I think I was put on some medication to reduce the size of the cells, but I can't fully remember. 

A few weeks later I was then told that I have a vitamin B12 deficiency and low folate too. The tests showed that my levels of B12 should be around the 1000 mark and mine were at 60. I was then told I was at the danger point of being permanently brain and nerve damaged. 

I was really upset as I didn't understand why I had this and how serious it was. If I remember correctly I did get told it was genetic. I was told as a test, to eat things that were high in vitamin B12 to see if my levels increased. It didn't. I was on folate and vit B12 tablets (folate and B12 work together) and neither of those worked.
 Obviously I was getting worried, but then I was told that my stomach wasn't absorbing the vitamin, and B12 can only be present through eating foods with it in. We as humans don't produce it ourselves. I was told there wasn't enough intrinsic factor in my stomach to absorb it. Therefore it is conclusive that I have pernicious anaemia (an autoimmune condition where the body destroys intrinsic factor, a protein needed for the absorption of B12). This was a lot to take in for one person. 

And if that wasn't enough I was then told that I would need to go to hospital as they think I have celiac disease and have a camera put down my throat into my stomach/intestine.   

I freaked out, there was NO way I was going to have anything shoved down my throat. I struggle to breathe through my nose as it is, and I was worried I wouldn't be able to breathe with that down my throat.  

Celiac disease I was told was linked to food intolerance. To this day I am slightly confused by it all. And to this day I still haven't had that camera down my throat. 

I now have to have B12 injections for the rest of my life and I will have to live with certain symptoms but it doesn't affect my working life or anything like that. It just is really annoying to have. The injections hurt, especially if the doc hits a nerve. It stings but it is bearable. I have mine in my bum as it has more muscle there and I thought it would hurt less. The injection gives me an energy boost and makes me feel awesome, it stops me being cold for a while too (I am always cold due to the condition) and I can sleep properly. I love having it because it helps my symptoms. 

http://wlsvitagarten.com/tag/anemia/

A lot of celebrities have it now because "they can". And it has been treated like a fad for weight loss and to keep their skin and hair healthy. It annoys me that celebs' such as Rita Ora and Victoria Beckham are using it like this. For people like myself it's a necessity for me to be of normal health. I just feel a lot of medicines are abused for the sake of vanity. 

The article is here.

http://style.uk.msn.com/health/vitamin-b12-injections-do-they-work-1

I would like to point out that this all happened in the start of me going to university and it really affected my first year as I had a lot of time off because I was poorly and I kept having panic attacks and real bad anxiety. 

I am now completely over that, thank God and although I am not 'fine' I am living with it and as I have said it doesn't harm my working and day to day life. 


If any of you have noticed anything that I have mentioned here or even all of it, then go straight to the doctors. That one doctor who took the time to investigate this has potentially saved me of something that could have been drastically a lot worse. A lot of docs don't recognise this condition as the symptoms that are presented can be linked to other illnesses. But I would push for tests because doctors aren't always right!!

If you have any questions that you would like to ask me regarding this, I will be happy to answer them. When I told people about it they didn't take it seriously and they still don't. They don't really understand the implications of this deficiency and how I see it is, if you don't understand, you can not belittle the problem that someone else has. 

A little life lesson people.


♥