Probably TMI...oh well.

Okay, so this post might be TMI, but I figured I should probably explain some.  I’ve been mentioning being “hormonally challenged” and taking progesterone.  “Why on earth would an otherwise healthy 26 year old have to take progesterone?”, you might wonder.  “Isn’t that for old ladies in menopause?”  Well, yes, if you don’t make enough of your own progesterone, you have to take a supplement.  In my case it is to help with my secondary amenorrhea.  Which means I don’t get my “monthly gift” on a monthly basis.  For me, it’s more like every 6 months…or so.  Now this causes a few problems. 

Problem #1:  Apparently, not “shedding the uterine lining” often enough can raise the risk of uterine cancer or endometriosis, according to my doctor.  So that is why every 2 months when I don’t have one on my own, I have to take 10 days worth of progesterone pills to “trick” my body, so to speak, into having a period.  Fun, huh?  Apart from the horrible water retention this causes, it also has another really odd side affect.  I have to take it at night before I go to bed because if I’m awake too long after I take the pill, it makes you feel like you’re drunk.  TOTALLY.  Blurred vision, can’t walk straight.  I didn’t know that the first time I started taking it and was just watching TV for a while after I took the pill.  I get up a couple hours later to go to bed and about fell right over trying to stand up!  Yeah…great.

Problem #2:  Fewer chances to get pregnant.  Women with normal cycles have about 12 chances per year to get pregnant, right?  Me?  I have about 2.  So, with no help, I have about an 83% LESS chance to get pregnant in one year when compared to a normal person.  Wow.  Great odds, huh?  And to top it off, I don’t have any earthy idea when to even EXPECT when my chances are in that year so I’m completely in the dark.  This is why I tell my husband that if he wants kids about the same time as our friends, we better get started early because it’s going to take a while.  I mean, I mentioned to my doctor about trying to start having kids in the next year or so and the very first thing she says is how I’ll have to get started on Clomid.  Not even, “We’ll see how you do on your own first.”  Just straight up, if you want to get pregnant, you won’t be able to do it without drugs to make you ovulate.  Doesn’t that take the fun out of it?  The surprise?  Of course, if I did get pregnant on my own, how would I even know?  I’d be six months pregnant before my first missed period!  Haha!

Problem #3: No expectations.  I can NEVER prepare.  Since I have idea when it’s coming, I can’t take necessary precautions.  It just shows up out of the blue, no warning (except the EXCRUCIATING cramps the night before).  Guess that’s the only good thing about taking the progesterone.  I can kind of plan around that.  Other than that though, no idea…no expectations.  It’s very frustrating since I’m such a “planner”.  I don’t do well with spontaneity.

I do admit, the not having to deal with it on a monthly basis is kind of nice, but the issues that make that the case, I don’t know if it’s worth it.  I hope I don’t have daughters for this reason alone.  I don’t want to have them deal with it.  And since it runs in my family, there’s a good chance they would.  Why me??  I seriously think that life hates me.