Other Women's Stories - Page 1

My husband and I are 26 and 27 years old, we have had two beautiful kids, a boy and a girl, in the past 4 years. After much thought, we decided that 2 was enough. When we went to our primary care physician, we asked him about our options on tubal ligation or vasectomy. We wanted to know the risks on both and then we would weigh our options and decide which of us was going to do it.
My husband's medical records state that his father died of prostate cancer at age 43. So when we doctor saw that he informed us that there have been studies that have shown that vasectomies have increased the risk of prostate cancer. Because of his already high risk of cancer, the doctor told us he "would not do a vasectomy" on my husband. There are too many risks there he said. When asked about the risks of tubal ligations, his quote was "there aren't any" The only concern was of course that any major surgery can have complications. Wow I was impressed we didn't even have to think about it.. obviously it would be me doing a tubal. We made our appointment for surgery that day.
I admit that the next few nights I was a little nervous about the tubal.. I started looking online for more info on the subject. I actually came across the tubal ligation coalition page, read a little bit, and actually told my hubby that those women's letters and comments just HAD to be blown out of proportion.. that there was no way that all of those things could happen just from tying tubes! So I went ahead with the surgery. 
The day of the surgery I was a little scared, but kept reminding myself that this WAS the right choice for all concerned. I went home that night and really had no pain to really complain about. I went home a happy woman. I had pictures to prove that the tubes were tied and burnt. I kept looking at them to remind myself that it had actually been done! Sex became a whole new universe to me.. sex without worry? Who knew how fun that could be????
Well about 3 months later, I started noticing that my hair was falling out. Now very much but definitely more than normal. I thought it could be my new shampoo.. so I changed shampoos 4 or 5 different time.. nothing helped. I stopped using gel or mouse. I stopped blow drying and curling.. if anything it fell out more! I tried to enjoy the humor that my hubby tried to make out of it.. the bald jokes hahaha.. it would all end soon I thought. Maybe just changing weather. WOW was I wrong. it kept getting worse. I really started to worry about it. Actually started getting grey hair! I'm 26.. how can this be???
The plot thickens now.. 5 months post tubal I started having strange periods. I have had 1-2 day periods (yes really) from the day I started my periods at age 13. Now I was having 3 and 4 day cycles with horribly huge clots! I mean the kind that you wonder if it was a miscarriage. These things were like solid golf balls!!! Not even after having my kids did I clot like this! My husband found me in the bathroom one day just sobbing my eyes out. I didn't know what was wrong with me.. but I knew it obviously wasn't anything good. Then I started having these periods 2 and 3 times a month.
That's when I returned to the post tubal ligation coalition page. After re-reading all the symptoms, I about fell off my chair. OH MY.. now it makes sense that my hair is falling out and I have these weird periods! Then it hit me.. the realization that I had been to this site before and didn't believe the women on the site talking about their problems. Now here I was experiencing the same stuff. I felt horrible. I apologize to every woman on that site.. I am so sorry I didn't believe them.
It took me a couple more weeks to get the courage up to see my GYN. After reading all the stories on how badly the women were being treated by their doctors, I was afraid to go. Somehow I won the lucky lottery that day though. When I saw my doctor, I started telling him all my problems... Before I was even done, he was ordering hormone tests, doing a pap and an uterine biopsy. I asked him what might be my problem, he said "my guess??... early menopause." Can you believe this???? I wanted him to tell me I was fine - that he could just fix me that day. But I was also relieved that he was on the ball and ordering tests. I talked to him about tubal ligations and asked him if it could be related. His answer-" it hasn't been proven yet.. but there have been many women that have had similar problems post tubal. It is just that the FDA hasn't made it a medical fact yet" Now why couldn't my old doctor have said that?
The more I think about it the more upset I get. These doctors know about these problems, these risks, but don't tell us?? Not only not tell me, but goes to great lengths to explain the risks to my hubby about vasectomies.
Every day I feel myself getting more edgy, more scared, and more pissed. I have now started having panic attacks. Rapid heart beats.. light headedness.. I can't figure out if it is a symptom or just a reaction to all of this stress. My poor hubby has been trying to understand all of this.. understand why I am so cranky and moody, but the mood swings come on so quickly he has no real time to react. He gets most of the venting.. sorry hubby. But the worst is the kids, they are only 2 and 4 years old! They don't know or could even comprehend what is happening or why mommy is so upset half the time.

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I made the decision to have my tubes tied while I was pregnant with my second daughter. I knew I wouldn't be having any more children. We got permission from the hospital because it was a catholic hospital. My doctor and I agreed that soon after my daughter was born, we would do the procedure. I ended up having an epidural so the needles stayed in for the anesthesia. my daughter was born shortly after noon and I had the tubal at 4:00 -- my stomach was still bloated so it was basically go in and out and it was done. The worst part of the procedure was sitting in recovery. That gurney was so uncomfortable.

Since the procedure, everything has progressed as normal. I do have months where my cramps are worse than other months, but that usually happens when I haven't been exercising like I should. The length of my period did increase but only by two days -- so instead of a five-day period while on the pill, I have a seven-day period. The bleeding itself has not increased. I still have two heavy days, two moderate, and the rest are light days.

It has been almost four years since I had the tubal and I haven't had any problems to report.