Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID)

[kdb]

Dear all

I see that someone put to take regular excercise to help treat PID I'm a bit confused as someone recently told me not to do any excercise when I have symptoms. I'm a bit frustrated as I love running and until now try to run 2 or 3 times a week, but it's fairly heavy cardiovascular excercise and I don't want to risk making myself worse. At the same time I feel like I can't do anything fun at the mo.. can't have sex, can't drink, stopped smoking, to take running away as well just makes me feel depressed.

I have finished my second course of anti biotics and I still have symptoms :-( I have been really scared about it all, like a lot of you i've been really worried about fertility. I'm going back to my docs tomorrow to ask her to send me for a scan. Not sure what else to say, should I ask to be given more anti biotics? She seems a bit lost as to what to do next but I don't want to just leave it to get worse. I'm taking loads of supliments in the hope of it making me healthier.

Also, has anyone else had strange head strain as a symptom of PID? I seem to get it when the pain is bad and then it will go when it's not so bad.

On a positive note it has been really good for me to read your posts, it's good to know that other people are in the same boat and also to read lots of postive posts from other people. I do feel more positive now than I have done which I think can only help me on the road to getting better.

Any advice would be really appreciated.

Kate

[Em2508]

I know its boring and unfair and really not nice but its a few weeks of antibiotics to basically try and get your uterus and other areas better and seeing as you are worried about fertility i am assuming you want children in the future. you really need to rest, try not to exercise i made that mistake and it took longer to recover, just take this time to relax and try not to overdo it no matter how bored or down you get. as for the symptoms still being there your doctor needs to give you every possible combination until it goes, simple as. yes its horrible taking masses of pills but its that or something much worse as i am sure you know. I hope you get well soon and try not to google it too much like i did, it really doesnt help the recovery process!

[kdb]

Thanks for your reply. I did stay off the excercise just to be sure and things are getting better. Pain has definitely decreased, so fingers crossed it has gone for now.

I had a scan the other day which was clear too (although I didn't imagine they would find much). A word of warning to others, don't go for a wee before an ultrasound no matter how much you need one! My hospital was running an hour late and I was bursting so I went for a wee only to be called in a minute later, the nurse had a massive go at me for using the toilet. Stupid of me really but i thought I had ages to go to drink loads of water again.

Struggling at the moment as everyone I know is pregnant and its really hard not knowing if I can in the long run. Is it just me or is everyone having babies? It must be the recession or my age. I do feel like no one understands me at the moment though, but what can you say to your friends that are all having babies, "it makes me upset to see you so happy" that would be really horrible.

Sorry for rambling on, I guess this is one of my few outlets at the moment.

Thanks again for your help.

K

[Em2508]

Its good that you did, when you have PID even when the infection has gone there will be a fair amount of inflammation so its much better to try and rest for as long as you can. I found the only way my 'tubes' stopped hurting after PID was at Christmas when i had a stomach bug (yeah i know, unlucky right) and couldnt do anything but sit in the chair and watch telly. After a week or so of that, the pain finally went to the point where it was just a stab pain every so often to nothing, i do still get the odd stabbing pain but nothing anywhere near as bad as the pain of PID. Do you know what your PID was caused by? I had a full STD screen and have always had safe sex so i knew the answer to it already, it was all clear. I think mine was by Mycoplasma, although i will never know for sure all i do know is that there was something there. I too had an ultrasound and it was clear, i did manage to hold the water in till after though, agonising though isnt it.

I feel the same, shortly after my illness i had to go and pick up a birthday present for my cousins little girl who was 2 at the time, being with pregnant couples and people with little children i swear i could have just thrown myself off a building, no joke. I had never felt so alone and diseased in all my life. My friends are talking about kids at the moment and some of my other friends are pregnant and knowing that you might never have your own kids really doesnt bear thinking about so i know exactly where you are coming from, much more so than someone who has never had PID. If you ever want to talk you are more than welcome to chat with me, i do find it nice being able to talk to someone who knows the score if that makes sense.

[kdb]

Thank you for your kind words. It is tough at the moment, as you say not knowing if you can have kids is horrible, it plays on my mind all the time.

Not sure what to do at the mo as I had a really bad evening of pain the other day but since then I have been fine, apart from I feel quite swollen below. I don't really want to go back to the docs as I think she will just say there is nothing more they can do. Any ideas? Should I just ignore the fact that I had some pain or go back and push this more? I get the impression that the pain never completly goes away, is that your experience?

Another friend of mine told me she was pregnant last week, i'm really pleased for her but its all starting to do my head in a bit.

Thanks again for listening.

K

[Em2508]

I get pain sometimes and it never properly goes away, its not the same kind of pain i had with the infection, more like after pain. sometimes it feels like my fallopian tubes hurt if this is even possible. this has to be one of the cruelest infections in the world and until it turned my world upside down i knew nothing about it. i do get some 'tube' pain when i have my period now which is scary and i always panic i need antibiotics but my doctor never even picked up anything off the swabs so i dont even know what caused it in the first place, even more upsetting but all i do know is that it was an infection because anti biotics took the bad, bad pain away.

i know, it really hurts but you really have to try and think positive i have tried to from now on because what happened has happened and you go through stages of blaming yourself wondering what you did wrong and worry you cant have kids as a result of it all but no one will really know till you start trying, the thought petrifies me. the friends having babies is the hardest bit, i was round my friends earlier and they were both talking about kids and i had to concentrate with every bone in my body not to let the tears fall so i 100% know what you are feeling right now.

[Em2508]

and if you want my email to talk about anything i will post it if i am allowed but i am not sure if i am.

[Thuvia]

Eves since I have been diagnosed with PID, I have been frantically googling the symptoms, side effects, etc. I have never in my life been in this much pain, and in fact, didn't even know that PID existed until my diagnosis. For treatment, I was given a shot of Rocephin, a regiment of Doxycycline, and Flagyl (the Flagyl is specifically to treat an STD). I've always been very conscientious about partners that I choose to be intimate with, but all it takes is just ONE person to spread an STD. Regardless of my sexual orientation, I do understand that PID isn't always contracted via intercourse, it just unfortunately happens to be the manner in which I became infected.

As for exercise, I actually feel better if I walk, not rapidly, but just take a walk as a form of relaxation. Otherwise, the pain is so intense, there is really not much of anything I can do to relieve the aches and grumblings in my stomach. Which leads me to my question, did you all also experience severe stomach pain: rumblings, cramps, spasms, etc?

I was told by my doctor that PID is a serious bacterial infection, and because people are becoming more and more immune to antibiotics, that sometimes a full round of medicine isn't enough. Thus, this happened to be my problem, and I am now on my second full round of strong meds. I wish that my doctor had more answers for me, because it seems as if she's just as much in the dark about the long term repercussions to come from PID as I am. Does the pain ever completely go away? Will I have a normal sex life again?

At any rate, I am glad to have found a forum where I can discuss with other women the symptoms of PID and perhaps shed a little more light on this horrible diagnosis.

[Em2508]

I get spasms, even with no infection, if i cough my uterus gives me little spasms i try not to think about it too much out of fear really. how long have you had it for? you can have a normal sex life again yes, but as you know be careful im not going to preach to you because thats the worst thing the doctors did to me they were convinced i had an STD until my test results proved them wrong and told them otherwise. as for it completely going i am still trying to work that one out for myself, unfortunately i dont know i wish i had the answer, some days i get some pain other days i feel like i used to before this happened. try and remain positive and explore options if your not happy with one answer a doctor gives you, push with another one. sending positive vibes to you.

[Thuvia]

Yes, the more research that I do, the more I'm convinced that this is a problem which perhaps doesn't ever completely go away, and what's worse, leaves long term effects. As for how long I've been living with PID, I suspect that I've had it a little over a year, but because I thought something like this could never happen to me, I ignored the warning signs my body was producing. However, my symptoms didn't really flare up until just the last two months wherein they got to the point of severe abdominal bloating, a horrible rumbling and cramping in my stomach, lower back pain, gas, nausea, and fatigue. On the flip side, I never passed blood, I never vomited, and I haven't run a fever or had blood pressure issues.

I go and see an gynecologist this week, and have many questions to ask about PID. My main concern is whether or not I have done permanent damage, and if the current regiment of antibiotics that I am on will at least clear up the symptoms I am still having. As for sex, I don't have any desire at this point and time to pick back up with my intimate life. I've not had many partners, I can count all of them on one hand, regardless though, it took just one partner to wreak havoc on my body.

Thank you so much for sharing your story with me, and for sending positive vibes! Anything else you can share with me about PID I will gladly accept! Cheers!!