Pelvic Pain

I’m going through a rough period health-wise.  I am not going to say that it’s a relapse of my FQ toxicity symptoms, because it may not be related to my floxing.  But I am going to say that I am in a lot of pain right now and I’m struggling.

I’ve been experiencing pelvic (toward the back door) pain for a while.  It started a few months ago but it was on and off and I was able to ignore it.  A few weeks ago it got so bad that it kept me up all night for a few nights.  Then, a week ago, it became constant.  Constant, horrible, tightness and spasming in my pelvis.  It’s excruciating.  Truly, it’s the most horrible pain I’ve ever experienced.  On a 1 to 10 pain scale, I’ll give the pain a 9.  I’ve never felt pain this horrible, but I’ve never passed a kidney stone or gotten severely burned, so I’ll reserve a 10 for those things.  It’s consuming pain though and it really, really, really sucks.

I am pretty sure that the cause of my pain is Levator Ani Syndrome.  Basically, it’s a spasming of the deep muscles in my pelvis.  All of my symptoms fit Levator Ani Syndrome.  My doctor is checking me for other possibilities, but because Levator Ani Syndrome is a diagnosis of elimination I suspect that she won’t find anything wrong with me.  (I hope there is nothing else wrong.  If this is a sign of colon cancer, or even IBS, both of those are very bad things.)

My pain may or may not have anything to do with fluoroquinolone toxicity.  It may be caused by neuropathy of my pudendal nerve, in which case, it may be caused by getting floxed 3 years ago.  But it also may be caused by something that has nothing to do with FQ toxicity – like maybe I was doing Pilates wrong and it caused tension and cramping in those muscles.  The causes of Levator Ani Syndrome, and most other causes of pelvic pain, are unknown, so it’s impossible to tell whether or not the pain that I’m in has to do with the damage that Cipro did to me.

I was fine.  I truly was fine.  I was doing really well and living a normal life.  This is a bit of a set-back and I’m feeling pretty lousy about it.

This really sucks.  Pain sucks.  There is nothing okay about constant, horrible pain in my pelvis.

I’m hoping that chiropractic, acupuncture, neurosculpting and mind-body alignment therapy will heal me and get rid of this pain entirely.  I’ve just started each of those things.  I really, really, really hope they help.

Until I can go through some sessions of chiropractic, acupuncture, neurosculpting and mind-body alignment therapy, I’ve had to figure out how to deal with the pain.  The following things have helped me through the pain:

1.  Kratom – This painkilling herb has been a life-saver.  It gets rid of my pain better than vicodin but without any side-effects.  I hate vicodin and other prescription painkillers.  Kratom has been wonderful and I am sorry for ever doubting its greatness.

2.  Corydalis – Corydalis isn’t as strong of a painkiller as kratom, but it has still helped immensely.  It’s on par with the OTC painkillers like ibuprofen and tylenol, but without some of the nasty effects of those drugs.

3.  Kava – I’m in a horrible cycle of pain-tension-anxiety-pain-tension-anxiety that spirals and makes every one of those things worse.  Kava helps to break that cycle.  It has been a life-saver.

4.  Sitting on a tennis ball – It helps to relax the muscles that are spasming.  It’s uncomfortable, but discomfort is better than pain.

5.  Massage – All of the muscles in my lower body have tensed up.  Getting a massage helped.

6.  Breathing exercises – Breathing deeply, into my pelvis, has helped.

7.  Cannabis based pain lotion – The lotion that I got is pretty low in both CBD and THC, but rubbing it on the affected area seems to help none-the-less.

8.  Hot baths – With epsom salt – they help.

I’ve tried tart cherry juice, herbal muscle relaxers, meditation and a few other things too.  They are good in their own right, but they haven’t been able to touch the pain that I’m currently dealing with.

Other than sitting on a tennis ball, the things that have helped me through this painful time may be able to help others through pain.  People have asked me what to do about pain and I’ve always said, “drink tart cherry juice and meditate.”  Now I know that sometimes that doesn’t cut it.  My pain was severe (and still is).  Painkilling herbs have helped.  I’m not a doctor and everyone’s situation is different, but kratom, corydalis, kava and the other things listed sure helped me a lot.

I don’t know how I would have gotten through this last week, or faced this next week, without kratom, kava and corydalis.  I am thankful for them.  But I don’t want to be on them long-term.  I want this pain to just go away.  I’m hoping that my multi-pronged alt-therapy approach helps.  It has to.  This current situation is not okay.

If anyone has any other suggestions as to how to get through this, I’d love to hear them.

And to all those who can empathize with my pain – I’m so sorry!  It sucks.  I hope that you find relief!

I hope that I can get through this quickly and get back to being hopeful, well and fully recovered.