Organ Recital

Since the loss of our son, every time I go on estrogen supplementation my joints ache. I go from feeling like a relatively healthy 33 year old woman to a postmenopausal centarian. I'm taking a BCP to prepare for my upcoming surgery and my hands and feet ache. Yesterday my shoulder hurt, today it's my right knee. And then there's the chest pain, which is basically achy lungs that last for weeks. And fatigue.

And I've seen a rheumatologist, a perinatalogist, my reproductive endocrinologist, and my GP. None of whom think the estrogen is related to the joint pain but somehow, every time I go on estrogen my joint pain flares up, and that's the only time, other than immediately before my menstrual periods. The rheumatologist tested me for lupus and rheumatoid arthritis but none of the tests indicated an autoimmune disease. And yet my symptoms are very much like those diseases, and the suffering I experience is very real. It is very frustrating to hurt for months on end and have every doctor just throw their hands up.

My problem with estrogen is a real issue for a couple who can conceive only with the help of fertility treatments. I had no problem during the stimulation part of my IVF cycle last Fall, and had no joint pain during the pregnancy. So I will be in big trouble if estrogen is needed after my surgery next week. Which is very possible, especially if I have a uterine perforation.

And a frozen embryo transfer protocol always includes estrogen supplementation, unless it is unmedicated, which my clinic generally does not do. But I think I need to raise the topic again, because if I'm going to attempt another pregnancy, I need to shoot for being as healthy as possible.