so after experiencing the worst pain/mental anguish i have ever felt in my life in december, matia and i agreed that i needed to go back on an anti-depressant. my body just could not handle her regimen without that buffer for my nerve pain. but we decided i would go back on a different one - cymbalta rather than effexor. even though i'm on a low dose (which i was before too) this has been a tremendous help physically and i was able to get back on treatment and actually push harder than i was before.

as an example, in the past, we had tried sf numerous times and it just flared my vv and sacrum pain too much. recently we tried it again and once again it flared everything, but i decided i would stick it out as long as it wasn't so over the top that i couldn't go to work or function in daily life. and ultimately, i've found that after a few days, it kind of subsides. it's still bad, but tolerable. so, we've just continued to up it, so now i'm at 9 sf per day along with 3 golden and pros. i still feel crappy all the time, but i'm able to function. never thought i would be able to tolerate sf. so going to just keep pushing. i'm at the point (about 16 months in treatment) where i really haven't had any signifiant relief and feel that i just need to push it hard and see once and for all whether a bacterial imbalance has anything at all to do with my pain - which i have always questioned. it's hard to handle the fact that so many people get well and that i'm not. i just don't understand. and yet, she keeps telling me she believes this is the issue and that i will get better. i just don't get it.

anyway, my question today is about period cramps. i haven't really had cramps in years - ever since i went on the pill a number of years ago, i just stopped getting cramps - even after i went off of it. through treatment i've had twinges of cramps every now and again but few and far between - and very mild. well, this month, i got my period yesterday and had two bouts of really bad cramping - one in the middle of the night. i almost had to take tylenol (which i haven't had since starting treatment), but the heating pad helped enough until the cramps passed. my period also seems to be even heavier than usual. could any of this have anything to do with the SF/cleansing? i barely have any die off symptoms other than some headaches/sinus sensations/jaw achiness - so sometimes wonder if "cleansing push" is doing anything at all. but now my period is worse, so i'm wondering if there is a connection and also if it's a bad sign or maybe a good sign somehow? anyone have similar experience or thoughts?

thank you.