I had my follow up appointment with my gynecologist today, following the laparascopy that I had back in the middle of November. He showed me the pictures of every lower abdominal organ...apparently quite pleased with my overall anatomy and "beautiful" blood vessels. Talk about a man who loves his job!

Dr. B (who I simply will not quit raving about) found and removed a small spot of endometriosis (or what he assumes is that considering it was actually quite microscopic) in the cul-de-sac between my uterus and cervix. I'm really pleased to hear this because that's the precise spot that I felt the pain most and the spot that I knew there had to be something weird about. He also removed some scar tissue on or near my colon (this was less exciting so I stopped paying as much attention). He wasn't sure if this was from a virus, endometriosis, or some random body oddity.

He's fairly confident that my pain should be alleviated and that I should have smooth goings from here on out. Because we've caught it while it was still small and while I'm young, there is a better chance that it won't return or cause issues later in life. I'm hopeful for this. Although the laparascopy wasn't unbearable, it isn't something that I'd like to undergo again.

The other thing I discussed with him was the birth control I'm on. I started it back in late October (so I'm 5 weeks in). I'm on Seasonique in order to limit my periods, not only for the endometriosis pain that I was having but also because I experience severe cramping and bleeding during my period. But my body doesn't seem to be agreeing with it.

Since starting it, I've experienced some severe nausea. I also got breakthrough bleeding last week which hasn't stopped. It's day 11 of that, and I have to say that I'm quite fed up. I've never experienced anything like this and I'm not a happy camper. Seasonique is known to cause considerable breakthrough bleeding since it limits your periods to four per year. To make it worse, I was forced to start the pill without ever getting a period (due to Accutane strict requirements).

I have two options here. My first option is to switch to Ortho Tri Cyclen Lo, which I was on back in 2007 and didn't have any adverse side effects that I recall (certainly nothing as severe as 10 days of bleeding or nausea that makes me wake up in the middle of a deep sleep). My second option is to take 2 pills for 2-3 days (which I did last night) and see if that helps the bleeding. Along with that, I'd be moving the time I take the pill to earlier in the day to see if that helps the nausea (so my stomach doesn't empty itself completely so quickly).

I'm at a loss as to what to do, completely and utterly lost. I want to stay on the Seasonique because I really want to limit my periods. The cramping leaves me in horrible pain, on the verge of fainting, and popping way too many pain pills. But I don't want to endure another day of this torture! I honestly don't know how women put up with breakthrough bleeding for months at a time...which is what I could be looking at by staying on Seasonique.

I'm also scared that switching to Ortho Tri Cyclen Lo won't fix it. Possibly, I could still bleed for an extended amount of time. I don't see the nausea sticking around, which would be nice. But if I'm still bleeding on OTCL, what's the point of switching?

I feel like I'm stuck between a rock and another rock...and they are slowly crushing me. I have until Sunday to decide and I'm going to continue doubling my pills as well as move them to earlier in the day. Hopefully the bleeding stops and the nausea continues to dissipate (as it has in the last week, minus doubling the pill last night). If that happens, then I'll stay on Seasonique week by week to see if anything else happens.

If only I could see the future...in all these conditions. It'd make it much easier to judge how to treat and manage now.