What could cause irregular period?

My girlfriend is having a flare up probably from a steroid injection and taking Fluconazol to kill off a yeast infection (which we regret doing). Her blood and urine tests suggest the presence of mold, bart, babesioa, and borellia. Im trying to understand the symptoms of each invader so I can have a better idea of whats going on.

Her symptoms are constant extreme back and leg pain, occasional headache at the base of her neck, numbness in right leg, brain fog, panic attacks, pelvic pain, frequent urination, dehydration, light and sound sensitivity, suicidal thoughts and depression. These could all be symptoms of mold, bart, babesioa, or borellia.

But one symptom is weird to me: her period started 15 days after her last one with heavy bleeding. I'm wondering if irregular periods can help me narrow down a diagnosis?

EDIT I just noticed that irregular period is a symptom of MCAS
[url]https://myvagina.com/mast-cell-activation-syndrome/
which lyme can cause.
I wonder if my girlfriend has MCAS?

Post Edited (robinhobb) : 3/1/2023 4:31:20 PM (GMT-8)

my ex had extremely irregular periods when her lyme and bart was at its worst

periods would completely stop for a few months - or take place every 14 days or be extremely heavy or extremely light

she also had breast swelling, wild mood changes, and extreme food cravings - all signs of hormone disturbances

lyme and bart both mess with hormones A LOT

Unfortunately there are so, so many things that can cause irregular and heavy periods. A few to look into, most of which I have:

- HPA axis dysfunction (hypothalamtic, pituitary, adrenal) - Hormonal imbalances don't occur in a vacuum because all the hormone systems interact with each other, so an imbalance in one system (for example the adrenal system) could lead to changes in how her body produces or uses estrogen and/or progesterone. Stress alone can cause cortisol to increase and affect the menstrual cycle in a myriad of ways. So can infections and mold toxicity.

- Supplements that thin the blood can make periods much heavier. These include serrapeptase, nattokinase, curcumin, quercetin, fish oil, DHA, ashwagandha, cat's claw, Japanese knotweed, and many other supplements that folks with tick-borne disease often take.

- Endometriosis, fibroids, ovarian cysts - These problems could be related to infections or not, but they all can cause heavy bleeding, disabling pain, and loads of issues with the nerves in the lower back, pelvis, and legs.

- Perimenopause - This can occur much younger than people realize, and can occur almost as a side effect of chronic illness because extreme stress can stop your body from producing hormones, even if you're nowhere near menopause, effectively putting your body into a perimenopausal state. This impacts basically everything in your body.

- MCAS - I would be comfortable guessing that MCAS is involved based on the sensitivities, brain fog, and urinary symptoms. MCAS can be involved in making menstrual cycle symptoms worse, as well as irritating nerves, and it can be related to (and result from) hormonal changes.

It's also worth noting that irregular periods and heavy bleeding are side effects of a steroid injection, so that might be all the menstrual symptoms are related to.

Ovarian cysts are very common and most don't even cause symptoms. Some people grow new ones every time they ovulate. Most cysts resolve with the next period, so even if things are terrible right now, they might be better in a few weeks. Some cysts hurt and cause swelling and pain in the area around them, and hurt horribly when they first develop, and if they rupture. Some rupture and are incredibly painful, but don't require surgery and resolve on their own. Some cysts press against nerves and cause terrible pain. If an ovarian cyst becomes large and heavy enough to twist the attached fallopian tube, then that can cause torsion and can cause the ovary to die, requiring emergency surgery. The only known way to prevent ovarian cysts entirely is to stop ovulation from happening, which is done with synthetic hormones, like hormonal contraceptives. You can rule out the ovarian cyst as the cause of her pain by waiting for it to resolve with the next period (or maybe the one after that). Keep in mind that a new cyst could grow in the same place the next time she ovulates, although usually ovaries take turns.

Endometriosis and fibroids also can cause this sort of pain, and they won't resolve on their own. Endometriosis adhesions will swell and bleed along with menstruation, just like the uterus, and can cause issues all cycle long depending on where they grow. Some people require surgery to remove endometriosis adhesions, but sometimes the symptoms they cause can be improved by stopping the cycling hormones they respond to (i.e. using a hormonal contraceptive continuously to stop or lengthen the menstrual cycle) or with holistic treatment aimed at balancing hormones and resolving immune dysfunction. Fibroids are removed with surgery, but also can be treated with proteolytic enzymes.

I have endometriosis and produce ovarian cysts with every menstrual cycle, some of which have caused excruciating pain.

The hormonal treatments I mentioned all carry their own risks and chances of destabilizing her condition, so I don't mean to mention them as though they are an easy fix. Definitely look into alternative options, but sadly there's very little funding or interest in medical research to find other methods of addressing women's health issues. Doctors will shrug and tell you that hormonal contraceptives are the only tool in their toolbox, and roll their eyes when you tell them that your health issues are complex and you worry about adding synthetic hormones to the mix.

When you say that if an ovarian cyst is not responsible for her pain, then you worry about her needing a surgery, I'm not really sure what you mean. You're right to assume that in most cases an ovarian cyst will not require surgery, but most people don't have surgery for pelvic pain and sciatica, either. What sort of surgery are you worried she might need? Do you think she has a spinal injury or recently developed a spinal condition that requires surgery? Those tend to be treated with physical therapy, traction, cortisone injections, hyaluronic acid injections, and other things before surgery is considered. How long have her pain symptoms been going on?

My mother has long-term spinal pain and sciatica issues, and has tried many treatments, including two spinal surgeries, so these things are all sadly familiar to me. Of course, no two cases are exactly the same! Just providing my frame of reference.

For sciatica, many people benefit from treatment that improves their musculoskeletal health, like physical therapy, craniosacral therapy, pelvic floor physical therapy, or some types of chiropractic adjustment. Acupuncture can make a big difference. Cannabis (or its non-psychoactive derivative CBD) can make a huge difference for the pain. Sometimes ergonomic issues are involved. For my father, who could barely function due to sciatica for years, CBD was the only thing that touched the pain, and it resolved when he adjusted how he sat on his sofa and lost a hundred pounds. I understand you might be worried that tick-borne infections and mycotoxins are irritating the sciatic nerve, which is possible, but I point these things out because sciatica is very common in the general population as well. Chances are good that a combination of things is going on - probably one or more of the typical triggers for sciatica, combined with the hyper-reactivity of nerves that tick-borne disease and mycotoxins (and the nervous system stress of being chronically ill) can cause.

Is she treating tick-borne infections and mold toxicity yet? She will need a specialist to address those issues, so you're definitely right that the doctor she's seeing about the ovarian cyst will not be able to help.

I have a friend who has all of these symptoms (plus a couple more) as a result of long COVID, so that's another angle to explore.

robinhobb said...
She started taking clairtin last night for the first time and im going to pick up some querectin today in hopes that if this is MCAS we can get it under control.

Borrelia does not like claritin as it blocks its manganese uptake, but I found that claritin could increase the effectiveness of antibiotics. If you're not taking antibiotics, claritin alone is not enough to kill borrelia, and I found that it tended to make the bacteria more active and release toxins.