I am a 24 year old mother of two. I had a tubal ligation performed after the delivery of my son in August of 2003. In the short five months since my surgery I have had numerous health problems, including constant headaches, tendonitis in the ankle and shoulder, carpal tunnel syndrome, and back pain. These problems have led me to see a general practitioner, an orthopedist (twice), and a neurologist. I even had a MRI done on my brain, neck, and upper back. No one has been able to help me. I have also had many other problems, including gastrointestinal upset, hot flashes, insomnia, mood swings, anxiety, and memory loss, just to name a few. I had chalked this all up to my body readjusting from childbirth. However, after having to go home from work today in tears because of an extremely heavy and painful period, accompanied by a very upset stomach, I decided to get online and see what I could find out. I have at least half of the symptoms on your list for PTS, and I am disheartened to think that my tubal has caused all of this. I was never informed of all these risks. These problems have begun to take a toll on my career and my effectiveness as a wife and mother. This is the only thing that has made any sense to me through all of this. Thank you for struggling to inform us all!
P.S. There are numerous typos, misspellings, and grammatical errors on your site.

Amy
December 19, 2003

I have not had a period for over 3 months and I am not pregnant. I have frequent lower left quaderant pain.....my doctor is ignoring the issue.

Lisa
December 2, 2003

I'm 28.  I had a tubal after 4 kids.  I had the hysterectomy after 3 years of pain and complications from the tubal. Now I think I'm going through menopause.  My symptoms include night sweats that wake me up, excessive periods of sweating during the day(after I get very cold), excessive(uncontrollable) weight gain since my hysterectomy in Nov.02 and bad mood swings.

Bethany
Date: 24 Nov 2003

I am young, but ever since having a tubal ligation 2.5 years ago, I have had completely crazy, erratic cycles, horrible mood swings, NO sex drive and physically do not always become aroused which makes intercourse uncomfortable, I have become depressed because of this. I have heard that TL can cause premature menopause and I can't get anything from my dr.

Hiedi
13 Nov 2003

I'm a mother of 2 boys 13 and 11 and I had my Tubes Tied, Clipped, and Burnt plus they took out a section of them. I suffer from Hot Flashes, Insomnia, Loss of Sex Drive, and Mood Swings among other symptoms. I had the surgery done when I was 20 and I haven't had a regular period sense, and I haven't had a period since April of 1998, that is when I found out that I have Ovarian Cysts that are a reoccurring problem.

KIM
04-16-02

Which method was used for your TL/Sterilization? 
BURNING IS ALL I KNOW

I had nursed 2 previous children I had had c-section, no problem. When I had third child, c-section, within days I was completely unable to nurse and she was literally starving. They said no connections though. I had never had femal problems suddenly I am having excruciating ovulation and phantom periods. They said no connection. 9 months after c-section and tubal, I woke up feeling like I had the flu and have felt like that pretty much every day for 13 years. My hair fell out, phantom fevers, aching, sore throats, etc. They said no connection and it must be psychological. Went to different gynecologist who vaguely knew that one in a trillion women have trouble after tubal but thought I must be in early menopause. Progesterone drove me nuts. 7 years ago a female doctor diagnosed Fibromyalgia and IBS. I was skeptical. Today on Internet found PTS. I have always thought it was the tubal. I felt like I never recovered.

Pamela K.T.,  RN
Date:  09 Apr 2002

Comments:
I am so excited that I found your web site. I am a Registered Nurse and I know enough to know that what I experienced after my tubal was NOT Psychological like 3 out of the 4 Doctors  I saw said it was. I am so sick of the fact that these Doctors do not listen to their patients. It is almost like they seem to think they can't learn anything else. We learn new things in the Medical Profession every day. Please sign me up. I'll do what ever I can. This issue has been such hurt to me since I was 33 years old. I have had to fight to maintain my quality of life ever since I made the decision to have a tubal. I can tell you that I had mine reversed and it did make a significant change. I still have some problems but I believe that is all due to the tubal. All side effects did not disappear. Whether it is a psychological issue or not, it is all related medically to the individual as a whole person. If one area doesn't work, it certainly can effect another and quality of life can suffer. It was explained to me as a Band-Aid surgery. I almost sued over this, simply because I felt so uninformed at the time of my consent. It is so belittling to go in for help the last 8 years and to this day be treated as if I'm just emotional about it or acting silly. I am now trying to avoid a hysterectomy due to a fibroid tumor in my uterus (that is NOT cancerous, I've had a biopsy) My doctor almost insisted that I have a hysterectomy instead of trying progesterone every month for a while to see if this would help my heavy bleeding each month. I refused today and she wrote me a prescription. So you see, if there was something wrong with me taking progesterone, she wouldn't have written the prescription. It was just a matter of me saying NO. I wonder why she wanted me to have it so quickly? Her reason was because I will eventually have to have it done anyway and I would be more comfortable each month. Well, after what happened with the tubal. NO THANKS until I know I have to have it.      PLEASE LET ME HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kimaly M.
Florida
June, 5 2002

Hello, I contacted Dr. Vicki Hufnagel at her home one early Morning, To find out more about this very controverseral debate..I wanted to know why I wasnt ever informed about this and if This is all real? I do beleive all of this information..Its just mind-boggling!! Im going to my gyno-doctor and have requested Hormonal testing to be done, I have seen her hormone health Protocol list and was thankful it was there for my doctor to do, Otherwise he would just blow this all off saying there is nothing to worry about & I wouldnt need all of this testing done..I do know better and what my body (is) saying!!

Thank-you & god bless..please contact me I could use more information or comfort most of all.