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HI, I have been lurking around many sites on this topic. I had a tubal after my third DD and would make a different choice if I had it to do over again but I am trying to get passed that; the regret is not helping.

I've been in to the dr. many times telling them things are not right , all the symptoms of PTLS, most troubling to me are the stomach distention, fatigue, the libido issues, and the memory lapses. Each time I have been to a DR. (OBGYN, GP, NEuROLOGIST) I have been told there is nothing wrong with me. All tests come back normal. The next step, they always suggest antidepressants. I have politely taken their prescriptions and each time tossed them in the trash.

HOWEVER and that is the reason I am posting here. . .I just went to an acupuncturist and she is convinced she can help me. She said my pregnancies and surgeries have made my blood deficient and that my stomach and spleen meridians are in trouble; essentially I am out of balance. (Duh? right?) She said many people who have blood deficiencies fall through the cracks of western medicine. I won't go into all the details but I will tell you that she did the painless acupuncture and I felt as if someone was inflating my drained body and I felt suddenly warm all over. My cheeks had color in them when I left. She told me to come back in a month and gave me a list of blood building foods, acupressure points to use and three exercises and told me: "You need to follow my instructions like God makes apples EVERY DAY in order to get better. And you will get better." I go back in a month to see her. I will keep you posted. Anyone else tried acupuncture and TCM? thanks!

thanks for posting your progress. It's helpful seeing what you're doing. I am hoping if a few of us pursue different things we can figure out how to help ourselves. best, h

Hello everyone,

Meridian 1, what is DD? It sounds like you are experiencing barriers with your doctors like many of the rest of us. You are smart not to take the anti-depressants. Doctors are always pushing synthetic pills that are bad for you to patch your symptoms instead of helping you get to the real root of the problem. I hope you find some success with the acupuncture. I won't be taking that approach. That's a little out of my league of understanding. And it doesn't sound like a pleasurable experience to make you feel better. Keep us posted.

I’ve been taking Prometrium for two weeks during my last month’s cycle. It worked miracles for me and it’s natural. My period is lighter and more normal. I’m not as bloated and my PMS symptoms are not as bad. I’m not as irritable. And my sex drive has increased. I actually look forward to sex and have multiple orgasms like I did before the tubal ligation. And I’m not dry anymore. I’m so happy. And I don’t have to worry about getting pregnant.

Replacing the progesterone and taking the recommended vitamins helped balance my hormones. I took 100mg pill of Prometrium in the morning and another 100mg pill at night with my dinner (every 12 hours). I highly recommend the book Natural Hormone Balance by Dr. Reiss. His regimen worked for me. Read it to customize your regimen.

I also recommend the book Belly Fat to Belly Flat by Dr. C.W. Randolf this book focuses on hormone balance and weight loss. Dr. Reiss and C.W. Randolf have basically the approach and method for hormone balance. One diet supplement that C.W. Randolf recommends is Chitosan. I don’t recommend taking Chitosan to control appetite and absorb fat. I tried this supplement and it made my stomach hurt. And I had a lot of gas. However I still recommend this book. The two books are great reads for women with our problems.

I still have one problem. On occasion, I have sharp pains in my lower abdomen when I make certain moves when sitting. I feel the pain from my lower abdomen down to my rectum. It is a shocking pain. It causes me to yell out. I don’t know exactly what’s causing it. I didn’t have pain like this before the tubal ligation. I’m not bothered too much because it is very infrequent. A friend of mine told me that I may have scar tissue due to my C-section or tubal ligation. I’ll keep you all posted if it gets worse.

For now, I’m very happy with my new found natural hormone balance regimen. I feel like I have me back again.

Checking in. . .I've had three sessions of acupuncture, have been taking the supplement seraphoss of adrenal fatigue, and just today started some natural progesterone. After the third session of acupuncture I didn't get ill (healing crisis). In fact, I had lost 7 pounds and my belly fat/bloating is waning a bit. The seraphoss has returned my energy. I am hoping the progesterone will fix my libido. My nurse practitioner says that she thinks I will need to do all these things for 6-12 months before I am back to normal and can slowly go off the supplements. Feels good to be making progress. Some of the information on the net is so bleak and so many traditional doctors so unhelpful. I would highly recommend finding a nurse practitioner to help anyone struggling with this and if you're up for it the accupuncture is wonderful too. I will keep you posted.

I happened across this site when I was looking for information on PTLS. Since my TL 2 1/2 years ago, I thought I was going crazy. I have had a range of symptoms. Every doctor I have seen has mentioned anti-depressants (which I tried, and guess what----THEY DON'T WORK)....I am 22 and have 2 beautiful children and a wonderful husband that I thank God for every day. Upon the suggestion of my doctor, while having my second c-section I had my tubes tied. I didn't realize that there could be this kind of complication from the procedure. My sister is expecting a child now, and is planning on having her tubes tied. And believe me, I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure she doesn't. If I had known anything about PTLS there is no way on earth that I would have ever had a TL.

My husband has stuck by me no matter how strange my symptoms have been or no how suddenly they have come on. I honestly don't know how he has put up with me. We've been together for almost 8 years, and I couldn't have made it this long without him.

I prayed to God to help me. And I think all of the information I found is an answer to my prayers. I also found Dr. Berger with Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center on the internet. I have contacted his office, and if all goes well I hope that I will be having a reversal within the year.

I think that it should be mandatory for doctors to inform their patients of all risk and side effects no matter how minor they may think they are. It is our right to have all of the information not just a filtered version. The side effects don't just effect us. They effect our husbands, children, and anyone that we have any sort of relationship with.

I just hope that more women can find out about this before having a TL, so that they can truely make an informed decision on what is right for them.

Everywoman I am wondering if you had you DHEA, Testosterone, Estrogen and Progesterone checked and where they were at? BTW, DD is darling daughter from my other post. Hope you're well.

Hi My name is Jami I live in Texas I have three daughters Sierra age 10 Shyanne age 6 and Savanna age 2. My husband is Chris. I had my tubes tied when Savanna was born in November 2006, I would have changed my mind when she turned out to be a girl instead of a boy like I was told she was, but I was to drugged up and exhausted and I had already signed the papers so away I went. My periods after she was born started to become irregular and come with bad cramps that I never had before sometimes I will have 2-3 periods in a month and then not have one for the next month. I will get this dull achy pain in my ovaries right before my period that no pain killers will touch, I have tried them all vivarin, pamprin, etc. I have had headaches everyday for the past year some are mild some are severe but it’s an everyday thing I have tried advil, alieve, Excedrin, ibuprofen nothing touches them. I have even seen a Dr. that prescribed me naproxen, darvocet, and muscle relaxers none of which helped. I also noticed that my vision was blurry, I thought that my contacts were the cause of that and that was probably even contributing to my headaches so I switched lenses twice, my eye doctor said the contacts I have should give me pretty close to 20/20 vision but my vision is still blurry even with my glasses on, I also have irregular heart beat I feel like someone jumped out and scared me because it starts racing for no apparent reason. I don’t sleep thru the night and have trouble falling to sleep, I have night sweats and hot flashes, I’m tired all the time and I feel grouchy or moody a lot. I have a hard time concentrating on simple things watching a movie, cooking, reading a book. I have a terrible memory I have always been forgetful but now I cant even remember where I set my phone, keys, etc. 2 seconds after I put it down. I have itchy crawly tingly skin. I get dizzy when I stand up too quickly or I have been sitting for a long time, My boobs hurt they get sore and I tell Chris all the time if I didn’t have my tubes tied I would swear I was pregnant. I have muscle aches sometimes too. My hair falls out when I brush it, and in the shower when I wash it more than what is supposed to come out…I had no idea that any of this could be caused by getting my tubes tied, one day last week I googled irregular periods/frequent headaches causes and one of the results was a message board that had women discussing their symptoms and PTLS I then googled PTLS and found that it stood for post tubal ligation syndrome. I couldn’t believe what I was reading when I read the list of symptoms I sat at my computer and cried…I couldn’t believe it. I did more research on it and found out that women are trying to get laws passed that have to tell you that getting your tubes tied can cause all these problems.. I know that had my Dr. told me all of this there is no way I would have gotten it done, I was on Medicaid when I had all 3 of my kids. Medicaid paid for me to get my tubes tied so I will probably have to live with these symptoms for the rest of my life, or end up having to have a full hysterectomy like several people that I know. Most women like me who have had their tubes tied are probably experiencing these problems and just don’t realize that this could be the cause, it may not be the cause in every case, hell it may not be the cause in my case but if not it’s a damn crazy coincidence and I still feel that women should have the right to know what COULD happen to their bodies by getting your tubes tied. I would not consent to having any procedure done to me without knowing what it could cause and the only thing that I signed stated that under general anesthesia there were risks, and that the breathing tube could chip my teeth and that there was a slight chance that the tubes could grow back together and I could get pregnant, nowhere did it say all of this could happen....