u/ImprovementChoice

I was on the combo pill from 17-33 and have been tired as long as I can remember. No amount of sleeping or naps would refresh me. I also had severe brain fog (couldnt retain information or think through things), apathy towards everything (everything was a monumental struggle), I could barely socialize, and a year ago I randomly developed severe dry eye. My B vitamins were also low.

I was trying to manage all of this with supplements and stimulants. One doctor diagnosed me with ADHD and said I must have had great coping skills in childhood and was able to mask it. I tried several different stimulants but all if them made me feel weird and spaced out.

Fast forward to 2023, I got a new job and despite wanting to excel I literally could not retain information to save my life. How I didnt get fired is beyond me. I would take detailed notes but it's like my brain couldn't connect tbe dots or recall information.

A month ago I quit birth control and I'm now able to wake up refreshed, stay awake during the day, and ive become super efficient at work. In one day I had multiple coworkers say "thats a good point!" which is huge. I genuinely think all my coworkers thought I was stupid and it makes me angry that this went on for so long. I honestly feel like my whole personality has shifted. I'm much more chatty - talking to people at stores, actually wanting to engage with my coworkers, wittier, just all around better.

Has anyone had this experience?

I am looking to book a cruise for early December, however I am still waiting on a date for my dad's surgery which is completely up in the air.

Is there a cancel for any reason policy that would refund me if I cant make it due to the planned surgery? I would know at least a few weeks in advance.

Thank you!

My doctor was recommending collagen punctual plugs but the thought of having something permanently in my eye scared me. I decided to go the Lacrifill route which is supposed to have no downtime and be well tolerated.

The Lacrifill "procedure" (if you can even call it that) is super quick and painless. Immediately afterwards I felt some moisture in my eye and had some excessive tearing for the remainder of the day! I woke up on Saturday and my eye still felt moisturized! On Sunday I started noticing a scratchy sensation in the corner of my eye which was aggravated every time I blinked. I reached out to my doctor on Monday and they said that it usually doesn't happen and that it should go away. Well.... it only got worse. I started panicking because it hurt every time I blinked and I felt like I just made my eye 10x worse. I work on a computer and it was agonizing sitting there and feeling like something was scratching my eye.

I went for a follow-up on Tuesday and they confirmed I had a lot of inflammation and put me on Loteprednol. I've used this a handful of times and it always works well for me - but this time it wasn't even touching the sensation. I think my puncta really did NOT like having a foreign material in it.

About a week later, I couldn't take it anymore and decided to have it dissolved. The dissolving immediately reduced a lot of the sensation, but I still had a lot of irritation/inflammation and decided to do a steroid taper for a few weeks.

When I left the dr. office they said it might bother me for a few days and then I'd be back to normal, but it took a good 2-3 weeks for that area to even feel normal again (while taking the steroid). Around week 3 I was feeling confident and decided to put in contacts. It totally brought back the sensation and the more research I do suggests that the puncta (especially if dilated, which mine was) takes 4-6 weeks(!!) to heal.

I couldn't find any stories online about getting it dissolved, so just wanted to share!

My levels for b1, b6, b12, ferretin (and probably a few others I cant remember) have been slowly trending down to the point of deficiency. Ive been on HBC for 16 years and asked my gyno about this phenomenon. She said shes NEVER heard of this and looked at me like I was crazy.

I thought this was well-documented and now im wondering if I should find a new provider? I like her overall and I guess i could solve this myself by switching my birth control, but I just feel annoyed.