Sistah symptoms and conditions

Hello All. Please see my posts on Dec. 13 & 18. I had my it removed on Dec. 18th and have never felt better!
I have a regular cycle, no more spotting or terrible, TERRIBLE cramping. The only mood swings I have are when I am PMSing and only for one day (right before I have my period) and this is supposed to happen. Very normal for us women. It is not normal to be moody all of the time, 24-7 (at least for me). My anxiety is fading away, slowly but surely. It had gotten really bad. Heart palpitations, short breaths, cold sweats... and out of nowhere. Since the removal, it may have happened one or two times but its been a while since my last episode and I am so happy for that. This was happening to me almost on a daily basis at one point. No more dizziness (which I went to the dr for), hot flashes or cold flashes. My husband has noticed a significant difference in my attitude. He notices that I am not down his throat the way I used to be when I was upset with him.
No more spotting, no more pain in lower abdomen, which was almost unbearable. No infections. My skin is glowing, though its still a little dry. No change in my low libido, but I have some other personal things going on right now, so... pray for a sistah. here is one of best parts about having this thing removed: no more of that hormonal smell! I won't attract bears or any other wildlife when I go camping. Won't attract sharks at the beach. lol. Traditional deodorant works again, however I just very recently changed to using a natural (potassium alum) deoderant stick and it works better than traditional deorderant without the possible breast cancer (please ladies, look into this). And, I just read another post where someone was having joint pains. It never even occurred to me that this was the reason for my joint pains. HAVE NOT HAD THEM SINCE THE REMOVAL! And I'm telling you guys, my hands would hurt so bad, I would be near tears. I thought it was from doing to much (your know us women do everything... clean house, children, work, cook, etc.), but now I realize it was the IUD! And I am now pissed about that. I've gotten over everything else, but this is a new revelation that is going to take a bit of time for me to forgive!
For alternatives to hormonal BC, check out the Billings Ovulation Method. If done right, it is more reliable than hormonal birth control. Get on amazon.com and get an old used copy for a few bucks and check it out.

This may sound a little strange ... I was prescribed Lamictal off label for OCD. A lot of my obsessive-compulsive behavior is related to an insatiable need for male attention, in addition to an overwhelming need to check and fix my apperances - what my doctor calls BDD (Body Dismorphic Disorder, which is closly related to OCD). I started taking 50 mg of Lamictal, and after several months, ended up at 250 mg. My behavior didn't really seem to change and I didn't feel any side effects ... well, for the most part. I have taken SO many different kinds of medications for depression, OCD and social anxiety, and they have ALL had some side effect or another than made it impossible for me to continue taking the drug, no matter what the upside was. Dizziness, nausea, blurry vision, sexual side effects, memory loss, headaches, etc. You name the side effect, I've experienced it, but NOT from Lamictal. The only side effect I had from Lamictal wasn't really a "normal" side effect. It was fitting to my situation and my initial need for the drug. After being on Lamictal for a while, I felt nothing different in myself - no aching, nausea, vision issues, or forgetfulness ... just an extremely weak libido. And, I'm not talking about the sexual side effects that normally come along with taking certain medications. Where you just completely lose you sex drive, and the idea of sex ends up being totally disgusting to you. I didn't lose my sex drive - I just lost all my flirty, provocative, sexy, cheeky behavior. I use to want to take sexy pictures of myself for my boyfriend and things like that, and it all completely went away. I don't know if Lamictal is supposed to have sexual side effects - I don't think it is - but this was my experience with it. I want to continue taking Lamictal because it does curb some of my behavior that normally ends up putting me in danger and getting me in trouble, but I truly feel like a huge part of me is dead inside. I feel that my sexuality is a big part of who I am, whether I like it or not, and I miss it. I'm probably going to stop taking the medication JUST b/c I miss that certain part of myself. I would, however, recommend Lamictal to anyone with OCD who wants to try and control certain obsessive behavior. It seems to do the trick