Not really here to vent, as I'm doing pretty well. I just wanted to give my story to give some people who might have issues, hope.
If you're a girl, you're probably familiar with endometriosis and PCOS. If you're not, they're both conditions that can make your periods painful, heavy, and just plain irregular. I've dealt with PCOS since I was 14. My mom used to think I was lying when I would tell her I was in too much pain to go to school on an almost monthly basis, and there were a couple times I got in trouble for missing so many days of school. While on my period, at times I was in so much pain I could barely move. Even sitting or laying down wasn't without pain. I mostly just wanted to curl up with a heating pad and die. Or sleep.
Anyway, my first gyno told me that cysts, even in the numbers I had them, were a fairly common occurance, nothing to be concerned about, blahblahblah. They wouldn't put me on BC because at the time I was on others meds too for a pretty bad stomach ulcer and acid reflux. Which was probably a good thing because I was puking at least once a day as it was.
Fast forward a few years, and I'm still dealing with the issue. Only worse cause now my career requires me to be active, and I can't really afford to miss too many days of work. Not to mention I wasn't full time so I had literally 0 health insurance. Usually I just dosed myself on Ibuprofen (800mg maybe twice a day) and hoped that'd be enough. Quite a few times I went so long without periods that I got scared I was going through early menopause or something.
My fiancee and I have been together for 5 years now, which has led me to start thinking about kids. Of course, I was adamant when I was younger that I would never want kids, but after being happy with him for so long I started to get depressed that I'd probably never be able to due to my condition. After all, both endo and PCOS can result in complications getting pregnant or even sterility. But lo and behold, I started getting violently ill in July, went to the doctor, and somehow, I'd managed to get pregnant even while on BC and practicing safe sex, etc.
It was weird, for the first week or so...didn't know what to feel. But then something just clicked, and we both felt so happy, and proud. It ended up not working out - I miscarried - but those weeks before it happened, easily the happiest of my life. I try not to think about the month or so of crying that followed =/
I guess the point I'm trying to make is that there's always hope, and not to give up just because of your health issues. The best thing to come out of my experience - I got the doctor's OK to go on constant BC and am now period-and-pain-free. Yay!
Well, that and I know that I want kids now. Someday.