Hubpages Serves as Vehicle in Resolving a Case of Mild Pelvic Pain

“Mild pelvic pain and very frequent urination....What would it be?”

This was asked by ii3rittles, a Hubber, 10 months ago. Her question drew diagnoses, comments, recommendations and congratulations for having been married two months ago.

Let’s try to analyze the reactions of fellow Hubbers and readers of Hubpages.

Duration. the question was asked 10 months ago. The disorder presented was resolved 20 hours ago, at least on June 5,2013.

Number of comments. Included are that of Hubbers, readers, and of ii3rittles. Total comments was 39, 11 of them by ii3rittles; 28 of them by Hubbers and other readers.

Most active commenters. JThomp54 was the most active commenter with 5; followed by conradofontanilla with 4; followed by imanihope with 3; followed by BigSerious with two comments. The others had one comment each.

Countries. Before the change in ownership of hubpages last month, hubpages showed the country of the Hubber or commenter. This is no longer being done. This would show the diversity of commenters and reach of distance learning and/or diagnosis.

Insurance. ii3rittles says she has no insurance. In one way, this lack of insurance adds to her burden. In another way, lack of insurance or membership in a health maintenance organization (HMO) in the United States is a blessing because she did not have to get the approval of HMO to go to a doctor or buy drugs or use of natural cures.

Kinds of knowledge. This pertains to the kinds of knowledge the Hubbers or readers used in diagnoses and recommendations. I derived my tally of entries from the context of their comments not by asking them bases of their comments.

Knowledge by description is one that is derived from reading literature or hearing lectures or personal communication.

Knowledge by acquaintance is one derived from experience, like a woman who has had premenstrual syndrome, or myoma, or endometriosis, and trained by medical school. In that case, a male can have knowledge by acquaintance if trained in school or as a paramedic.

My knowledge is by description because I do not have a personal experience of pelvic pain. I was not trained in a laboratory or medical school how to diagnose and treat pelvic pain.

Twelve comments were based on knowledge by description; 10 based on knowledge by acquaintance and 3 based on both kinds of knowledge. These three comments came from imanihope as she is a woman and had been schooled and had been giving health care. She said:

”So having worked in the healthcare field for 30 years and in maternal child health for 28 of those years I’d like to share with you some information from school and work.”

Symptoms and conditions. This was given by ii3rittles as follows:

“The past week I have been getting lower back pain and mild pelvic pressure that comes and goes but as of this morning, I have been peeing and peeing and peeing. I drank maybe 2 bottles of water and pee'd like 10 times and I just went 10 minutes ago and feel like I have to go again! And yes, I know go to a doctor, I have no insurance, I am waiting on paper work. I never had this frequent urination ever or this pelvic pain. it feels very strange. My pee is clear and does not smell, no blood either. I am late. I guess I am asking.. Could this be caused by pregnancy? At most I would be 5 week”

Sequence. Sequence of comments is now difficult to reconstruct. However, this can be derived from the number of months or hours the comment was made. I think I gave the last comment 18 hours ago.

Diagnoses. Diagnoses offered by Hubbers and readers were as follow: gall bladder infection, by 5; pregnancy, by 7; UTI, by 6; plain infection, by 3; ulcer, by 1; kidney trouble, by 1; honeymoon cystitis, by 1; endometriosis, by 1.

imanihope gave a hedging diagnosis of endometriosis, saying:

“There is a very slim chance it’s endometriosis but almost every woman I’ve met that has had that knows they have it. Check out my hub I’m not done!”

I diagnosed ii3rittles case as endometriosis, saying 6 months ago:

“It can be endometriosis. This starts with menstrual flow that was blocked and endometrium flowed back and got stuck in the cul de sac due to tight or unsufficient cervix opening due to stress. The hormone that controls menstruation also controls it, meaning the cause of pain owing to MS (PMS) also causes pain in endometriosis mainly on the pelvic area. Endometriosis can graduate to cancer if macrophages attack the microbe that may cause infection of the endometriosis. Macrophages shoot it with free radicals that also hit healthy cells that result in mutations in DNA then tumor then cancer.”

Recommendations. Hubbers and readers gave the following recommendations: cranberry juice; see gynecologist; take Walnurinal; use pregnancy test; drink plenty of water; consult a pharmacist; consult google natural remedies; change diet; take birth control pills; exercise; go to a doctor; use good lubricant (not KY); take antibiotics; drink young coconut juice; take noni juice.

No one recommended raspberry or maca root.

I made this comment 21 hours ago:

“ii3rittles,

Several months have passed. I am interested to know if you are pregnant. I know of an OB GYN who was afflicted with endometriosis herself. She couldn't cure herself with drugs, she took noni juice as I recommended and got cured.”

She replied:

“I wasn't pregnant. I believe it was my nerves. I have been taken maca root & drinking raspberry leaf tea and haven't had that issue since.”

I gave a follow up comment 18 hours ago:

“Both noni and raspberry are antioxidants,they relieve pain and stress. They enhance prostacyclin which relaxes the cervix. and allow the flow of sloughed off endometrium.”

Bases of my diagnosis

I wrote a book “Benefits Derived from PhilNONI.” Part of the text is as follows:

Endometriosis is similar to PMS in that pelvic pain occurs during the monthly cyclic period of a woman (with ovaries intact still producing estrogen and progesterone). Endometriosis, also called secondary dysmenorrhea, consists of sloughed-off endometrium (SOE) that had not been ejected as a menstrual flow, due to constricted cervix and tight uterus. Instead SOE had flowed back and implanted itself in the Fallopian tubes, ovaries, the abdomen, outside the uterus, and cul-de-sac (cavity between the uterus and rectum). SOE can be one mass but it is usually fragmented. Once the SOE tissue or fragments begin to grow endometriosis begins. The monthly fluctuation of estrogen and progesterone that causes the production of endometrium inside the uterus also nourishes the endometriosis which thickens, bleeds and causes severe abdominal pain. If untreated for a long time, endometriosis can cause infertility and may turn into cancer. Once endometriosis had set in it is impossible to reverse it completely ((Lauersen, Niels, M.D., Ph.D. and E. Stukane. 2000. Listen to Your Body). All chunks cannot be burned away by radiation therapy because some can implant themselves in the stomach, kidney, lungs and even brain.

If chronic stress causes ulcers in men, chronic stress causes endometriosis in women who exert themselves in their careers, and in the workplace (Lauersen and Stukane). You get chronic stress when you work hard to beat a deadline, or worry about, say, lack of income.

Chronic stress blocks the hormone prostacyclin and allows thromboxane to operate. Thromboxane causes spasms in arteries and constricts them (Cranton, E., M.D. 2nd ed.1995. Bypassing Bypass). The same thromboxane causes constriction of the cervix and tightening of the uterus. Thromboxane prevents menstrual flow.

Prostacyclin relaxes and dilates the cervix and uterus. The production of prostacyclin and thromboxane is thrown off balance due to oxidation by free radicals (Cranton, 2nd ed.)....”

My book was published in 2008. I have gone through more literature after that.

More on thromboxane

The enzyme cyclooxygenase works on arachidonic acid and produces prostaglandins, thromboxane and prostacyclin. It also produces superoxide, a free radical, as by-product (Sears, B. Ph. D. The Zone. 1995).

Thromboxane constricts arteries and promotes aggregation of platelets resulting in clot, says Sears.

This could be the reason why there is clotting of endometrium in the abundance of thromboxane induced by stress, as in the case of ii3rittles.

Cyclooxygenase (COX) can be blocked by cyclooxygenase inhibitors like COX type 2 (COX-2 inhibitors), according to Sears. That means that production of thromboxane and prostacyclin is also blocked.

Inhibition of COX is one of the effects of cranberries and raspberries. These also block one source of superoxide, a free radical. There are other sources like metabolism of glucose to produce energy.

There are other sources of prostacyclin that does the opposite of those done by thromboxane.

Cranberries and raspberries

Search the Internet and you can find a lot of information on them. My daughter accessed raspberries and got 9 pages of computer printout, single spaced.

Both these berries are antioxidants and anti-inflammatory.

“Anti-cancer benefits of raspberries have long been attributed to their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory phytonutrients... raspberry phytonutrients have been shown to play an important role in lowering oxidative stress, reducing inflammation....” (Internet, June 6,2013).

“The ellagic acid found in raspberries deserves special mention as an anti-inflammatory compound. This phytonutrient has been shown to help prevent overactivity of certain pro-inflammatory enzymes (including cyclo-oxygenase 2, or COX-2) as well as their overproduction....”

However, there is a side effect of raspberry, especially as ii3rittles took leaf tea:

“In this Individual Concerns section, we would like to make one additional note about the difference between raspberry fruit and raspberry leaf. Raspberry leaf has a long history of use in botanical medicine and is widely available in the U.S. and other countries in tea form. While raspberry leaf has been used to support function in various body systems (including the digestive tract), it’s best-known use has been in conjunction with pregnancy and childbirth.... “

Zero in on endometriosis

Simple elimination of symptoms of ii3rittles’s case leads to endometriosis. I presume, and she did not say so, that she did not consult a doctor or a pharmacist. Her symptoms did not come out clearly as gall bladder infection,. or as kidney trouble, or as UTI, or as honeymoon cystitis, or any of the other offered distance diagnoses.

This is not to disparage those who gave them. Their sincerity and compassion are appreciated.

I am not familiar with maca root. I am familiar with noni juice as I am taking it for pep and to alleviate angina and hypertension. Raspberries, cranberries and noni are all antioxidants. (I have several Hubs on heart disease, cancer, hypertension that deal on free radicals and antioxidants.

I derive my conclusion that ii3rittles’s case was endometriosis primarily on the effect of raspberries: cure. Maybe maca root is also an antioxidant. The same effect could be obtained with cranberries and noni.

To start with, ii3rittles was stressed, as she had said. Stress threw the balance between thromboxane and prostacyclin out of whack. Raspberries restored the balance. May be maca root contributed to this restoration. Both thromboxane and prostacyclin are needed. Without thromboxane there is a risk of bleeding even with a small wound because platelets would not aggregate.

Caution

Be careful with the use of natural cures with the same effect as COX-2 inhibitor. They should not be taken for a long time. If COX is blocked from acting on arachidonic acid, this accumulates that converts into leukotriene. This is a mediator of allergy resulting in allergy to any drug, according to Sears. This is not discussed in the information on raspberry. I did not see it on cranberry either.

Also COX-2 inhibitor induces stroke and heart attack because of blocking prostacyclin, Sears says. Remember Vioxx? it is a COX-2 inhibitor that induced stroke and heart attack in persons who took it continuously for 18 months. That is why Vioxx was withdrawn from the market.

Pain relievers in COX-1 inhibitors, like aspirin, do not completely block COX. That is why aspirin does not induce stroke or heart attack.

We expect more from hubpages.

New entries as of July 4,2013

Pelvic congestion syndrome

I just came across another reference that gives diagnostic guides that lead to pelvic congestion syndrome.

Veins may widen and convoluted before or during menstrual period. Blood may congregate in them resulting in varicose veins in the pelvic area. They produce debilitating pain.Pain becomes worse during and after the sex act. However, there is no inflammation (The Merck Manual of Women's and Men's Health. 2003:154)

Just the same, cranberry or raspberry or noni remedy this syndrome and endometriosis.