How are you doing today? I want to talk about psoriasis again and how the impacts of Covid-19 and lockdown has impacted my skin. If you had told me this time last year that we were just months away from a pandemic and our lives would be completely different I'd probably be in disbelief. But when I watched what happened in China, then Italy and the rest of the world including where I am in the UK it became all too realistic and the consequences are a bit worrying. Being stuck at home has had it's ups and downs for me and I'm sure many people feel the same. I also understand how bad these consequences are such as redundancy, getting ill, or losing loved ones. My psoriasis isn't exactly on a list of priorities right now but it's good to talk about it. So, here are some thoughts or more like  situations and realisations I've had through these past few months.

Number 1

I kind of thought with all this time at home I would have more time to keep to a strict skincare regime. Ohhh boy was I wrong about that. There would be times where I'd have a good couple of weeks keeping up with it and then I'd go days of just not bothering. I think that was partly down to mental health where some days I just wanted my skin to be better and other days where it was the last thing on my list to care about. I also think the moisturiser that I was using from the doctor started to make my skin worse. One of the joys of psoriasis, it's trial and error and even when something works at first it can stop working further down the line. I stopped using it and just used my Body Shop coconut moisturiser and my skin has massively improved. 

Number 2

Number 3

As I wasn't going anywhere I thought it doesn't matter what shampoo or conditioner I use just now because nobody will really be seeing me or my hair. I bought some of Tesco's own cheaper shampoo and conditioner forgetting why I stopped using some brands in the past. My scalp was not thankful for the switch to cheaper brands at all. If my hair isn't being looked after then neither is my scalp. I was wondering for weeks why my scalp which hadn't been this bad in 10 years was all of a sudden flaring up so bad. I realised and quickly changed what I was using and my scalp started to heal. Still has a bit to go but it's better than what it was. I nearly cried a couple of times with how sore my hairline had become.

Number 4

With a pandemic comes new protocols and behaviour to try and keep not just ourselves safe but those around us too. Washing hands. This was more at the start before places started closing. The massive emphasis that was put on washing our hands. My hands were a mess. Red all over and just sore that I didn't want anything touching the back of my hands for a while. Thankfully my hands are no longer in that state but I am definitely worried that now everything has opened again and using some shops hand sanitisers are a bit too harsh for sensitive skin. 

Here are some articles I came across discussing the subject of psoriasis during covid and the third link is just a great wee resource for the psoriasis community.

➼  https://www.health.com/condition/psoriasis/psoriasis-flareups-stress-quarantine

➼  https://balmonds.co.uk/blogs/blog/why-is-my-skin-breaking-out-during-the-coronavirus-lockdown

➼  https://psoriasis.qualitycarebyleo.com/blogger-universe/explore-the-topics/living-with-psoriasis

Do you have psoriasis? Has lockdown and Covid-19 made an impact on your skin? What have you found that has helped or worsened it? Just remember that on top of life itself which can be tough we are living in such an unpredictable and crazy time and if you're psoriasis is flaring then don't be too hard on yourself. I know sometimes there's days where we can get down about it but it's normal. Anyways thanks for reading. :)

Pictures used are from Unsplash

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As it's the 70th birthday of the NHS I thought I would do a post of something health related where the NHS has been such a massive help. The NHS is an amazing thing that we have here across the UK and it is so underappreciated and so underfunded but it has my appreciation and I'm sure many other's too. It was them who helped me into this world when my mum needed blood for her c-section, it's them that have helped me throughout my life with little things, my psoriasis and most recently whatever the hell is going on with me now. So thank you NHS and Happy 70th!!


So now onto recent events. A couple of weeks ago I had to go for a colonoscopy. The joys eh? Beforehand I read up as much as I could about it by reading other people's blog posts and I just wanted to know what to expect. Everyone though has such a different experience. Some people don't feel anything and some people do but the most reoccurring statement was that the prep was the worst. So I went into it believing that the prep would be the worst part. Just a bit of warning here... this might get gross. 

The Prep

So I got my letter less than a week before the procedure and I was a little freaked out. The Klean-prep was sent with the letter and I did a little investigation to see other people's experiences of this were. I was not comforted in the slightest. It's safe to say it was an awful day. The prep had this vanilla taste to it but it was just very salty. If you've ever had Andrews salts it's a bit like that but 10 times worse. You have to drink about 4 litres (what the hell?) of this in one day so that it cleans out your bowels. It worked a tad quickly for me. About 15 minutes after taking the first mouthfuls. I had to make sure that my mum knew I would need absolute access to the toilet because trust me that part is not pretty at all. It was like pissing out of the wrong bit after the first 2 litres. I did really struggle and threw up all over myself a couple of times (this was a bit of a pain in the arse) but I found a technique that started to work. So if you ever have to do this you can give it a try. First, have some Sprite or 7Up. Get a straw and hold your nose as you drink the prep, keep holding your nose and drink the Sprite or 7Up and it kind of tricks your mouth that you were drinking that the whole time. You're also not allowed to eat the entire time and I was bloody starving and as I had to stay near a toilet I was pretty much in front of the telly the whole day. Food adverts everywhere... so I suggest maybe some dvds to escape that torture.

The Procedure

So... after reading people's experiences I wasn't too worried about the procedure, I was just looking forward to getting something to eat afterwards. I was taken into the ward and had the loveliest nurse attending to me. Got changed into my gown and I was allowed to keep my bra on which is somewhat good because those gowns are pretty uncomfortable. The nurse wheeled me into the room fairly quickly and all the other nurses and staff were so lovely and they made sure everything was as dignified and professional as possible. It was going fine until the scope was going through my intestines like a jaggy piece of rope. Part of me thinks that I may not have been sedated enough and I should have said something as it was very painful, especially when it was going round the bends and twists. Once it was over though I was just relieved. I was praised on my prep as I managed the majority of it which meant they got a good clear view. If you're not squeamish you can watch on the screen next to you which is kind of cool. Getting to see the inside of your own body. Pretty cool. 

Afterwards

Once I was back in the ward I was allowed to get dressed back into my clothes and then have something to eat and a cup of tea. My dad was then allowed in whilst we waited for the doctor to come and have a little word with us and then I was allowed to go home. I thought I would be eager to eat something but all I really wanted to do was go home and have a lie down. I also again didn't want to be anywhere far from a toilet even though there is nothing there after the prep it is just air but it's best to let that air go in the privacy of a bathroom or at home. I did eventually get some food and I savoured every single bite. 

I was still a bit sore for a couple of days afterwards and was getting pain in the parts where the scope hurt me and when I did eat I was not slow in having to run to the toilet. It did just take a couple of days for my stomach and bowels to settle.

I had my results and they are clear. Which is not massively comforting as I still don't know what is going on. So being given medication for a month and if that doesn't help it's back to the doctors. Woohoo.

Have you ever had a colonoscopy? Are you going for one? If you need some advice or just want to chat let me know. Thanks for reading :)

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Today I want to talk about long distance friendships. I'm sure bloggers and loads of people really can totally understand having friends who live so far away and know how hard it is and how much you end up missing them and having them around.  My experience is my best friend of 13 years and hopefully loads of years more.

My Best Friend

In 2006 my best friend from high school moved to New Zealand, which is the other side of the bloody world by the way. We had only been besties for a year when she moved but I'm glad we became the best of friends when we had. I'd be missing out on so much if we hadn't. I wouldn't have such a caring, understanding and patient friend that I do. We've stayed close and the distance is just a little obstacle. 

Communication

Communication is key in any friendship or relationship. When my bestie first moved it was MSN that helped us to keep in contact. I miss MSN haha. We would always send each other presents for Christmas and birthdays. Now it's Facebook Messenger that helps us to communicate. It's not as good but it will do. Even though we may not speak to each other every single day or sometimes it can be quite a while but we have the patience to understand that we do live at the other side of the world, there is the time difference and we have things going on in our lives that we are not always online to talk. This is why I love her to be honest. She understands and doesn't have a bad bone in her body and I always take the time to understand her. 

Visiting

As she lives at the other side of the world visiting is extremely difficult. It's a long trip, it's expensive and it's rather brutal from my experience. My bestie has been back a few times as she still has family here and it's still her home in a way and I always look forward to when she does come back. When we are around each other it's as if she never went away and I always enjoy her company whether it's going to do some touristy things or just staying in and binge watching shows. I've also travelled to visit her and my second family. It was a trip that was quite scary especially as it was the first time I've been out of Scotland on my own but it was totally worth it to spend a month with my other family and I would love to do it again if I can save up the money. 

Thoughts

I do honestly miss her most of the time and when I'm watching shows like Supernatural, The Flash or Outlander I sometimes think about the times we'd be sitting binge-watching something and just having a good time. It's hard as you want to be there for your friend as much as possible but it's difficult when you can't be. Or when you wish you could talk to them. It's all about having the patience, compassion and being supportive that helps a long distance friendship to keep going. I'm super glad that the distance hasn't made too much of a difference or that it was too much of an obstacle for us. I've had friends who have moved away, not even that far too and the friendship just fizzled so when you have a friendship like this it's definitely a positive thing. 

Do you have any long distance friendships? Let me know about your friendships and what you guys do to stop the friendship from burning out?

Thanks for reading! :)

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Hey everyone, so again I haven't been posting as much as I wanted to when uni ended. My body has had other things in store for me unfortunately. The last blog post I had done was actually the night I ended up in A&E. I thought I would let you in on what has been happening though. Little warning that there may be some TMI going on here. Few trigger warnings may be warranted such as hospitals and eating disorders. 

The Night I Went To A&E

Back in mid April I had been getting some really awful pain in my side/stomach/back. It then got steadily worse with bleeding when I went to the toilet. Fun right? My boyfriend was convincing me to go to hospital or at least phone NHS24. I'm pretty damn stubborn and refused. The day I phoned my GP to get an appointment but couldn't because there were none left was the night he didn't give me a choice and drove me to Glasgow Royal Infirmary as I was hunched over in absolute agony. With the symptoms I was describing they decided to check for a kidney stone which was hilarious as Chris was one week away from surgery to remove a kidney stone and we thought it was too much of a coincidence. I was taken for an x-ray and given some strong painkillers. After a while the doctor came to see how I was doing. Which was not good. I was still in agony and with the x-ray showing some kind of shadow but they weren't sure what it was so the doctor decided to admit me. Apparently I looked at Chris the way a puppy looks when they find out what the vet is for the first time when I got told I was going to be staying in. I was not happy. 

Staying In Hospital

I got taken up to a transit ward to wait for my CT scan which was supposed to be that morning. Turned out only one scanner was working that day so I waited all day to be told it would be the following morning before I got my scan. I was first on the list at 9am though which was a bit of a relief. I was transferred to another receiving ward for the second night. I have never had to stay in hospital before so it was definitely strange. I was also lucky that Chris was off work so he was able to stay with me most of the time. I didn't get much sleep at all which resulted in a headache just to add to everything else. I got my CT scan and few hours later the doctor came round and told me that it was not a kidney stone but my colon wall was inflamed which may be a sign of ulcerative colitis and that they would allow me to go home and have a follow up appointment a month later if my symptoms persisted. I went back to Chris's that night and was going to have something to eat and go for a shower but as soon as my body got onto the bed I passed out for some much needed sleep. 

How I'm Doing Now

So... my symptoms have not just persisted but I think they are getting worse. Over the last few weeks I've been hoping my outpatient appointment was sooner or tempted to go back to A&E. My appointment is on Tuesday though so it's not far away now. I was told that I may have to go for a colonoscopy which is looking rather likely now. I've been reading up on some things about ulcerative colitis and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and colonoscopies. I know that it seems pretty horrific but having an answer to the pain is better than not knowing. The medications I was given are not really helping either. I become extremely tired very quickly. After being out for an hour I'm ready for collapsing in a heap somewhere. Another issue is eating as the pain increases a lot after eating food and I'm starting to fear eating which is not great. It's also very frustrating anticipating the pain and not being able to do as much as I could do.

Starting A Diary

As food is a huge trigger for the pain I decided to keep a diary of what I eat, my toilet habits and the scale of my pain. So far I haven't found much of a pattern that causes the pain as it's everything that I eat which causes pain. Almost every time I eat something I feel like my body hates me and attacks itself. It's pretty horrible. I've definitely been sticking to soup a lot. Especially the Scotch Broth from the Scottish Soup Co. Bleeding when going to the toilet is also a moment that kind of freaks you out. So yeah, things are a tad grim at the moment.

Good News Though

There are some good things however. I got my results from uni and I passed everything. Including the exam which I was 90% sure I had failed which is a major relief. This means that I now technically have a degree but I am going to continue to get my Honours. Hopefully the health stuff will behave itself. The boyfriend and I are also a couple of more stops closer to buying our own place which is exciting and I'm going to see Wicked at the weekend in Edinburgh. So some positive things to reflect on. 

Hopefully there will be answers to what is going on with me soon and can be resolved or at least managed. It has been a pretty few awful weeks recently. Thank you for reading though. 

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It's been a while since I made a post. Mainly because I have been so busy with uni work and I had my mum's birthday and then my own. Few months ago I blogged about my first semester coming to an end which you can read here. I thought I would do the same for my second semester coming to an end. 

Essays and Exams

This semester has been a bit different structurally. We had a group assessment for our Research class which we done really well in. I was absolutely surprised by our mark because we never really met up at all but I'm so happy it turned out the way it did especially with the lack of communication. Working in groups can be a bit frustrating at times. That brings me onto my Western Culture in Crisis module. Oh boy. Every two weeks in our allocated groups we have to write an essay and the best 4 out of 5 is worth 30% of that module mark. Frustrating because groups! So far we've been getting decent marks and feedback though. We also have an individual essay which isn't too bad. I also had to sit one of the exams that I missed last semester from being ill. Yay! 

Research Proposal

Ohemgee! This has been causing quite a bit of stress lately. I'm required to do a research proposal which is graded and this then goes towards our dissertation in our Honours year. I knew for a while I wanted to focus on gender and media but was finding it so hard to narrow it down. Eventually though I came up with something I thought I would really enjoy. It's going to be a survey and I'm quite looking forward to actually getting to the carrying out the research part and doing the dissertation. The research proposal was definitely hard to get done though.

Travelling

I'm never not going to hate it. Buses are the bane of my life. This semester the train however has been super quiet especially in the last few weeks so that's been somewhat nice. Chris has also given me lifts a few times too which is a much nicer and less tiring form of transport. 

Psoriasis

My psoriasis and my skin in general especially on my face was taking a huge turn for the worst at the start. It was really painful and just making me lose a crap-load of self-esteem. The last couple of weeks however I've been trying to be strict with my skincare routine and it seems to be calming down. Fingers crossed it continues to. One reason I'm looking forward to some sunny weather as that always helps. 

The Course

I think I knew I was never going to love this course. It was my last resort option. I wanted to do Sociology and Criminology so this is not exactly similar. I can't say that I have enjoyed it. Bits of it have been good and I've engaged with some of the topics but overall... nah. The fact that classes are now over for third year (my first because I got third year entry) makes me so happy. Classes and all my stuff are finished for now (unless I failed that exam) so I'm quite happy. Also being able to actually get to the end is something that I am proud of. I didn't think I was capable or cut out for uni but I can and I am. Even if I've not been enjoying it and it's not been the most positive of times for me the determination took control and let me get done what I needed to.

I'm free for a few months at least. Summer is nearly here and I feel like I can finally breathe and relax. I love learning new things but being a student has tired me out these past few months. I'm ready to sleep for a month... maybe two months. Then in September I'll need to do it all again. 

How has university been for you ? Is it what you expected? Do you enjoy your course? Let me know.

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So I came across Nikkipedia's blog post  '90's Tag' and I just thought I totally have to get involved in this one. Go check it out. :) 

I was born in 1990 so I definitely spent most of my childhood in the 90's so yes I qualify as a 90's kid thank you very much. I definitely think I'll enjoy filling this one out as I'm wearing my Chuckie (Rugrats) socks on. 

Favourite TV Show
I absolutely loved coming home from school and sticking Nickelodeon on. I had so many favourites but probably Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Rugrats. Oh, and Saved by the Bell and Are You Afraid of the Dark? 

Favourite 90’s song
C'Est La Vie by B*Witched and If Ya Gettin Down by 5ive

Favourite Commercial/Advertisement
I actually don't know. I need to be like reminded of the adverts from back then. Only one that springs to mind is the Coco Pops! "I'd rather have a bowl of Coco Pops".

NSYNC or Backstreet Boys
Hmmmm. I wasn't actually a massive fan of either of them, I liked a few songs from each but I'd probably pick Backstreet Boys. Backstreet's back ALRIGHT!

Favourite Music Artist
Steps, Spice Girls and 5ive. 

Did you collect anything back then and what did you collect?
Definitely. Does Barbies count? I did collect Beanie Babies though and I'm sure I still have them all somewhere. And pens. Which I guess is still something I do. 

How many Tamagotchi’s did you go through?
Maybe about 5 or 6 haha. I did have my favourite one though which was the first one I got. 

Favourite Video Game & Console?
I got to play the SEGA for a bit but my console was the SNES. Like I want that mini one that's currently out and is pre-loaded with a bunch of games. Yoshi's Island was amazing, Toy Story and Donkey Kong Country. 

Favourite Cereal/Cereal Free Toy
It's a toss up between Coco Pops and Wheetos which I still eat to this day because they are amazing. I remember getting toys but I don't remember being all that fussed about them to be honest. I liked it when you sent away tokens and got bowls or something though. 

Who was your 90’s Crush Growing Up?
Zach from Saved by the Bell, Leonardo Di'Caprio and one of the guys from 5ive. I've noticed that all my answers so far has like 3 answers haha. Oops. I just can't choose. 

What was your favourite Disney Channel movie?
I didn't really watch them. 

Favourite Show? (Disney, Nick or Cartoon Network)
Nick. So Sabrina the Teenage Witch. 

Weirdest Fashion Trend
Those hairbands with our names on them. Gawd. 

What were your favourite toys would you play with?
I had so many Barbies it was ridiculous. Had like a Barbie house and cars and everything to go with Barbies. I kind of loved creating a wee world for them and turning my whole room into their world and then I would have to spend forever tidying it all away. I spent less time actually giving them storylines (I did this with the Sims too in a way). 

Disney, Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network?
Nickelodeon

What early morning/Weekend TV Shows would you watch?

SMTV: Live was my favourite. You would get Pokemon and Chums. Then after that I would watch The Tribe (some show from New Zealand that I loved) and then Dawson's Creek (which I was probably too young for at the time). 

Favourite McDonald’s Happy Meal Toy
I remember they had brought out these little Beanie Baby toys and I made my mum take me to McDonald's so I could get them all. My favourite was the Koala bear one which I named KoochiKoo. 

Favourite Book
Matilda and those Meg and Mog books. I didn't get into Harry Potter until 1999/2000.

What would you watch when you got home from school?
I'd sometimes watch stuff on ITV or BBC such as The Worst Witch and ZZZaap!! But then I'd watch stuff on Nickelodeon. If only we had the ability to record shows back then. I'd be set for days. 

What was your favourite thing from the 90’s thats no longer available today?
There was these chocolate UFO shaped things that were filled with strawberry yoghurt. Think they were Dr Oetker. They were so bloody good and I miss them so damn much. I sometimes ask other people if they remember them and not many do. 

Did you grow up in the 90's? What were your favourite things? I'd love to see your answers if you do the tag so link me to them if you do. Thanks for reading. I really enjoyed doing this post. 


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On Sunday the 4th March I went to see Imagine Dragons for a second time. On the morning of the gig I wasn't exactly looking forward to it. Here and for many parts of the UK we had experienced the Beast from the East. It was horrendous. Still is. Some stores are still struggling with stock and transport are still having issues with snow and flooding. I digress. The weather was putting me off. 

It was probably one of the best gigs I have been to though. As I was with my mum we decided that sticking towards the back would be the best idea. It was. Turns out there was a mini stage set up for an acoustic set and they walked past us. I managed to get a couple of high fives from the guys and I think I was shaking for a good 10 minutes afterwards. 

The acoustic set was probably one of my favourite bits of the gig. As always in Scotland they played 500 Miles by the Proclaimers and as always the crowd come to life. 

I've posted a video below that I came across on YouTube. You'll see we're too eager to get to the "daadaadaadaa" 

The Setlist

I Don't Know Why

It's Time

Gold

Whatever It Takes

I'll Make It Up To You

Mouth of the River

Yesterday

Start Over

Demons

The Fall

Rise Up

On Top of the World

Bleeding Out (Acoustic)

I Bet My Life (Acoustic)

Warriors/Sucker For Pain (Acoustic)

I Would Walk 500 Miles (The Proclaimers cover)

Shots (Acoustic)

Thunder

Believer

Walking The Wire

Radioactive

The weather also became a nuisance at the end of the night when we waited for over an hour outside for a taxi to be told they had come to get us but couldn't find us so that was fun. Luckily I have an amazing boyfriend who came to pick us up. 

I can't wait for the snow to bugger off. 

Have you been to any gigs lately? Any gigs coming up? Next up I have Flight of the Conchords which I'm very much looking forward to. How has the Beast from the East been impacting you? It's definitely driving me crazy 

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Recently two of my cousins have announced that they are pregnant which is kind of exciting. I do love babies. It kind of got me rethinking though on whether I want to have kids or not. I always change my mind on my stance on it. And I guess the answer to it will always be "whatever happens will happen". 

As a child I was heavily into playing with my dolls and I grew up thinking that my main purpose in life was to have a family of my own and be a mother. I'm not entirely sure if this was a result of socialisation and learning of gender roles or not. Quite possibly. I still do have a strong maternal instinct. When my niece was born her parents were staying with us so I helped out as much as I could and I enjoyed it. Now I know when they're not your own the saying is that they can always be handed back to their parents but in this situation I felt I was helping to give her parents a break so I wasn't exactly handing her back when she got grumpy or needed something. I know parenting isn't easy, you don't get a handbook and you make mistakes along the way but I wouldn't make a terrible parent. So why am I so unsure? 

Last year my brother and I were talking about having kids and I mentioned something along the lines of "I don't think I want to" and his reply to that was "you better make me an uncle someday". I just replied saying that I'd rather have a puppy, laughed it off and changed the subject. People still don't understand that some women do not want to have kids or are unsure. We were talking about this in my Gender, Body and Society class that women are still stigmatised if they don't have kids. Considered barren which is an awful term. Some women don't even get to have the choice.

My niece and nephew.

I don't even know if it's the being a parent and bringing up children that I'm unsure about. I think it's the idea of pregnancy. That freaks me out. As I've grown up and known people who have been pregnant, seen the videos, heard the stories it really freaks me out. Something growing inside of you, amazing, a wonder but also scary as fuck. Respect to all you who go through it. 

I do get pure broody sometimes. I'll be in Tesco or something and a wee baby will be in the trolley and I'll just be like "awwwwh" making the wee ^_^ face. Similar to how I react to puppies just not as loudly. Or when I see baby clothes and I'm like "someone needs to have a baby so I can buy these". I wouldn't want to have kids because society expects me to it'll be because I want to. Those questions you hear "oh when are you going to get married?" or "oh when will we hear the little pitter patter of tiny feet?"  It's so intrusive and why should anyone live to anyone else's expectations. 

The thing is I am getting older, and if I were to have kids I don't want to be too old but I am also too busy concentrating on getting my degree and possibly going into primary teaching after that. I know women who have had babies in their late 30's and it is completely possible so there is still plenty of time for me to decide. I mean this is all considering what the other person in the relationship wants too of course. Right now I am happy just being Auntie Susan. We'll see what the future holds.

This was just kind of all my thoughts spilling out on the topic and might not make much sense but oh well. Does anyone else have this battle of not knowing whether they want to have kids or not? Are you adamant on whether you want to or not? Would love to hear your thoughts.

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This month marks three years of being on birth control. Three years ago yesterday I went to a clinic and waited an insane amount of time and had the Nexplanon implant inserted. I've had my ups and downs with being on birth control so far and decided to do a little post on that rollercoaster. I am fully aware that everyone is different when it comes to birth control. Some works better for others and some are horrible for others. It's a very personal thing. 

Nexplanon Implant

Three years ago I was convinced by some guy I was in a relationship with at the time to get this. My friend came with me to a walk-in clinic where we waited all day (I'm positive I was one of the last seen that day) for me to get it done. The process was pretty simple and I didn't have too much bruising or pain in my arm afterwards. The nurse did ask a few questions but didn't seem too interested in my answers. I got my period like normal the first month and then it all went somewhat downhill after that. I was constantly bleeding or spotting for 2 weeks at a time sometimes more. Then it got a little better where I had no periods at all. It was definitely up and down like this until we got to January of this year. I was bleeding heavily for 2 months straight. It was awful. Not only does it make you tired, emotional and a bit fed up but who can afford to constantly buy tampons to keep up with that? Not me. I started to resent the implant and something had to be done. So I went to the doctors.

Mini-Pill

The doctor was really understanding of the situation and had asked why did I not just go on the pill or mini-pill in the first place. To be honest it's because I'm really bad at taking tablets and taking them at the same time everyday (this is something I am still bad at and should be more consistent with now that my implant has expired). She decided to put me on the mini-pill as I suffer from migraines. She also took my blood pressure and found that it was super duper high (which has been another whole story of constant visits to the doctors) but she put me on them anyway. The bleeding eased off almost immediately. I haven't had a period since March. As I also suffered really badly from cramps and would feel really unwell during my periods this is also a positive thing as I no longer suffer. My skin however on my face broke out into spots and I never had issues with spots as a teenager so this was totally new to me. I already have crappy skin with psoriasis so I'm all kitted out with moisturisers etc so spots isn't a major deal with me. Apart from spots I don't seem to have any other side effects that impact my moods or health -touches wood-.

Why I'm On Birth Control

A whole lot of reasons to be completely honest. First of all as I mentioned I was convinced from a previous relationship. Part of me wishes I hadn't listened to him or got more advice from the doctor when I went to see them in the first instance because he wasn't very empathetic towards the side effects. But hey oh. I found something that was right for me eventually. Even though it has been a roller coaster it has had major benefits such as lessening my awful cramps and nausea and general unwell feelings I get during that time of the month. Second of all. I am not ready to have kids and not sure if I ever will be. There are many reasons to be on birth control and all of them are acceptable. 

The Future

So, I should really get the implant taken out as it's now ran out I guess but I have seen videos of how they do it and it definitely puts me off. I will continue with the mini-pill as I have a year's supply at the moment and babies are not on my agenda at the moment. Although talking about having kids is a post I am planning on doing in the very near future. I also realise that I am very fortunate to live in a country where birth control is easily accessible and free. I feel everyone should have that entitlement. Birth control is not a luxury. Most of the time it's for our health and should be regarded as that.

What has been your experiences with birth control? Are you considering going on birth control but don't know what to go for? Or if you have any questions leave them below.

P.S. Don't do what I done. Don't feel pressured by the guy to go on a particular form just because his previous relationships all had it and it worked for them. They know sweet F.A. Talk to the doctor, talk to your friends or people online and get a scope of experiences. You might find what works for you straight away or sometimes it could take a couple of tries before you find what works.

Also I know it's only November but I'm currently listening to Sia's Christmas album and 'Puppies are Forever' is amazing.
Thanks for reading. :)

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