The skin on my right cheek and down a bit to my hip feels, well, like its lost its ability to feel. Not pins and needles, not completely numb, and no muscle weakness… just an odd sensation of dullness to the touch.
I called the doctor’s office and spoke to one of the nurses about it. She reassured me, numbness is a common side effect of progesterone shots. Call back if I get shooting pain down my leg. That would mean that Hubby shot me outside of the upper-outer quadrant of my buttocks and hit my sciatic nerve. Thankfully, Hubby is very careful to mind the diagram of the buttocks they gave us.
The slight rash, I realized, is from the Climara estrogen patches. It’s not a full-blown rash, just a skin irritation that is threatening to become something more if I cave in to the urge to scratch it. So far, so good. It seems to be calming down.
Today, I received an e-mail from a website visitor, VT, who has gone through the whole gamut of what I’m experiencing — and with the same doctor! She, too, has the numbness and it’s going on two months. Oy! Reading about her experiences and the wonderful positive things that she’s doing to cope with the ups and downs of IVF is so encouraging to me. We’ve started an e-mail dialog that’s already proven to be therapeutic for me.
Last night, it was an e-mail from a Twitter friend all the way from Alabama, who offered his take on my neti pot entry and offered his blessings that I might experience the wonders of motherhood and an open door to ask about pregnancy and child rearing. He has the credentials to back it up: he has seven children!
And of course, there’s April, my prayer warrior. Her prayers of support got me through Hubby’s year-long deployment to Iraq and my current IVF journey. She always has an uncanny way of dropping me an e-mail with a note of encouragement and wisdom at just the right time. Coincidence? No, I think it’s a God thing.
E-mails from out of the clear blue and the kind comments that I have been receiving truly help me dispel the “woe is me” tendency that’s so easy to succumb to when you’re feeling like a human pincushion with a numb bum, pumped full of girl hormones.
[tags]in vitro fertilization, IVF, frozen embryo transfer, FET, infertility, fertility, progesterone, estrogen, climara patches, hormones[/tags]
My cat says she sympathizes with you. She’s had adult-onset diabetes since 2000… I’ve been giving her a shot of insulin, twice a day, for over seven years now… so she knows how it feels like to be a pincushion! Seriously though… you are a trooper. Hang in there!!! =)
Hi Donna! I’ve been scouring the internet to see if anyone had experienced the same thing as me- regarding the Progesterone shot and the numbess and was so happy to find your post. I have a slight numbness on both cheeks but my doctor’s office said they had never heard of it before. Reassuring huh? I’m glad your dr’s office told you it was common. I was beginning to get quite worried about it. This whole process is nerve-racking enough as it is! Anyway, congrats on the +beta! I hope everything goes splendidly with your pregnancy! I’m currently on my 2ww- beta on the 13th. Ugh….wish me luck.
Im so glad i found someone like me.. i also went through invitro and lost my baby unfortunately. it all happened while my hubby was in iraq, long story but now i am reallysufferring from numbness iin my hips and pain on my rght buttock and leg….it is so painful and sometimes i feel like its just getting worse what was helped you please let me know……….thanks and good luck on your babies……….