Health Conditions and Treatments

Tubal ligation has been used by millions of women in the U.S. alone as a means of preventing more conceptions. One possible after affect is called Post Tubal Ligation Syndrome which causes the women who suffer it some quite horrible experiences. These experiences can be read on the web by just doing a search on the subject.

Want to know what the symptoms of Post Tubal Ligation Syndrome, or ptls, are? Well, a search will bring up a list of about 35 possibilities. Some say these are problems you can have with any type of surgery and that may well be true of some of them. However, the ones most commonly found in the stories of the sufferers are very heavy bleeding and/or longer periods, stronger pms symptoms, migraines, weight gain or inability to lose weight, terrible cramping to the point of being bed ridden for some and little to no libido. Some women even complain of thinning hair and terrible mood swings that have caused relationship problems.

Perhaps what is even worse for these women are the responses from their doctors and surgeons when these symptoms are brought to light. They range from a “there’s nothing wrong and so you’ll have to learn to live with it” attitude to outright telling these women it’s all in their heads and they need professional counseling. One doctor has been quoted as saying that PTLS is a “medical myth” on medicinenet.com.

One possible treatment these poor women will receive is to be put back onto birth control pills. Considering they went through the tubal ligation surgery instead of using birth control pills, they don’t seem to be coming out ahead. But there are some doctors, and given how many times this seems to be the treatment given most doctors, are of the opinion that what these women are suffering is due to going off birth control pills or to age. Sometimes the women are told they will just need to get a total hysterectomy. Has anyone wondered what that implies?

This is why our quoted medical myth doctor suggests that women about to undergo a tubal ligation surgery should go off birth control pills several months before the procedure. I’m guessing that the supposed age-related factors are something you just have to live with. However, I’m not sure these suggestions will do much to help those women who were pregnant and had their tubes tied upon having their child. Obviously no birth control pills were being used prior to the surgery. Nor do the “age related factors” seem to have any application to those women still in their 20’s and experiencing these problems.

Another way to help with these effects and syndromes would be a better notification of potential complications before the surgery. Even the government’s FDA website only lists the following as possible “rare” complications from the surgery: infection, ectopic pregnancy, hemorrhage and problems related to the use of general anesthesia. No mention of the effects that so many women suffer from PTLS. Maybe a more informative consent form would stop some women from going through with the surgery. At least they would be better informed with a consent form that included PTLS which is what the “Coalition for Post-Tubal Women” is trying to accomplish.

However, for women who have already undergone tubal surgery, there has to be other action taken. These can include, as mentioned above, going onto birth control pills, having a hysterectomy or having a tubal ligation reversal surgery performed. By getting a tubal reversal ptls symptoms seem to be reduced for about 90% of patients. That’s the results of a study Dr. Berger of the Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center cites at http://press.tubal-reversal.net/2008/post-tubal-ligation-syndrome.html

The women on the message board at Chapel Hill Tubal Reversal Center and in stories you will find there will tell you how they have felt better and had a return to their old lives by having a tubal reversal surgery. No more suffering from post tubal ligation syndrome at best for the vast majority of the ones who have suffered from it. Perhaps, given the particular circumstances of any woman of course, a tubal ligation reversal is the best answer for someone suffering from ptls. Talk to your doctor, or better yet, discuss this with Dr. Berger’s staff.