After Stacey Underwood's fifth child was born, she decided that she was done having children.
The stay-at-home mother decided that, rather than alter her hormones with the pill or have an IUD implanted inside her body, she would opt to have her 'tubes tied,' or undergo a tubal ligation.
The minor surgical sterilization procedure is the second most commonly used form of contraception in the US.
But within hours of the operation, Stacey knew something had gone wrong.
Even after a visit to the ER, no one could figure out what was causing her horrible chills and night sweats and unprecedented mood swings.
It was only after doing her own hunting online that Stacey found a potential explanation: the rarely discussed post-tubal ligation syndrome.
'It is like my body went into shock,' she told Today.
Getting her tubes tied - a procedure called a tubal ligation - seemed like the best contraceptive for Stacey Underwood, 36 (pictured) after she was done having children. But after the minor surgery, she developed menopause-like symptoms from post-tubal ligation syndrome
Stacey had had her tubes tied shortly after the birth of her youngest child.
So when she started feeling desperately ill, the 36-year-old was afraid she might have developed postpartum preeclampsia (a serious high-blood pressure condition that a woman can develop shortly after giving birth).
Miserable from her night sweats and chills, Stacey rushed to the emergency room.
Doctors there ran a battery of tests, but couldn't find anything conclusive.
Feeling no better, and more confused, Stacey went home and took matters into her own hands.
Though looking to Google for medical answers can be a dangerous strategy, Stacey's search turned up a match: post tubal litigation syndrome.
Although getting your tubes tied
