If you have endometriosis, please answer!?!
Question: If you have endometriosis, can you please explain to me how it feels. What is your pain like? Aching, stabbing etc.?
Answers: If you have endometriosis, can you please explain to me how it feels. What is your pain like? Aching, stabbing etc.?
Before I got diagnosed with endometriosis I experienced intense pelvic pain, especially during my periods and they were so intense that as time went on, I started to spend the first 2 days of my period in bed curled up with a heat pack and painkillers, but that didn't even work, this pain would continue throughout my entire cycle and I was in pain daily.
I was also experiencing pain throughout my pelvis, especially lower left pelvic pain (around the area of my left ovary) and during my surgery it was found that I had an endometrioma cyst attached to the left ovary and that was why it was so painful in that area specifically. The type of pain I felt mostly was like a sharp stabbing kind of pain, although at times it was crampy. When I had my period it used to feel like my insides wanted to rip out of my body, it was terrible.
Other symptoms I experienced was pain with bowel movements, pain with intercourse, painful urination and a feeling like I have a full bladder most of the time, lower back pain and tiredness/fatigue even after just an hour of getting up in the mornings.
I went from doctor to doctor for nearly 10 months and during this time had what felt like every test and scan on earth but nothing showed up, except for a 4.6cm hemorrhagic ovarian cyst (left side) but the cyst eventually ruptured, however the pain continued. It took about 10 months before finally finding a gynaecologist who listened to me and was willing to do a laparoscopy and in October last year (2007) I was diagnosed with stage 2 endometriosis.
The only way to diagnose endometriosis at this stage is to have a laparoscopy as NO ultrasound (pelvic or abdominal), CT-scan, MRI or any other tests are able to diagnose endometriosis unless it is severe and scar tissue and big cysts or masses can be seen on scans, but even then it is hard to tell and a laparoscopy is recommended.
There is no cure for endometriosis and the only major medical treatments treat the symptoms itself not the disease. In other words pain management through drugs etc or surgery to burn/excise the endo implants may help with the pain and to try to keep the endometriosis away.
I would recommend that if you think that you have endometriosis or you have any pelvic pain that you consult with your gynaecologist and to ask them about endometriosis to see what they say.
You may want to make a list of questions you have that you can discuss with him/her when you see them (have a look for some example questions at the following site: http://www.endometriosis.org/first-consu...
Underneath is a link to some websites where you can find some great information:
http://www.endometriosassn.org
http://www.endocenter.org
http://www.endometriosis.org
http://www.gynsecondopinion.com/endometr...
http://www.endometriosis.org.au/
http://www.endo-resolved.com/symptoms.ht...
http://adam.about.com/reports/000074_3.h...
If you have any other questions, please feel free to send me a message, the link to my email is in my profile.
All the best and good luck :)