The PMS thread got me thinking about women's reproductive health issues. March is Endometriosis Awareness Month, so I thought I would take the opportunity to put some info out there on endo.

Endometriosis is a disease where endometrial cells, which normally line the uterus and slough off during menstruation, are found outside the uterus, in the body cavity. These cells are sensitive to hormone fluctuations and become "active" when stimulated by estrogen. These active cells in the wrong places can cause severe pain, scar tissue build-up, infertility, and a host of other problems.

The Endometriosis Association provides great info on this disease.

I was diagnosed with endo at age 31, after 15 years of crippling, totally debilitating pain on a monthly basis. Since being diagnosed, I have had surgery, hormone treatment, and take BCP continuously to prevent endometrial build-up/menstruation...and I have been pretty much pain-free. It took me a long time to get a diagnosis because MANY gynecologists do not know enough about endo, and because I accepted what my doctors told me without questioning.

The best way to help women and beat this thing is education. So I am doing my duty to spread the word! Please spread the word to the women in your life.

Good on you Michie

Well done Michie!

I've had it since I was 15 and for the last 7 years I have used a mirena coil which has really brought it under control for me.

I am so glad you have a treatment that works for you.

I had very low grade endometriosis. Never had any symptoms - except for the symptom of not getting pregnant while we were trying.

The only reason they found it is that I finally decided that I would opt in for exploratory surgery - so they could find out why the heck I'm not getting pregnant after 3 years of trying. The found VERY minimal endometriosis (I was at a stage 1). The doctor ablated it. This was in September.

So everyone pray that I'll be pregnant within the next two months. (The trying is very trying... Well... it's fun, but each month finding out you didn't take - THAT is very emotionally tiring.)

Most people don't know about the relationship between endometriosis and infertility. And even more don't know that you can have endometriosis for years and NEVER KNOW!

So if anyone else out there is trying to get pregnant and failing, I wanted to share my story. When I finally do catch pregnant, I'll let y'all know.

That's true, it's one of those things that can be painful but not touch your fertility or be barely noticeable and cause problems.

I had a chemical menopause, Song. They stop everything for a while and it allows you to heal making getting preg a bit easier. Worked for me.

I do hope you get caught soon.

My sister had fairly bad endometriosis and PCOS. It took her 4 years of fertility treatment & AI to get pregnant with her first baby. The second baby was an "oopsie" because she thought with all the trouble getting pregnant the first time, she didn't need contraception

Thanks for sharing your stories, ladies!

What Songchick says is true. Many women have endo and don't know it. And like Pootle says, some women experience hideous pain (like me), others don't have any pain at all. They only discover the endo when they have problems conceiving. The only way to diagnose endo is through laproscopic (or other) surgery.

The amount of endo you have has no relation to the amount of pain you do or don't feel. I had relatively little of it, yet I had horrible pain. When my mother had a hysterectomy, she discovered that all of her internal organs were plastered together with massive amounts of endo, yet she didn't have pain.

There is no known cause of endo, although there are theories.

Pootle, I also did the "chemical menopause" for six months (Lupron). It sure did teach me a lot about the power of hormones! I was lucky that I did not suffer too many side effects...no hot flashes! But I did lose a lot of weight, my short-term memory was MIA, every bit of my body dried out completely, and I had NO SEX DRIVE whatsoever! I mean, Adonis could have been naked before me and...nothing. For me with my healthy sex drive, it was weird. Good thing I was single at the time!

Women with endo who are having trouble conceiving are sometimes put on hormone treatment for a few months and are successful in getting pregnant immediately afterwards. Getting pregnant has the same effect as the hormone treatment, e.g. it lowers estrogen and allows the endo to dissolve into the body. That may be why kiwichick's sister had an oopsie after being pregnant the first time.

I went to a support group meeting once and one of the members had recently had a baby after years of endo and infertility treatments. She said that the pain she experienced during labor was the same intensity she experienced with endo. Labor lasted much longer, but the intensity of the pain was the same. All those years I suffered with pain -- passing out, throwing up, bedridden for a couple days, drugging myself to high heaven -- I always thought to myself that labor could not be any worse than what I experienced. I'll never know for sure, but it was interesting to get a little validation from someone else's experience.

TBH I found labour to be a piece of cake after years of pain. I managed a longish labour with a tens machine and gas. The intensity is exactly the same and I was quite relieved to find I hadn't been overreacting every month. It really was as painful as giving birth!

quote:

Originally posted by Pootle:
TBH I found labour to be a piece of cake after years of pain.

Thanks, Pootle. That is very interesting to hear. All I can say is...I KNEW IT!! I *knew* I was not overreacting. Convincing the rest of the world, well... But it has made me a stronger person AND I have the highest tolerance for pain of anyone I know! That tattoo on my ankle...puh! A mere scratch!

Yes, it's that time again...March is Endometriosis Awareness Month. Doing my duty for the cause and bumping this up!

Here is an interesting article by Malcolm Gladwell from The New Yorker. Not about endo, per se, but about the invention of the birth control pill, and the effect hormones have on women's bodies.

Have a healthy month!