Endometriosis
PERIOD PAIN IS NOT NORMAL. If you are experiencing pain beyond discomfort with your menstrual cycle we urge you to dive deeper into your health to find the cause. Endometriosis affects 1 in 10 women and has the average diagnosis time of 7 years. The earlier the diagnosis the better! Start with the articles to the right, then check out the articles, stories of endo, and free resources below.
ARTICLES ON ENDOMETRIOSIS
Detox Your Period for Pain Relief
For many women, periods come with a host of discomforts: cramping, headaches, fear of leaks, back pain, and maybe even leg pain. As someone who was diagnosed with endometriosis, a painful pelvic pain condition, in my teens, I have experienced countless painful periods and have been on the search for relief.
What Advice Would You Give to Someone Just Diagnosed with (or Suspects) Endometriosis?
So, you’ve been diagnosed with endometriosis (Or you suspect that you have it.) Now what? It can be so difficult to know where to go from here. We’re here to tell you: you’re not alone. There’s hope. You can (and will) live a happy, full life in spite of your illness. You are more than your pain.
Does a Hysterectomy Cure Endometriosis?
For me, having a hysterectomy is a very involved decision. It is not so simple just to take the uterus because I am unable to have a child after all of endometriosis’s damage.
When Period Pain ISN’T Normal
There is no doubt that as women, our bodies are nothing short of amazing. But what isn’t so amazing is the pain that can occur when our good friend Aunt Flo shows up in the form of our monthly period. Ladies of all ages, please take note that not all period pain is normal. I hope to provide a guide on when you urgently need to see your gynecologist, and also where you have the power to improve your cycle pain naturally, using diet and supplements.
An Endometriosis Story
I’m 23 and was diagnosed with endometriosis in January 2012.
I had my first period when I was 11 and they were always painful, but my older sister was the same and doctors just said it was normal. I went on the pill when I was 17 to help make my cycle more regular, but I still suffered a lot with the pain and I always bled very heavily. I suppose I just accepted it.
I remember one month when I was 19 the pain was worse than normal. I came home from work and went in the bathroom to change, and within seconds there was a trail of blood on the floor. As I said, my periods had always been heavy but I’d never seen anything like this. My parents took me up to A&E but we didn’t really get any answers. They didn’t want to examine me because it would have been uncomfortable for me as I was bleeding. I’d had a boyfriend for over two years at the time and we were sleeping together but we always used protection, so I didn’t think I could have been pregnant but they said that was a possibility. My boyfriend at the time wasn’t very nice – I called to let him know I was in the hospital and his response was that he was going out with his mates, so I didn’t feel comfortable discussing the issue in front of my parents! The doctor told me I should come back in a few days to be examined, but stupidly I never did. Other than that, they told me to tri-cycle my pill to make my periods lighter and they sent me home. (more…)
Endometriosis: Katie’s Story
It all started in 1985 when, at age 10, my first period arrived. It was nothing particularly memorable. I remember my mum gave me a sanitary towel and I had a bath.
Shortly after this happened my parents divorced and I now lived with just my dad.
Age 12 – My periods had become very heavy. I often leaked through my clothes and I was very embarrassed. Several times I was at school with no other clothes to change into and had to walk around all day with a jumper or coat wrapped around my waist to disguise the marks on my clothes. I didn’t feel comfortable talking to my dad about it so I just suffered in silence.
Around this time I also started to be bullied (we had moved to Scotland where my dad is from and my English accent made me a target for abuse). At 13, I had gone back to England to visit my mum and decided to stay there as I was becoming too distressed from the abuse.
Endometriosis: Janette’s Story
My periods started the week before my 11th birthday. They weren’t painful or heavy to start with but they were irregular and a bit of a nuisance, which I guess is pretty normal in the beginning.
By the time I was 12 they had gotten much, much worse and were heavy and painful. The pain got so bad it was causing me to vomit and pass out, I was getting migraines, and I was missing school because of it. I would spend my time curled up on the bathroom floor waiting for the pain to pass. I went to my GP who decided to put me on the contraceptive pill and give me mefenamic acid (Ponstan). I also got tested for anemia because the bleeding was so heavy, but that came back negative.
ENDOMETRIOSIS QUIZ
Endometriosis affects 1 in 10 women in the US and has an average diagnosis time of 7 years. How much do you know about the disorder?
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