Symptoms

Endo is quite a confusing disease as there are many different symptoms a woman may experience, and there is often different symptoms felt by each woman who is diagnosed with this disease, as well as varying degrees of symptoms. As I will talk about in an upcoming post on the difficulties of getting diagnosed with this disease, endo symptoms can often be confused with symptoms of other illnesses, thus complicating the picture even more.

That being said, woman with endo often have heavy and/or painful periods. It's often the symptom of pain that leads us to first complaining to the doctor. Many women will come to find that they have chronic pelvic pain, which often gets a bit worse around the time of ovulation and during the onset of their periods. Pain can also become worse with sexual intercourse. Often women with endo experience intestinal problems, including painful bowel movements, constipation and diarrhea. The inflammatory substances released by endo cells can cause the bowels and bladder to go into a state of spasm leading towards abdominal pain. Women can experience sharp, shooting vaginal pain symptoms. The pain can be worsened by the presence of adhesions which may tug and pull pelvic/abdominal organs out of place. Endometriomas and cysts can form on the ovaries which can lead towards damaging the healthy ovarian tissue. There is some research to suggest that women may have elevated CA125 blood levels, which can increase the risk of developing ovarian cancer. As well, women with endo often have a surplus of estrogen which creates an entire systemic hormonal imbalance, as each hormone relies on a certain amount of other hormones to balance out the system.

At other times, women may have none of the above symptoms but may be diagnosed with endometriosis upon investigation for infertility issues. Up to 30% of women with endometriosis will experience primary infertility and require expensive assistive reproductive technologies to conceive. I will address the infertility issue in an upcoming post as well.

How old were you when your endo symptoms first started? What were/are your symptoms that you experience?