I had Endometriosis excision surgery in November 2023 to treat Endometriosis, something I was diagnosed in 2019 for. In short, Endometriosis is a systematic, inflammatory disease characterised by the presence of endometrium like tissue found outside the uterine cavity.
Symptoms include;
- heavy painful periods
- chronic pain in the lower back and pelvis
- pain during or after sex
- diarrhoea, constipation, bloating, nausea
- fatigue
- low moods which lead to depression
- infertility
Symptoms can fluctuate especially during menstrual periods.
It was an extremely long and difficult process in getting mydiagnosis for Endometriosis mainly because the symptoms vary considerably, and many other conditions can cause similar symptoms. I first went to the doctors in my teens- I was told it was just ‘bad periods’ and was fobbed off with medication to help with the pain, which I ended up taking until I was in my twenties.
During my years at University, I was hungover half the time so stupidly put some of my symptoms down to that. However, halfway through it was found that I had an ovarian cyst which grew to 9cm and had to be surgically removed. Again, the symptoms were along the same lines; heavy painful periods/erratic bowel movements/ bloating/nausea/fatigue/low moods, all of which were symptoms the cyst caused however didn’t subside after surgery.
When I started full time work, I noticed I found life a lot harder to manage during my periods which lead to lots of sick days. As it got in the way of daily life, I decided to go back to the doctors where after a scan I was given a diagnosis of PCOS - Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. Again, the symptoms were along the same lines; heavy painful periods/erratic bowel movements/ bloating/nausea/fatigue/low moods, one that stood out for me was INFERTILITY. It never phased me before as I was a lot younger and babies were not on the forefront of my mind, then I had just got married and of course that would have been next on the agenda for us so was a cause for concern.
Very lucky for us I fell pregnant, albeit, earlier than expected, I thought it could take years or not even happen at all having PCOS. All those symptoms I suffered with magically disappeared whilst I was pregnant and breastfed my baby until she was 14 months. The first period hit and I was reminded of what I was living with those symptoms was like, they didn’t magically go away, they were just masked by the hormones my body was producing for the baby. I decided to go private to speed up the process, and this time with a specialist, it was that moment in 2019 after another scan that I was diagnosed with Endometriosis and scheduled in for excision surgery as next steps for treatment.
I luckily and unexpectedly fell pregnant with my second before I could have the surgery, so the symptoms of this disease were short lived and masked once again until I stopped breastfeeding, and they slowly came back. Each month was different & progressively worse. Some days I couldn’t get out of bed and some I could just about manage the school drop off to then return under the sheets.
I was finally booked in again for surgery and took the plunge. I am now 4 months post-surgery and I have already seen some improvement; I still suffer with low moods around the time of my period but not to the extremes I felt previously. The consultant has advised me to wait at least 6 months post-surgery for an accurate view.
Taken from the NHS website- ‘Endometriosis sometimes gets better by itself, but it can get worse if it's not treated. One option is to keep an eye on symptoms and decide to have treatment if they get worse.’
It’s always been a huge struggle to speak so openly about this because periods are just not one of those things in life that wewant to jump up and shout about, but why is that? We jump up and shout about the being pregnant part. Why do we feel so ashamed about the natural cycles our bodies go through to prepare itself for pregnancy.
Some advice from me; DO NOT sit in silence, speak up, get heard and get seen.
@poshlemons x
