More girl talk. Endometriosis.

I have had a few people ask me about my endometriosis after hearing a tiny bit of my story back here, so I thought I'd share a bit about it for those interested and those looking into help for endometriosis. It is a very misunderstood disease that I feel anyone could benefit from learning a bit about. It is difficult to diagnose and took me a long time to figure out what was going on with my body. 

I was lucky enough to receive surgery to help relieve the pain. And now it has unfortunately come back. I expected that it would eventually, since it is likely if you are not using birth control(hormonal) or pregnant, but I just didn't expect it so soon.

Why no birth control? Oh, because I HATE it, and it hates me. My body does not handle it so well. I'm emotional, my hair falls out, it hurts, the bleeding never ends. I get it all. Trust me.

Endometriosis is when parts of the lining in the uterus that is shed each month (it's called a period if you didn't know already. ha) sneaks out into other parts of the abdomen, implants itself, bleeds, and HURTS. There is no way for those implantations to escape unless they are surgically removed. They can be very painful, differing for each case.

The big question. Does endometriosis mean you are infertile? ............ Not necessarily, but it increases your chances greatly. I have found many different statistics so I can't put a number to it, but I have found some saying 40% of women with it are infertile, others say 25%. So in other words, I don't know, and from what I've found, no one does. 

That brings me to another question I repeatedly get. Are you able to have children? We don't know yet if I will be able to have children, but my doctor did say that things look good post surgery. My concern now is that it is back, and I'm not sure how much damage is being done. We just have to be patient and trust that things will work out the way they are supposed to, when they are supposed to.

I have been doing a lot of research on how to naturally help control it (no, I don't really have any control at all, but I figured the small things are worth a try) since we are not insured out here, and I can't afford to be out of work for so long for another surgery anytime soon. I have found some great things, that wouldn't be so bad for weight, acne, and everyday health either! But it is HARD. I would be going gluten and dairy free. I so want to do it, but I'm scared. I don't know how. I love all gluten and dairy anything, but I believe it's worth a try. Any and all suggestions and tips are welcome! :) I successfully completed 1.5 days of gluten/dairy free this weekend, and broke my streak after church last sunday. I'm now going most of the day, but end up cheating a little bit each day.

Today I thought to research possible effects it may have on a baby if I happened to get pregnant, and THIS is what I found. I started to cry. It broke my heart. Then I learned this is false and none of it has been proved. Gosh I can't tell you how relieved I was.

Another question I get...... "What does it feel like?" It's hard to explain. And it changes often. The actual pain on the endometriosis spots feels sharp usually. Sometimes to the point of tears. Sometimes to the point of being curled up on the ground. Sometimes just a little squirm of the body. And sometimes just a small ache. It varies all the time. I also have some other symptoms that I'm not sure are from endometriosis, but I have discovered that they are symptoms. My lower back aches, my legs and feet hurt when I've been up for too long, I'm often tired, bloated, intercourse is uncomfortable, and bowel movements aren't so nice either. If that ain't TMI, I don't know what is. Sorry ya'll. You asked! That's also why I gave you the option above to continue reading or not. So no apologies. :)

How do you find out you have it? The only way to know for sure is by actually having the surgery done where they go and look for it. I wish there were another way, but there really isn't. I'm sure someday they'll find other ways to identify it.

For those interested, the surgery I had done was a laparoscopy. You can find more details on that here. I had a few other surgeries done at the same time for other things, but I think if I were to have the laparoscopy alone, my recovery would not have been bad at all. Maybe one or two weeks and I'd be good to go. I would recommend it any day. They make incisions in your abdomen, and go in through one incision with a camera and light, and the others with the cleaning scraping utensils. Sorry I'm not a surgeon. I don't know their lingo. I myself have considered going in for surgery every couple years rather than take birth control. Seriously, that's how bad I hate anything hormonal. 

Well there you have it. Good stuff eh? I have heard that they are discovering it in women more and more all the time. I think that it helps that more women are becoming aware of it. So be aware! Please let me know if you have any questions! I'm happy to answer them and help how I can. I'm not a pro, but I'm here for you. :)

xoxo,

Mandy