I am really worried about the info I've been reading about endo making you infertile is this true?

[emj2014]

[wp22]

Sadly for me yes it is true but sometimes some women can get pregnant. So it's hard to say who are the lucky ones. Sorry to be a bearer of bad news x

[emj2014 in reply to wp22]

Thanks for your reply. Sorry to hear that xxx

[Hidden]

I was diagnosed when I was 21 (now 43). I have been blessed with three beautiful children

[emj2014 in reply to Hidden]

That is really nice to know thank you. Hopefully I am as lucky as you xxx

[Jofus89]

Iv been told by so many that endo can make it harder to have kids yet iv seen all over this blog and others posts from women with babies one of my best friends got told she would find it near impossible to ever be a mum because of her endo. It upset her enough she tried to take her own life after she failed to fall pregnant for 3 years. She then met a new man and they have just had their second beautiful daughter x x x

[emj2014 in reply to Jofus89]

Thank you for your positive reply its always lovely to hear nice stories about people becoming pregnant after years of trying. I am hoping to be as lucky as your friend one day. My only worry is I am nowhere near planning for children but definitely want children in the future. Fingers crossed xx

[Impatient]

The issue is WHERE the endo nests inside the tummy. That is the key.

if it decides to nest on or around the ovaries or the ends of the fallopian tubes then either the endo itself or the scar tissue called adhesions, that grows from endo wounds can overwhelm the ovary on one side or both blocking the eggs from escaping to the fallopian tubes - and or they can damage and block the fallopian tubes too again stopping egg reaching the uterus to be fertilised. Ifyou have endometrioma cysts -sometimes these too can either get in the way - or envelope around the ovary in a sticky coagulated old blood cocoon - again this prevents the tiny ova escaping when it bursts from its sac.

But it is purely about luck.

You can have severe stage 4 endo, totally filling up the POD (pouch of douglas) between the back of the uterus and the bowel, endo on every other tummy ligament, organ and tissue, but still have clear tubes and still have at least one clear ovary and still be able to conceive naturally.

The vast majority of endo cases are for minimal or mild endo, just one or two patches of the stuff and it is much rarer for those to be active on both ovaries or tubes wiping out their usefulness on both sides.

The more extensive the endo the more likely there is going to be an issue on at least one side with endo or adhesions or both getting in the way of egg-travel.

In those cases and for anyone who knows from early on that both sides are now blocked then it is still possible to get pregnant with the help of IVF to take the egg from the ovary nd by-pass the blockage and have it or an embryo implanted in the uterus.

IF you are loaded with money you don't need drugs and can have one egg removed each month as it naturally develops.

If you are on NHS funded or privately funded IVF and money is an issue then having drugs to boost egg production is probably better for improving your chances of success - but the down side is the drugs will also give your existing endo several christmases at once, but if you do fall pregnant then the endo is made dormant throughout the pregnancy.

So it isn't an ideal situation.

Then there are other factors too. During tests or surgeries it may be found that there are deformities with the uterus shape and development which you are unaware of, or with the cervix or vagina too. Sometimes these can be remedied by having corrective surgery, sometimes that is just not going to be enough, in which case pregnancy would be too dangerous for the baby and for you - and surrogacy or adoption is your next port of call if you still want a family.

I don't like the term infertile, when used for endo. Because almost all ladies with endo have active working ovaries that are producing viable ova each month, and their uterus is quite capable of carrying a baby to term too. So they are not actually infertile, just there is blockage in the way of that egg getting where it needs to go, and sometimes surgical or IVf help is required to get round the blockage.

To preserve the health of ovaries and tubes and to prevent endo really taking hold inside and spreading where you do not want it too, early diagnosis and surgery to remove existing endo is really important - so too is taking steps after surgery to avoid having too many periods before you do decide to try and conceive.

The pattern of endo growth is different in each and every one of us, so there is no way to predict when endo will target and compromise the route of ova to the uterus.

It may be the first things your endo does damage too, or you could have decades of extensive endo growth and still be able to conceive. As I said it's purely down to luck, but you can improve your luck with early diagnosis and treatments.

Hope that explains things a bit more clearly.

[emj2014 in reply to Impatient]

Thank you for your detailed reply :). It helps me understand a lot more what is going on inside of your body when we speak about endo. I have only been suffering with pain around 10 months and I am getting sent for a lap therefore I gather I am catching it pretty early so hopefully this will help. I have also been told to take my conception pill none stop so I don't have a period. Then after 6 months I allow myself a week to have a period do you know anything about this? x

[wp22]

I apparently haven't got endo on my tubes or ovaries but mainly POD and bladder and cannot conceive. With me it seems one tiny spot, anywhere, causes my infertility. Was highly fertile before endo 6 years ago, could conceive at the drop of a hat. My last lap the gynea said my ovaries were very good.

What can also happen is that because the body is trying to fight off the endo microphages are produced in excessive amounts and this then leads to 'things sticking' and high killer cells (NK) cells. These fight off any foreign cells in our bodies like cancer cells, sperm and embryos from implanting. They have a life cycle and reproduce in large numbers when endo is present fighting anything that comes into contact with our bodies. It is good in a way but when ttc it's the worst thing ever as nothing will implant because an embryo will get engulfed by these killer cells hunting for foreign cells. So there's no chance of getting pregnant when you have high NK cells because endo causes them to produce extra large amounts. Basically if the endo is removed thoroughly then these NK cells will eventually dye down. I think they have a life span of around 10 days. So this means that women with high NK cels gave a high immune system and that is why do e women never get ill or have colds. Therefore on the other hand some women seem to have low immune systems and get everything going. Perhaps this is why some women can conceive and others can't. Hope this helps x

[Joey_Eds13 in reply to wp22]

Is there anyway of finding out, blood test etc if you have these nasty little cells? X

[emj2014 in reply to wp22]

Thank you for your reply. Like Joey_Eds13 said is there any tests to see if I have these cells x

[Smudger_79]

i was diagnosed in my late teens/early 20's and for me...totally infertile but i have added PCOS with zero/odd times ovulation. Had to embark on fertility treatment which was a 7 yr road ending in 2 rounds of IVF. Got our miracle from round 2 :). But it depends on the severity and where it is etc as the lady above states. Good luck and i hope your rd is not too hard xx

[emj2014 in reply to Smudger_79]

Thank you for your reply. Thats great you had your miracle it sounds like a long journey which I hope I will get through. Thanks again xx

[wp22]

Yes there is a test that can be done, it is called something like High NK (natural killer) cell test. TH3 and TH4 and CD56 from what I remember. You can get it at some Ivf clinics and i beleive there is a private clinic in liverpool that does it too. It does cost though and I think it costs around £200. I had it done 3 years ago and mine was extremely high. I didn't know I had endo then but I had had it for around 2 years before the test. I tried Ivf but obviously didn't work. We got 100% fertilisation and excellent eggs, everything looked perfect but because I had endo and as a result very high NK cells they didn't implant. There are immune drugs you can use to try and counteract this but again can be expensive. They didn't try them on me but they knew I had endo but didn't tell me. If you want any more info on immune drugs pm me x