Dark circles under eyes and random anxiety

[Hinesm]

I am currently under gyne for suspected endo and due for my next appointment next week, I'm going to accept their advice and have a laparoscopy. I was just wondering if any of you brave endo sufferers have dark circles under your eyes ALL the time, even after a good sleep, and just feel completely wiped out. I was told I have an anxiety disorder after the birth of my baby girl and I'm wondering if it's the anxiety causing the fatigue, the endo causing the fatigue and anxiety or vice Versa! I feel like I've got the anxiety under wraps and I don't panic any more but there's something bringing on random bursts of anxiety, and I 100% believe it's hormone related. I'm sick of people telling me I look tired or ill. I've just started a new job and feel so self conscious, I've lost all my confidence and can barely speak to anyone, I must look like a right weirdo ha. I'm ovulating at the min and have a heavy bleed (with brown clots sorry tmi) with ovulation, lower back pain is unreal it's like sciatica pain, and I just feel 'blah' xx

[Impatient]

dark patches under the skin can come from many causes. 1st thing switch to a hypoallergenic pillow and mattress dust protector incase you are causing the dark circles by breathing in allergens during your night of sleep.

it can be simply hereditary anyway so check photos of your parents or their siblings at about the same age you are to see if they too showed signs of the dark circles.

It can be from lack of collagen in the skin beneath the eyes making the capiliaries stand out more which happens as you age anyway.

regardless of the cause there are plenty of concealer powders and cremes that can do an excellent job of hiding the darkened area and reflecting light particles can brighten your facial appearance without looking like a thick layer of pancake. Do test patches of products on the skin for 24 hrs before you buy them to check for irritation and allergc reactions. Use the testers on display in the stores. Then if all is okay go back and make a purchase.

Chronic Fatigue isa very common symptom of endo, one which most of have to some degree from mild to severe. And despite lots of trying different things, from exercise, to medication, to diet....so far no one has found a way to improve the fatigue issue. the advice i can give you is to take naps as and when you need them.

Anxiety comes from a rise in your blood pressure and illness, medication and stress can zip up the blood pressure.

You can buy home BP testing kits for about £30 so you can keep an eye on your own BP levels. Always do the testing at rest. Sit down for 5 minutes and then start the test.

this gives you an average over several days and you can monitor through the month how much fluctuation you're are getting with your at rest BP comparing it when you feel anxious.

If you do have endo then cutting out caffeine and alcohol are both beneficial to endo and reduce BP.Your GP can test your hormone levels (especially the thyroid ) to check if the thyroid may be struggling to produce certain hormones and that can cause tiredness and elevated BP.

Brown clots in your periods is normal. it is old menstrual lining just taking a lot longer to pass through. It happens to every women as she gets older, and they need not be any gynae reason for it. But there are some thing which can cause it to happen too, like heavy periods which irritate the cervix causing it to swell with a condition called cervical erosion this narrows the cervix and larger clumps of menstrual make get stuck there waiting for enough lubrication to build up , waiting for the irritated cervix to calm down and then they pass through. This usually happens when your next period begins, so allowed the remnants of the prevous period to come out. it is exactly the same stuff as any period i, just lost some oxygen content and with that it looses the bright red colouring of a fresh bleed full of oxygenated blood.

When you ovulate mid cycle that is the result of a burst of hormones which can also be enough to provide enough lubrication at the cervix to allow the old period to escape.

You should be tested to rule out various gynae conditions which can give similar symptoms, then next step is keyhole surgery to look for signs of endo, map it, and remove it. After that isdone then reducing or stopping your periods is the best for of attack to try and prevent new endo from nesting where it isn't supposed to be.

I do recommend the mirena coil as the best of the options for stopping periods, and you should look in to that, discuss it with your surgeon and get it installed when you have a lap op. You can get it installed without anaesthetic, but of your do have endo it could hurt considerably so taking the opportunity to get it put in during surgery is by far the best way.

It takes round 4-6 months to get to work effectively. it should stop your periods completely or at least reduce them to not much more than spotting each month. And lasts up to 5 years. no BCpills to take just forget it is in there and get back to living a normal life again. if you do have endo then every period you have risks spreading endo, so finding any means to stop periods is a a good thing to do. Even if you do have side effects with mirena, some do but most don't, then you have the option to have it removed, likewise if you want to try for a pregnancy it can be removed.

If uses the lowest amounts of hormones of all the period controller hormone methods and is the longest lasting too.

Mirena can also stop you ovulating and preserve your egg stocks -but it doesn't stop in every women. It isn't designed to do that, it works by thinning the menstrual lining over a period of time till it gets so thin there is little to nothing to shed as a period and at the same time builds up cervical mucus in the cervix to hold the strings in place, protect the cervix from irritation and prevent pregnancy.

It did liberate me from periods and I wouldn't be without it now. It does take time to settle and begin to work but if you can give it a chance it really can transform your daily life in a big way as well as being effective in reducing some endo spread.

There is a lot going on and a lot to deal with and research for yourself, and it takes time. Don't be fobbed off with meds when what you really need is a diagnosis surgery. it is the only way to spot endo , and remove it too, and is the best time for mirena to be installed too. you re just at the beginning of the journey while you await diagnosis, but that doesn't mean there is nothing you can do yet.

you can use this time while waiting for the op to be looking at the assorted methods of menstrual or period management.

Look at your diet and watch out for foods and drnks that make pains worse. keep a food/pain diary.

Look up the endo diet and see what foods promote oestrogen production which endo loves, and try and cut out or at least cut back on the oestrogen friendly foods and drinks.

a lot of what you describe are things which something can be done about - one by one so they are much less of a nuisance to you and make you feel better able to cope.

Best of Luck

[CharlieSays]

Dark circles? Yep, thats me and they get so much darker if I'm in any kind of pain - sometimes I look like a panda! Mine is partly hereditary - my grandma had sunken eyes, but also things like not drinking enough water can contribute. If you want to try eye creams, look for ones with a high vitamin K content, as this is reputed to be very helpful. I've been using an organic cream called Queen Bee that is really helping (got it from Amazon), but there are other products out there.

[Hinesm]

Thank you so much for the replies ladies x I'll be buying that cream and I'll keep you posted

[OracleofWestRock]

I have endo and dark circles all of the time. I am now drinking 1-2 cups of chickweed tea during my period. (Forgive the graphic nature..) I have far fewer clots and the blood is coming out very red. I read that the darker blood is blood that stays in the uterus too long. I feel way better on the chickweed. Anyway I am going to try nettle tea, eating more iron and b12 etc. I am also going to work on getting 8 hours of sleep every night. I'll try going gluten free and getting a new mattress too.