Wondering if I have endometriosis...

[zsmith76]

Hi

I’ve been wondering recently if I might have endometriosis after googling my symptoms.

I am 40 years old and have 2 children. It took 6 and 7 months to get pregnant with each but had no fertility problems.

My symptoms are below – wondering if this sounds like it:

•heavy and painful periods since I was a teenager

•bloating and stomach problems, Dr talked about IBS when I was in my early twenties

•Prescribed tranexamic acid (to slow bleeding) and mefenamic acid (for pain)

•Periods to heavy that I pass large clots – at peak of period a tampon can fill up in minutes

•Pain at ovulation

•Pain at the end of my period:

- worse than period pain (which is predictable and I know how to manage it)

- comes on as an increasing and solid pain and is agonising

- Low down in pelvis

I’m going to go and see the doctor about it as I’ve generally had enough, and after spending an hour sat in the toilet in work today waiting for ibupfrofen to kick in but interested in any opinions on this.

Many thanks

[mihaelad]

Hello, I am also 40 and have exactly same symptoms you describe. The most horrendous is the pain after the periods and it normally lasts from day 7-8 to 12-13, it stops right before ovulation. It is very severe, located low in the pelvis and a lot of times starts early in the morning. I believe it is estrogen related since this is the time of the month when the estrogen is rising. The heavy periods and ovulation pain I had pretty much all my life but the pain after period started about four years ago. I had laparoscopy, D&C and MRI and I was diagnosed with adenomyosis. My doctor says the uterus is enlarged and bulky, pretty much inflamed. There is nothing I found so far to get any relief, tried endo diet, vitex, acupuncture, chinese herbs, homeopathic treatment, and the progestin.

I have been scanning this board for a long time for women with this symptom but I did not find many. It doesn't seem to be a common endo problem.

When did you start having this pain?

[zsmith76 in reply to mihaelad]

Hi there. Thanks for your reply. That's really interesting...

I can't really remember when that pain started but I think probably in the last few years. Like you the heavy/painful periods I've had for years.

I'm sorry you haven't found any relief for it so far.

I'll let you know what my doctor says in case that helps you too.

[mihaelad in reply to zsmith76]

Thank you! I hope you'll get a better answer/treatment then I got so far... and please let me know. I am not convinced the adenomyosis is the correct diagnosis, because everyone I heard with adeno has pain before period, not after... it just doesn't make sense. The pain after period is more likely to be caused by a recurrent infection... but I had numerous cultures and blood tests and no bacteria growth at all.

Please keep in touch

[zsmith76 in reply to mihaelad]

Will do - hoping to get an initial Dr's appt this afternoon.

[zsmith76 in reply to mihaelad]

Hi there. Ive seen the doctor today. She did an internal and said my uterus feels 'bulky', she thinks it could be fibroid but is sending me for blood tests and a scan.

With your diagnosis have they offered any type of resolution?

[mihaelad in reply to zsmith76]

wow! sorry to hear that. the bulky uterus is related to inflamation in my case and the doctor belived the inflamation is caused by adenomyosis. Unfortunately, there is no cure or even pain relief treatment for adenomyosis, just antiinflamatories like ibuprofen.

The only solution is hysterectomy but I don't have any kids yet.. (4 miscarriages) and it's a very hard decision for me.

I've tried the progestin pill continuously for 8 months, but I still had pain and random bleeding, so I stopped.

Thank you very much for sharing how you feel and let me know what you find out after the scans.

[zsmith76 in reply to mihaelad]

Oh I'm really sorry to hear that. Must be an impossible decision to make. It's really not easy being female sometimes is it.

I'll let you know how things go after my scan.