Laproscopy and blood tests?

[Amywoodx]

Hi I’m still in the process of trying to get diagnosed and trying to get gynaecologists to take me seriously.

Recently I had a blood test a few days before my period was due because polycystic ovaries were found via scan. I was more or less 100% sure that I had a hormonal imbalance and I had looked up symptoms and convinced myself I did. Blood tests came back and my hormone levels were normal... also had an FBC yesterday as I ended up in hospital (periods🙄) and everything was normal there. Surprised I wasn’t even anaemic.

I’m wondering if any of you guys had a hormone blood test done and what they found or if there would be any signs of endo in a blood test as I’ve heard it’s estrogen-driven so higher levels of estrogen would be present.

Also- for anyone who’s had a laproscopy, did you guys have any pelvic pain or discomfort afterwards? And is this pain caused because of the endo? Would a person without endometriosis feel this pain after having a laproscopy? 🤔 just wondering because my mum used to have extremely painful and heavy periods, had symptoms similar to me during her period, told me she had difficulties getting pregnant with me so they sent her for a laproscopy ages ago but didn’t find anything & she said the aftermath was fine and she was able to drive herself home afterwards and everything. Knowing that endometriosis can be genetic, I wondered if she had endometriosis all along. But then again, she told me they didn’t find any on her laproscopy? Hm weird 😲

[Cactus80]

Hi, I had blood tests done over about 4/5 months in 2018 to keep and eye on CA125 levels(tumour marker). They were not massively high compared to some but were increasing slightly. Also CRP levels(inflammation marker)were high too. This was all done due to daily abdomen pain. I know the above could be alot of things and in no way diagnoses Endometriosis but was a sign something wasnt right. Got an referred for an MRI which suggested deep endo then had a laparoscopy to diagnose. Nothing was done due to the severity and still waiting on a plan of action. Without this, it may have taken a lot longer to be diagnosed. Hope this helps x

[CherryPie1 in reply to Cactus80]

Hi Cactus80,

I went through exactly the same checks and then came across a book to heal endometriosis naturally which involved making dietary changes which has helped reduce the pain alot. I also started taking CBD Oil having researched that it helps to reduce endometriosis - may be these things could help you also.

[Cactus80 in reply to CherryPie1]

I had relief initially by cutting out gluten, red meat, dairy and caffeine but didn't last long. Still continuing with it as I am enjoying the healthy food. I take turmeric tablets and vitamin c. The CBD oil I haven't tried but will look into it. Thank you x

[CherryPie1 in reply to Cactus80]

A tip to increase the potency of the Turmeric tablets is to have them with black pepper - I take Curcumin (Turmeric root) tablets that already have the black pepper in but you could just add a pinch when you are taking Turmeric.

I have also been having accupuncture treatment and myofacial release therapy which has helped alot with the pain management - maybe these can help you also? x

[Amywoodx in reply to Cactus80]

I’ve just ordered some cbd oil and capsules to try out from endoca, I can let you know if it helps me so maybe u can give it a go too x

[Cactus80 in reply to Amywoodx]

That would be great thank you x

[3caramel7]

There is no official test or markers in the blood for Endometriosis at present. There are over 300 tests and more that you can perform on the blood. They most importantly when performing the CA125 test are looking for signs of cancer. Just because a test comes back normal doesn't mean to say everything is hunky dory and just because a test comes back abnormal means that there is something wrong. A blood test is like a snapshot of the blood at that time. It doesn't show a long history. Blood counts are also affected by various conditions, drugs etc which is why if a test comes back abnormal they will tend to repeat it just to make sure. Even if a test result comes back below or above normal ranges it will depend what it is and whether it really matters. Performing a blood test is not quite a simple cut and dry affair which is why they will ask a number of questions and maybe perform other tests at the same time. I too suffer from Endo and was suprised along with my Gynae when my Estrogen levels came back as zero! The test was repeated 3x!

Medicine is not an exact science! It requires years of practice and study and its important to understand this when reading around. We are in the dark when it comes to the causes, treatments and of course a cure for this wretched condition!

The reaction to surgery and anaesthetic is a very individual thing. My body does not like to be tampered with and my healing times are slow.Some people will recover quickly and other people like myself, my body will still be moaning a couple of months after everybody else!

[Afrohair]

My mum was similar to your said she had cysts and fibroids and we have been wondering if she really had endo aswell she ended up having a hysterectomy very young in her 30s

[Nikilll]

Now you are taking any hormone tablet like mini or combination pill or other. If you are taking pill during hormone blood test. The results is normal.

[asoullessstatic]

My blood work was normal too.

Endometriosis is estrogen driven, however most scientific studies done on endometrial tissue has shown that endo tissue has a higher expression of the estrogen receptor, so the tissue is more sensitive to estrogen. While your estrogen may be normal, endometriosis tissue almost over reacts to it and you need very little estrogen to stimulate it to grow.

The CA125 test is often called a cancer test, in reality it's a bit wobbly when it comes to that. It is not a tumour marker, and really using it as a biomarker for cancer is difficult. The correlative studies that have been done do show that the higher your levels of CA125 the more at risk of developing ovarian cancer. It does not mean you have it. It doesn't mean you are going to get it. It's something they use in conjuction with 100s of other tests as an indicator, it is not a diagnostic test.

I had a lap 5 weeks ago, I was up and walking a few hours after surgery. The night of the sugery was the worst as the gas can cause shoulder pain, but other than that it was okay. My pain wasn't really any worse or any better (they didn't cut anything out). The stitches in the incision were actually the worst as I was bending over etc and quite active within a day or two and they pinched. Other than that, it really wasn't awful.