Endometriosis after pregnancy - what’s your experience been like?

[MyMya]

Hello

I was on the waiting list for surgery to treat severe endometriosis.

Due to covid this has been repeatedly delayed, and I have succeeded in conceiving in the meanwhile.

I was advised my the endometriosis specialist that I might not need to have surgery after the baby is born as pregnancy can change things.

If you’ve had a successful pregnancy despite endometriosis, did having a baby change your symptoms? If so, how?

Thank you in advance!

[Rehanat]

Hey- although symptoms eased off during pregnancy my pain returned practically as soon as I’d given birth. Pregnancy doesn’t cure endometriosis, it stops the symptoms due to not having periods.

[Afrohair]

Currently pregnant !and have been twice one resulting in misscarrige the first pregnancy which ended in misscarrige worsened my symptoms .I am now on my second no pain (well less )I don't feel like my endo will change after the baby I still get endo pain now but from current lesions .i have decided not to go down the surgery route .surgery can cause things like more adhesions and I'm not planning on any more children I am going for a c section and getting a coil put in so I won't have to go through the contraceptive experience again I was offered sterilisation but that won't do anything for endo so I'm refusing that.its really not good advise your specialist has given you (if you can call it that) as it is your body and everyone is different you may still feel you need surgery after I feel mine will come straight back I'm not going to guarantee I will be free of it !as your hormones can go back but I can go back to managing it if you see my old posts I ended up going pain free naturally though I think the coil will stop my bleeding which to be frank I'm getting fed up with as I bleed both ways.so to answer your question my first baby which sadly ended worsened my symptoms second baby still pregnant 🤰 I don't feel things will change and I will be pain free after but I'm hoping the coil will help coil is supposed to be the best for endo and I'm not opting for surgery as there's no guarantee of being pain free though your stage is advanced they say surgery helps

[Hidden]

Hi there, many congrats!

When you say it is severe, what stage are you?

As unfortunately pregnancy will not change the need for surgical intervention if the endo is deep and fibrotic. You may still need some surgery, if symptoms warrant it obviously. If you are stage 3 or more you qualify for surgery at a tertiary care level so these surgeons use special gels etc to minimise the risk of adhesions. Most women with advanced endo do unfortunately need surgery. Even those with superficial or peritoneal endo benefit from expert surgery. You just need to be aware of what your rights are for your particular treatment needs. Are you familiar with the Nice guidelines? Or ESHRE? I can direct you to a place where you can source this information if you wish.

I had a very extensive and successful surgery with a bsge surgeon prior to having a successful pregnancy. My pregnancy was horrific pain and symptoms wise until I was about 25 weeks or maybe later. I constantly felt as though I was having a severe period and I spotted a lot and had a few big bleeds. However the latter end of my pregnancy was bliss. I am still relatively pain free but only 13 weeks post partum now. And I even had a very traumatic labour which resulted in significant intervention and stitches etc and my pain was much less than pre pregnancy even the day after giving birth. I am starting to get familiar cramps but nothing I can't handle.

Some women do get long term relief after pregnancy and some don't. It's impossible to say and unfortunately a waiting game for you to see how you react to the hormones at play.

Many congrats again

[cmbxm]

I was on a waiting list for surgery and by some miracle fell pregnant naturally, my symptoms aren’t fantastic tho (I’m 22 weeks), I’ve got period pains which I got outside my cycle before anyway and have had these since the beginning, my back, thighs and hips are hurting as usual and if anything the pains been amped up by the baby also pressing on these things, morning sickness hasn’t helped with the usual issues with keeping food down when my pains bad, all in all I’ve been told pregnancy will help my symptoms and if anything that’s the total opposite and everything is just aggravated by the baby, only thing is I’m not having periods, and I can’t take the usual pain killers and have burning hot water bottles and hot baths like I used to either, I’m somewhat looking forward to giving birth so then when my endo does come back, I can treat it the way I always have and not struggle with pain management xx