Feeling stuck!

[strawberry48]

Hi! Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I am 18 & have been having periods since I was 12, they are ridiculously painful (vomiting, fainting & have had to have my mother bathe, dress me, feed me etc multiple times due to the pain being so bad), not exactly what I want at 18 🥲

I’ve been hospitalised multiple times but unfortunately it doesn’t seem to go much further than IV pain medicine. I’ve had multiple abdominal ultrasounds which have all come back clear, and recently went private for an MRI, which showed a few things such as excess fluid, bowel issues, uneven ‘parts’ etc.. but the doctor said it was all normal, so nothing else has come of that.

I’ve tried 3 different kinds of birth control, all worse than the last, and I’ve been on multiple pain medications.

I’ve seen gynaecologists and they told me I have to wait for 10 years after my periods start, or wait until I’m infertile for them to help me.

I’m just feeling really stuck now and this pain is getting worse everyday! Any advice on how to move forward would be so appreciated!

Thank you :’)

[strawberrysunset]

Hi! I'm so sorry to hear your experiences, but they sound all too familiar. I was put on birth control at 16 and stayed on it for 10 years as (much like you) doctors wouldn't treat me as they said I needed to wait for my periods to "settle". I also had scans that were classed as clear, blood tests that were marked as fine so I gave up fighting because on the pill I had no periods. I came off the pill because at 26 I wanted to understand what was going on with my body before I was ready for children, and wouldn't take no for an answer until the GP referred me to gynaecology. I was with my consultant for 8 minutes when he said he would do a laparoscopy, and when I had the surgery they found stage 2 & 3 endo which they were able to move. It's completely changed my life.

All I can say is don't give up the fight for your GP or consultant to listen to you, take someone with you to your appointments if that helps and stand your ground. Endometriosis UK have a really great symptom checker you can fill in and take with you to your appointment to help you feel more confident.

Good luck with your journey, I hope you can get some answers and help soon!

[EndoCoeliac_Woman]

Hi,My advice is to look or an endo specialist. He/she will be able to read your mri (sounds pretty clear to me from what I read as it is similar to mine, do they mention the utero-sacral ligament?). Unfortunately we assume all radiologist are the same but it's not the case. Also. High contrast machine is important. Normal ones don't detect anything. They will tell you 'all clear'. And then. Stage IV (my story).

For the pain diet and exercise helped me more than any pill. Pills make me worse actually. Are you doing any sport?

Here to help <3