QuestionQUESTION: Hi, my name is Jess and im 17 years old.
i have a huge feeling i may be suffering from endometriosis..i have a list of symptoms and querys if any one could help ide be so greatful.
last year i was doing my GCSE exams, and in the first one ,english i keeled over in pain. ide been feeling sick and in so much pain before i started and had a word with one of my teachers , but they put it down to nerves. i was not on my period nor was i due on. my periods have always been irregular but never painful.and the strange thing was that ide never suffered from nerves.
anyway so i was about half way through my exam and had written literaly 2 lines and i had collapsed in pain. all my friends nearly got excluded from the exams for pointing out that it looked like i was dying.so i got sent to a quiter room (to shut me up)and was sick loads(green)this is from the pain. so i was eventually sent to the doctors where they diagnosed a suspected pendicitus or watever then sent to the hospital.
i was in for a 8 days with excrutiating pain which they gave me paracetamol for,they kept me on nill by mouth the whole time incase i went for sugery i eventually went for a scan.where they told me blood had gone the wrong way up my fallopean tubes. but because i was so drugged up,(literaly)starving, and just wanted to go home i erged them to discharge me and i was feeling abit better anyway.i came on period about half way through the time i spent there.
when i left i was given discharge notes which i had a brief look at and if i remember rightly it said a couple of words and one of them was endometriosis. i forgot all about it and stupidly mislaid the notes somewhere.
anyway moving on, since then i havnt been the same, i constantly have back ache,have random stabbing pains in my abdomanal area all the time (even when i am no-where near my period),i am much heavier than before and its even more irregular than before . i have had to take some days out of college because im in so much pain, i have to stay in bed and i can barley breathe and im getting really worried. me and my boyfriend have had (drunken) unprotected sex before (quite alot actually) which is bad i know but ive never fallen pregnant and i hear infertility is a big link to endo.i really want children and im getting really scared.i feel so isolated most of the time.i also have really painful bowel movments.which is always a nusance.
i have a doctors appointment on friday the 20th of july, in which i will ask to see my discharge notes from hopital and ask them to do that test where they stick a camera around to see.
but im really scared.i dont think the doctors will take me seriously.because im so young. but i hear most people get diagnosed young.if the hopspital did write that on my notes should they not have explained more what was going on and done tests,even if it was just suspected. what if they dont let me have the test?
do you think i should have the test?
do you think it sounds like i have endometriosis?
please please help all feedback welcome..
and p.s sorry for the spelling mistakes(i cant spell anything)
love to all who listened and/or try to help,
Jess xxxxxxxxx
ANSWER: Hi Jess,
Well you sound very much like me at that age. I too had horrifying cramping, pain, bloating, vomiting, back pain...all of the above. And no one knew what was wrong with me.
It wasn't; until I had the Lap test that they discovered endo. And you sure sound like an endo victim. You don't need to be on your period to feel like crap or have pain, or even stabbing pain. Endo consumes your abdomen and the pain, when endo is severe, is comparable to labor. My doctor always told me that when I was ready to have a baby, that labor would be a cinch for me as i felt that kind of pain each month!
Your ovaries can also give you a great deal of discomfort and pain all the time. My left ovary is the worst. I swear I feel like it will shoot out of side when I cough sometimes.
Endo embraces the tissue in your abdomen and other organs and makes everything swell-it is actually growing scar tissue...Thats why a D&.C. is done often with endo, it sort of cleans out the plumbing, so to speak.
As far as having children, endo women can get pregnant, it may take longer...and yes, miscarriages are associated with endo.
I'd seek out a specialist. Usually the best endo doctors are titled high risk/fertility and they know what endo is all about.
I would have the test to see if and how severe the endo it...
I wish you the best of luck, I know how uncomfortable you can feel with this thing. It literally makes you fatigued all the time, too. Take care of yourself and thank you for writing.
Martha
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QUESTION: Martha, i have been to the docttors in which they told me the thing i had when i was in hospital was linked to endo...my doctor unnofficially diagnosed me with endo..shes prescribed me dicloflex 50mg's but its not hellping the pain as you have to take them 3 times a day it doesnt stop hurting till ive taken the third pill and even then it still hurts. should i go back and get something stronger?..in the meantime, im waiting on a 3 month list to go for an ultra-sound to rule out anything else before i get referred to a gyno..this process is so straining because it takes so long is it always like this??write back thanks for the advise jesxx
AnswerHi Jess,
I don't know, but I might be looking for another doctor. You need relief now, not 3 months from now. You need to have a lap done so your endo can be diagnosed at the level it is...which sounds severe. The meds you are on are an anti inflammatory...I too take an anti inflammatory, but it is called Anaprox and it works really well for me, with the first pill! I take the "DS", which is double strength.
I would advise that you find that high risk/fertility doctor, I told you about...they are the ones that usually know the most about endo. And if you do find one, explain to them how much pain you are in...I would think they'd get in you in way before 3 months...
I'd be insistent!!! You don't need to feel like this...that is crazy! Try the Endo Research Center website, they may be able to refer you to a good endo doctor in your area...
Let me know how you do. I sure hope you find help. I know how horrible it is to feel the way you do. Take care.
Martha
