Endometriosis Symptoms

Endometriosis Symptoms

The most common symptom of Endometriosis is pelvic pain although the symptoms vary from one woman to another.

One of the biggest problems regarding Endometriosis is that the signs of this disease in the early stages, appear to be the ‘normal' bodily changes that take place with the menstrual cycle. It is only as time goes by that a woman begins to suspect that what is happening, and the symptoms she feels, are not normal. The pain of her menstrual cycle gradually and steadily becomes worse and worse as the months go by. This is only the beginning of what will become a gradual decline in a woman's general health, as well as the health of her reproductive system.

Having said that, there are odd instances where some women do actually have Endometriosis, but they are nearly free of any symptoms. These women will only be diagnosed by default, for example when they have surgery for other issues, and only then is Endometriosis found. That is what makes this disease so enigmatic.

Endometriosis does not follow any distinct pattern, which is why it is difficult for the medical profession to know that a woman has the disease. Some of the symptoms will mimic those of other health problems, including:

ovarian cysts

ectopic pregnancy

Pelvic Inflammatory Disease

irritable bowel syndrome

ovarian cancer

fibroid tumours

colon cancer

appendicitis

The most common symptoms of Endometriosis are:

Pain before and during periods

Pain with intercourse

General, chronic pelvic pain throughout the month

Low back pain

Heavy and/or irregular periods

Painful bowel movements, especially during menstruation

Painful urination during menstruation

Fatigue

Infertility

Diarrhoea or constipation

Other symptoms which are common with Endometriosis include:

Headaches

Low grade fevers

Depression

Hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar)

Anxiety

Susceptibility to infections, allergies

In the later stages of Endometriosis, adhesions usually develop in the pelvic cavity, which are caused by untreated cysts, which can ‘glue' pelvic organs together. These adhesions will seriously interfere with normal functions of organs in the pelvis, causing bowel obstructions, digestive problems, infertility, urinary problems, agonizing pains when the adhesions are pulled, mobility problems.

As Endometriosis develops a woman's immune system becomes more and more impaired and this leads to further health problems. Due to increased research, as well as surveys of Endometriosis patients, it is now becoming clear that women with the disease are susceptible to other serious health problems including:

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (100 times more common in women with endometriosis)

ME Hypothyroidism - under-active Thyroid gland (7 times more common in women with endometriosis)

Fibromyalgia

Rheumatoid arthritis

Some of these findings are from data of the world's largest research registry on Endometriosis, which includes figures for the women with the disease, as well as members of her family. These figures are not conclusive and do not give the whole picture to include geography, economics etc. They do show that women with Endometriosis are slightly more susceptible to these other diseases, but other members of their family seem to have a higher percentage of risk to develop these diseases. So we could be looking at environmental health issues here, rather than the results relating solely to Endometriosis.

It does seem clear that as women with Endometriosis are more receptive to other health problems, then their immune system is the key to their problems.

No two women will have the same symptoms for Endometriosis, and will not suffer the same knock-on health problems, but the most common symptom experienced among Endometriosis sufferers is acute pain.

In some instances the pain of Endometriosis can prohibit a woman to partake in every day activities as well as her ability to sustain a career.

What you can do to help yourself

For advice on different ways to deal with the pain of Endometriosis read the advice here of the different things you can do.

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