Girl To Girl: Vol. 2

What Is Endometriosis: Signs To Know About

Endometriosis is a condition that causes the cells similar to the cells of the inner uterine lining (endometrium) to appear outside the uterine cavity. Endometrial-like cells can grow anywhere in the body: on the outer surface of the uterus, as well as in the ovaries, bowel, bladder, and elsewhere, rarely.

Endometriosis affects 1 in 10 women worldwide. What causes this condition is still unclear. Cyclical hormone changes cause the endometrium to shed each cycle and exit through the cervix and vagina along with menstrual blood. One theory is that these cells and blood can also enter the abdominal cavity through the uterine tubes and grow there. Another theory suggests that these cells grow in the wrong locations during fetal development. Genetic factors and environmental influences may also contribute to the development of this condition. These endometriosis lesions are often associated with inflammation in the affected organs. Common symptoms of endometriosis are painful periods, pelvic pain, heavy menstrual bleeding, painful sex, and difficulty getting pregnant.

Endometriosis may feel like a challenging condition. But proper diagnosis and full understanding of the issue can help to manage the symptoms effectively.

as someone with severe endometriosis symptoms, this couldn't be further from the truth and was either written by somebody that doesn't have endo or a man; either or, they shouldn't be speaking on the matter. specialist or not 🤷‍♀️ that's just my opinion.

my symptoms will not magically go away just because i learn more about my condition.
Now, I personally think it's wise to try to discover any type of any information, good or bad, about any specific topic that means something to me.
I eat a lot of plant based foods, I do my research on plant based foods and diets.
I have endometriosis, I have much knowledge about endometriosis.
I am hypoglycemic, I have much knowledge due to research about hypoglycemia.
Ya catch my drift??

I think if you're told you have an illness, or even before your diagnosed, I think you should research your symptoms and diagnosis and compare and contrast.
(That doesn't include going into Web MD!)

The next few chapters will cover endometriosis, I will put any opinion or experience or input that I have below the information and whatever the specialists have to say, as I normally do.

In my experience, endometriosis is extreme pelvic pain, especially during menstruation. I get cramps almost daily, certain foods give me painful ovary cramps, the endo sometimes causes IBS as a side effect, it's of course a lot worse during menstruation.
Headaches are a huge part of my day to day life, they tend to become horrible migraines the closer I get to my period week. So headaches and migraines should be listed as symptoms, especially during menstruation.
(I'm basing this off of my personal experience but I'm in a support group with other women who have all agreed that they have the exact same symptoms, most if not all of their cycle; and it's much worse during menstruation of course)

Backaches are unreal, can't even describe it. It hurts under the ribs, it hurts up the back, it hurts in the side, somehow it hurts all the way down your mid and lower back and into your thighs. Especially during menstruation. Oh, the pelvic pain and cramps and backaches during menstruation is so unreal, I honestly can't even describe it.
It truly feels like a knife is deep inside your ovary and ever so often somebody will jiggle it or pull it in and out, it's loads of pressure and pain.

VERY HEAVY BLEEDING!!! I'll start, I'll catch it. (cause i feel it come out) I'll legit just be standing there having to "plug" the area with tissue while putting a pad in my undies, if not my undies would be completely ruined. (i wear expensive undies so they can't get ruined lol) At times, I've legit had to have my mum or my husband help me pad my undies (like if we're in public) while i plug my vag in hope of the blood not running down my legs.
No joke, no lie, not even an ounce of exaggeration here; when im on my period, even my last days or my "light" days, this will be both gory and gruesome so prepare yourself love, but it looks as if I've masturbated with a butcher knife.
Thick, Dark, Red-Black Blood runs down my thighs, it's all on the floor, sometimes on my hands and clothes.
Showers on my period sure are scary looking. (it really looks like a crime scene)
I have a clear shower door, a white shower and obviously the water is clear lol so when I'm cleaning myself and I'm just free bleeding, blood will somehow end up splattering up the walls, on the shower door, and at the back of the shower where water gathers (it's a seat in the back of a standing shower if that makes sense), it's just a huge bloody water puddle and looks horribly scary. And yes, I'm a germaphobe so I do clean and sanitize my entire bathroom especially after my 10-17 day long periods 😭 it's a scary hazardous place after a two and a half week, non stop, constant bleeding, horrible, endometriosis fueled period. I go through three packs of size four always nighttime pads. The thick ones. Those are the only ones I can use. It says 8+ hour protection, nah, I must change every 1.5-3 hours otherwise it's running down my thighs.

At the age of 13, when I first started (on my 13th birthday mind you) my mum kept taking my to the obgyn and even two other specialists, I think one was a bladder doctor and I can't remember what the other one does but she took a few xrays of my bladder and bowels 🤷‍♀️😂😂
Anyway, I'm a really tiny girl and I always have been. At 13 i weighed maybe 65-70 lbs (4.64286-5 stone) and that's when I was just starting junior high/middle school/ grade 7.
So, I was scared, everything was new, and I was smol.
(at 23 i weigh 83lbs/5.92857 stone and the average weight for a female my age is 120lbs/8.57143 stone) (14lbs = 1 stone btw)

My mum was also scared so she took me to the obgyn, she said it's normal for girls to skip periods and have long periods and just have very messed up periods during their first year. So two years later, I'm still skipping to every three months, only having four periods a year and when I did get them, I couldn't move the first two (2 of 15) days.
So, back to the doctors at fifteen, she puts me on a birth control pill that should've helped, I gave it time, went back and got it changed.
Over the next four years, I believe I tried about eight or ten different birth controls, one being the vag ring, which I really liked but they only had it in an extremely low dose at the time and I needed a really high dose for my issues, so I'd be wearing it and still be having withdrawal symptoms.
So, finally at nineteen I decided to get a hysterectomy because I said my entire life I never ever wanted kids and I didn't even want to get married. I also have always said, since a very young age, that I want to adopt children. (I'm the type to believe that that's a significant thing; I feel like somehow I knew I'd never have my own children. Idk. I really just always have felt the want to adopt). So, in and out of doctors, I actually end up setting the date with my obgyn to do the hysterectomy and wouldn't you know it, (i believe everything happens for a reason) i start falling for my manager at work. he too, fell for me. time went by, flirts here and there, and he eventually asked me on a date (but he didn't really cause S/A rules in the workplace 🙄 (his exact words "you know what sucks? really liking someone and wanting to ask her out but you can't since you're a manager"))
so we had our first date, i went straight home and told my mum i was gonna marry that man. and i did.

So I didn't do the hysterectomy at 19.
For my 23rd birthday (17 August 2020), I had a miscarriage and I decided that I'm gonna look back into it because the endometriosis is set up in my bowels and my bladder and I'm constantly peeing my pants and my bowels and ovaries are always so bloated and it actually gets quite painful after a while, some nights I can't sleep.
a lot of times i get super constipated, weeks at a time, end up getting real sick due to it and it's so painful i can't even move or eat cause my body is so compacted and full of toxins; so i do think my best bet is to just remove everything from my body.
I also just realized I ran completely off the subject lol I was meant to be explaining the symptoms, idk how I even got here but here we are lol

Does anybody even read these long ass authors notes?? 🤔 cause i feel like nobody would want to especially when they're longer than every chapter in the whole dang book lol

Last note, I swear :)
I know a lady in my support group that has a mild case of endo in her body BUT it's the side effects that get her down.
She can't eat bread or meat or cheese and most dairy or sweets because her endo makes her tummy super sensitive and makes her vomit when she does eat such things.
Now, when I eat greasy or even mildly spicy food, my endo is like "ummmmm no" so usually I'll run to the toilet immediately after eating but i would rather poop than puke ya know??
and sandwiches, doesn't matter what kind, they make my tummy hurt and I'll often get the shits after lol but i love subs lol