Blogging for Endometriosis: The Physical Pain

I got my period when I was 11 and everything seemed fine then.  I had mild cramping but from what I knew, that "ran" in the family.  I remember a couple of times I had sharp pains on my right side and my mom told me it was ovulation happening.  By the time I was 15 I started taking the birth control pill.... not to steer away the cramps but because I had a serious boyfriend (my now husband!) and  didn't know what was going to happen but knew I wanted to be safe.  While on the pill I had little to no cramping and a light flow.  During the next 5 years I would change the kind I was on trying to find the right hormone balance because I would have break through bleeding or get headaches.  Finally, we found one that worked with my body.... but eventually I was getting migraines every day at 3pm.  I went to see my PCP and he said the only way we'll know if it is the pill is if you go off it.  I went off the pill and felt like a new person! No headaches, no crazy mood swings, finally felt "normal".  This only lasted for so long.

It took awhile for my cycles to even out after being of the pill but eventually I came to 28 day cycles.  I had clots while I bled and eventually the intense cramping started and I found myself needed to cuddle up with a heating pad a couple of days each cycle.  Along with the cramps came the intense back ache and fatigue.  I didn't want to do anything but lie on the couch or my bed. I found myself feeling hugely bloated the week before, the week of and the week after my period.... leaving me with only one week in a month to feel like myself and to be able to wear pants with a button! I had so much bloating that I went back to my PCP and we talked about the fact that I may be allergic to something I'm eating... I'm telling you this because Endometriosis is so often thought to be something that it is not.

It wasn't until we were TTC (In my mid-twenties) that the word Endometriosis ever came up.  My OB/GYN suspected it with the symptoms I was having every cycle.  Once the time came to get referred to an RE the first thing he wanted to do was laparoscopic surgery to find out of I had Endometriosis and sure enough I did... Stage 3.  It was nice to actually have a name for what I'd been feeling and dealing with for two years of my life.

Most recently while being on hormones and such for IUI or our now IVF cycle I feel my Endometriosis has flared incredibly. My bleeding has become so heavy that I didn't know if I would be able to stay at work.  The cramps had me bent over and I couldn't focus on anything other than waiting to go home.  It put me on the couch for 3 days straight with a heating pad and such intense back ache I didn't know if I was going to vomit or cry.  It was the worst and I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

I've had to cancel plans and move things around because of this pain.  It sucks. Period.  (ha! no pun intended)  There are so many of us struggling with this disease and I'm so thankful to be able to come together to share our stories.