Anyone else out there with Endometriosis?

If so,  I would Love it chat. I have probably have had it (or at least symptoms) for close to 20 years.

How do you overcome the pain and trying to be consistent with exercise etc? I would also be very happy to support. I know that it is tough!

Thanks for reading if you did!

:)

I have it along with my mom, sister, 2 aunts, and several counsins and it gets really bad when I'm about to start. The only thing that helps me, besides pain pills, is to exercise. Doing crunches and situps helps me out. I usually do them before I do anything else, such as cardio or weights. I have times that I'm in so much pain, that I cannot stand up straight. And yes, I have to admit, I do not do any form of exercise. All I want to do it lay down. I guess it's not as extreme as others, but I deal with it, and sometimes work through it.

I know what you mean. I have been exercising on a regular basis for 1 month now. I have been weight lifting and doing cardio 6 times per week. I have pain for 2-3 weeks out of every month. Right before and during are the worst. I also can not stand up straight and when it is that bad I just do not exercise. I do take pain pills when the pain is severe. One thing that I have noticed is that I DO feel better since exercising. (Which leads me to believe that it is good to stay busy and stop obsessing about the pain). I really feel that exercising more is helping to reduce the pain that I feel. Yeah! So- this means that I need to stop going-through the months of being a couch potato to going crazy, exercising for a few months and then stopping for a few months. I am making a life change. I am not getting any younger and gone are the days where I can sit on my butt, be 40 years old and eat whatever I want.

I have endometriosis as well, I was diagnosed 10 years ago- I sometimes can't stand up strait either. I agree that exercising does help- but it is sometimes so hard when the pain is so bad!! Just wondering- what kind of pain pills do you take?? Mine don't seem to work sometimes, and I wonder if there is something better out there- I am going to see a new doc for the first time next month, and may ask if I can try something different. Have either of you had surgery?

Sada

Thanks for the replies. Sometimes it really helps to know that you are not alone. I take both Advil and if the pain is really severe Vicodin 5mg. (I mean I can't walk normally pain). You do not want to take Vicodin on a regular basis (for more than 1 week or so in a row). This is because you can run the risk of dependence. This is not the same as addiction. Dependence is when a patient is placed on a drug (usually narcotic) and takes that drug for long periods of time. You're body adjusts to being on the drug. (This is a chemical process that takes place in the brain). Once this occurs and if you were to stop taking the drug you would then have withdrawel symptoms. Be carefeul with opiods or opiates ladies...

What kind of pain pills do you take?

I have had 2 surgeries and have tried Lupron (yuck) and BC pills. The surgery did not help the pain, Lupron helped but who wants to live with "chemically induced menpause"- the side effects out-weighed the benefits of this horrible drug. BC pills do not work for me either. I seem to be sensitive. Any time the doc's tweak my hormones I get really sick. I mean migraine sick. Bluck! :)

I have it and have bad pain for 3 or 4 days starting about the day before my cycle. I did exercise this month in the middle of it and it wasn't terribly fun. I don't know that it helped any either. I take Aleve, 2 of them and more often than the label says to. This month it was so bad that I was taking percoset and vicodin. I just have it leftover from childbirth, but I'm considering asking my GYn to call in a script. I'd probably only need it for one day a month when things are the worst, other than that Aleve works pretty well. I"d say that pregnancy did help with the endo, particularly since I breastfeed and don't get my cycles back for 14 months or so. So that's 2 years of no cycles, a similar thing to Lupron but with a lot fewer side effects. My youngest is going on 3 and it's getting worse. I had surgery way back when but never noticed that doing anything to improve the pain. I know that some have hysterectomys due to the pain but I hate to go there. There's that ablation surgery as well, not sure if it really helps or not. Of course these are only options if you're done having children as I am at the age of 41 1/2.

I have had 3 surgeries, every b/c on the market, and tried lupron- I agree- horrible!! I Have in the past been prescribed vicoden- but right now am only taking ibuprofin- I experience pain 2 weeks out of the month, and some days it is just so painful. I have been told by my doctor, that I will need a historectomy, but I am not ready for that one yet!! Good luck girls- I feel your pain!!

I have it too but just recently diagnosed, I had a lump in my lower abdomen that they thought was a hernia but when they went in they discovered it definitely was not a hernia and took it out, it was endometriosis.  My GYN said it was rare to have it travel so far up.  Since they removed the lump I have alot less pain.  My GYN also told me that i'm "a little long in the tooth" for this - jeez, i'm 36-and that It was probably held at bay because I used Depo Provera for alot of years.

I was not diagnosed until I was 35. I am 40 now. Yes it took me that long to get a doctor to listen. (And for me to get sick enough of being in pain and "make" a doctor listen to me).

Endometriosis has been found in the lung. I know a person who had it in her brain. She had to have Chemo! (Both of these locations are rare). Apparently (although very rare) endometriosis has been found in men as well.

I am 22 and have endo. It's crazy sometimes with the pain and nausea. Also my sciatic nerve gives me trouble with it. I find that it's helpful to stay away from fats/oils pretty much all the time. Exercise helps as well...although it can be almost impossible to do with endo. Just do whatever you can when you feel like you can. I find that I get depressed sometimes with it...exercise helps with that as well.

I had endo & extreme pain.  First tried hormonal treatments...Horrible!  Then surgery....first surgery they just scraped & did some "cleaning up"....still had pain. 2nd surgery I had a hysterectomy...but kept my ovaries...still unbearable pain. 3rd surgery was to remove my ovaries...doc tried to save one but wasn't able to....due to the endo they had attached themselves to my intestines & abdominal wall.  I was only in my 30's at the time...woke up from the surgery with major hot flashes & full blown menopause!!  The pain is gone now & estrogen controls the early menopause.   Exercise wasn't at all helpful in my case or I would have opted for exercise over surgery! lol

I am 16 and was just diagnosed with endo in January. I've been having symptoms since I got my first period (almost 6 years ago) and up until now, no doctor I've gone to has been competent enough to figure it out. I have had my period for 96 days today, and I swear if I don't stop bleeding soon I will go insane. (I had surgery a week ago and still am bleeding) I just started to learn about all of this and things that can help my endo and make it worse, so I want to start a new diet and to exercise regularly, even though some days the pain is so bad that I don't even want to get out of bed. Does anybody have any advice on which foods and exercises make you feel better or worse?

Watch what you eat. I find that avoiding fats and especially starches makes a big difference for me. You may find that eliminating certain foods help a lot.

I had surgery over a year ago and had the Mirena IUD put in my uterus.  I have no painful periods anymore, no horrible cramping.  The endo was all inside my fallopian tubes and around my ovaries.  The Mirena has changed my life.