The early days
I'm a 27 years old and have suffered painful periods from around the age of 16 (from what I can remember). My twin sister suffers from endo as well.From about the age of 19 I thought that I too had endo but I didn't really do anything about it. I thought I would just put up with the excruciating period pain forever and there was nothing more to it.
Super helpful doctors (not) and trying to work out myself if I had endo
About 7 years ago I went to complain to the doctor about painful periods, she told me it was called dysmenorrhea (painful periods) and even gave me a printed out info sheet in it (how helpful). I returned to a different doctor about 4 years later determined to tell him I wanted a laparascopy. He told me the only way to fix it was to go on the pill. (Which I have never been interested in) He sent me for an internal ultrasound. This ultrasound showed nothing unusual although the examination itself was very very painful. As this ultrasound showed nothing the doctor did/suggested nothing further.
Talking myself out of endo
I talked myself out of my pain being endo as, after reading loads of info on endo websites, I realised that my periods weren't excruciating EVERY time- sometimes I had 2 or 3 'easy' ones in a row. Lots of websites said that the pain last the entire period too- my only lasted the first 2-3 days. My periods were only heavy on the first 2 days compared to the info on the websites. There were lots of differences between the info the websites and my symptoms. I must have been sooking about nothing, I was imagining things- the doctor was right it IS normal etc etc. I convinced myself it was nothing- I should get on with my life and just deal with it- after all, it was only 2 -3 days a month.
The one big symptom that cannot be dismissed...
My husband and I decided to start a family, we had held off until a checklist of milestones had been reached- credit card paid off, new house purchased, new pergola purchased etc etc. The time had come, all we had to do was fall pregnant. Shouldn't take too long .... After 6 months of waiting I started to lose hope and researched endo again...there it was- the deal breaking symptom- infertility!
An alternative approach to endo
A very good friend of mine had been going through IVF and she recommended Chinese Herbal Medicine to me. The fact that she was recommending this to me and she was THE biggest anti-natural therapies person I knew (besides my husband) made me realise that it must be good! I started seeing a Chinese herbalist in my town and she gave me 5 brown lunch bags full of bark and other plant items that I had never seen in my life. She warned me that it wouldn't taste nice but I would get used to it. I was to boil it up for 1.5 hours hours and have half a cup in the morning and half a cup at night. It was soooo disgusting that on my first few days/weeks of it I had to have a sip of the jungle juice / goop (as I call it) and a mouthful of water. Disgusting!!! After only 2 months I noticed a very positive change in my pain- I still had pain but not as bad and absolutely no period related back pain whatsoever.
Some symptoms had improved but not the big one...
Once we hit the 12 month mark I sent my husband off for a sperm test. It cam back fine and then I knew it was definitely me. I went back to the doctor and asked for a laparoscopy. He sent me for another ultrasound (again showing nothing) and referred me to a female gyno. I rang her office as soon as I got out of the doctor to try and get in as soon as possible. I had to wait 2.5 weeks to get int to see her (AGGGGEESSS in my book!) When I went and saw her there was no messing around. She ordered a laparascopy be done to see exactly what we were dealing with. I booked in (another 3 week wait). I had the surgery done and recovered retty quickly. I only had a week off work and hardly had any shoulder tip pain at all. After the surgery was told I would have an appointment with her in 2 weeks to fins out how it went. I couldn't believe I had to wait that long to hear how it went!
2 weeks later, I got the verdict...
The gyno told me that I have severe endo and I would need to have further surgery that would need to be done by an endo removal specialist. She said it was everywhere including on my bowel. It is highly unlikely (if impossible) for me to fall pregnant naturally due to the damage caused by the endo (blocked tubes etc). IVF would be my only chance of falling pregnant. "Oh, and you have a weirdly shaped uterus, I think it's u shaped but we'll see what the specialist says when you see him"
I was devastated after hearing this news, bawled in the car and for the next few days. My husband was amazingly supportive (always is) and after a week I decided to pick myself up again and tackle this monster head on. I booked in to the specialist in Melbourne. A 3 month wait was the soonest appointment. More crying at the thought of waiting allllll that time. "Can't they do it tomorrow so I can get on with this?!" I decided I wasn't going to sit around and wait for things to happen to me, I need to do what I can while I can. Someone once said you are the writer of your own story. So that brings me to where I am now-
It is now Me VS the Endo.
