Symptoms of Endometriosis

The amount of pain a woman feels is not necessarily related to the extent of endometriosis. On the other hand, some women may have severe pain even though they only have a few small areas of endometriosis.

You may be unfortunate to experience all of these symptoms or just a few. Symptoms include:

• Extremely painful menstrual cramps (dysmenorrhoea); pain may get worse over time
• Chronic pelvic pain (includes lower back pain and pelvic pain)
• Pain during or after sex
• Painful bowel movements and bloating
• Painful urination during menstrual periods
• Heavy periods
• Irregular periods
• Pre-menstrual spotting or bleeding between periods
• Infertility
• Fatigue
• Pain in the pelvic region
• In addition, women who are diagnosed with endometriosis may have gastrointestinal symptoms that may mimic irritable bowel syndrome, as well as fatigue.

Symptoms often improve dramatically after pregnancy, and it is believed that having a break from the monthly cycle actually 'quietens down' the disease in some sufferers.

Women have talked about how the endometriosis takes over their lives. Holidays are planned to avoid periods and social arrangements are cancelled at the last minute when the pain becomes intense. Many women are forced to take days off work each month in order to cope with the condition and some women have had to give up work because their employers cannot cope with their frequent absences.

Why does Endometriosis cause pain?

Endometrial lesions are active endometrial cells. These cells can grow outside the uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries, the rectum and more uncommonly in the arm, lungs and thighs.

It is essentially normal tissue outside the uterus. Degeneration, inflammation and scar tissue may be present.

Complications of Endometriosis