Endometriosis Symptoms

Endometriosis symptoms can vary greatly from patient to patient and some patients never experience any symptoms at all. Paradoxically, the extent of endometriosis has no correlation to the intensity of symptoms a woman will experience. Some women with severe endometriosis do not have any symptoms and may not know they have this disease until a pelvic mass is detected on a routine pelvic examination or a fertility problem is discovered.

The endometriosis symptoms are heavily affecting quality of life and that is why you need to spot them and decide how to treat this awful disease. The following are the common symptoms of endometriosis, but remember that women with endometriosis may have all, some, or none of these symptoms.

But probably higher number of women does experience endometriosis symptoms and they are not pleasant, I can tell you. Symptoms may include more painful periods that could be also accompanied by abnormal heavy bleeding. Many women also experience painful urination and bowel movements during menstruation. The pain associated with menstrual flow is characterized by mild to severe discomfort (often cramps) in the lower abdomen that becomes worse over time.

Premenstrual spotting or spotting in between periods also belongs to the usual endometriosis symptoms. Endo sufferers also experience tenderness or pain of the abdomen during ovulation. Some women experience constant pelvic soreness or pain in the lower back that radiates down each leg that is aggravated during menses or intercourse.

Pain during intercourse (dysparunia) is another common symptom that can really disturb your life. Painful intercourse actually belongs to the most common symptoms of endometriosis, especially in the more advanced or severe stages. And sometimes when other symptoms are lacking, or the pain is overlooked, this could be your first signal.  Although in its early stages this pain is at the lateral side of the pelvis, soon after it could be anywhere or all over the pelvic area and can make intercourse unpleasant and miserable. This may also play a role in subsequent infertility.

Also infertility is one of the endometriosis symptoms. Approximately between 40-60 percent of women with endometriosis experience infertility issues.

Other symptoms of endometriosis include blood in stool, bleeding after intercourse, frequent and urgent urinary, bladder pain and occasionally bloody urine may occur when endometriosis has involved the bladder. Endometriosis can invade the ureter (tube between the kidney and the bladder) and cause obstruction of the ureter, and damage the kidney.

Some women suffer from an inability to fight off infections and others develop allergies. These discomforts are frequently accompanied by fatigue and irritability.

Many symptoms of endometriosis could be easily mistaken for symptoms of other well-known illnesses. These could be migraine, dysmenorrhea (menstrual cramps), pelvic adhesions, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or colitis. The bowel symptoms could be often overlooked or dismissed because many people think endometriosis affects only the reproductive organs. Bowel symptoms due to endometriosis include diarrhea, constipation, alternating bouts of diarrhea and constipation, painful bowel movements, abdominal bloating, nausea and vomiting.

Some symptoms also overlap with symptoms of other gynaecological illnesses. For instance, heavy bleeding during the menstruation could also be a sign of uterine fibroids and pain during the sexual intercourse also happens to women with ovarian cysts. It is worthwile to check symptoms of these too.

Generally the best for you is always visiting your gynaecologist regularly for a check up, making sure that nothing serious is overlooked. The ultrasound examination would show if you have other problem, like an ovarian cyst or fibroids, but it would not show the endometriosis. So, if nothing else is found, there is a high chance that you would have endometriosis.

The endometriosis pain can occur before, during or after a period and may be cyclic or acyclic. The pain can occur at rest, with exercise, sex or after a pelvic exam.

The symptoms of endometriosis may stop for a time during pregnancy. Symptoms also tend to decrease with menopause, when menstrual periods end for good. In some cases, even women who take menopausal hormone therapy may still have symptoms of endometriosis.

All in all, as you can see the endometriosis symptoms cause a lot of pain. Moreover, the endometriosis is founding for another medical problems, like infertility or lowered immunity that can result in other type of issues, e.g. suffering from endometriosis could lower your immunity so you are more inclined to get infected with HPV virus and develop cervical cancer. Nobody wants this. It is only natural for women trying to find out how to get rid of this nasty condition.

There are different approaches to treating endometriosis, you can read about them in the post about endometriosis treatment options – the one I came through myself and that had a wonderful result is natural treatment. If you want to find out more about the endometriosis natural treatment, check out this unique system developed by Shelly Ross that will help you fight your endometriosis naturally with tremendous results: the Treating Your Endometriosis.

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