The Pain of it All
by Angi Ingalls
PCOS in ConnecTion
When you live with endometriosis, you expect pain at the most inopportune times. Once I was walking down the aisle of a store and was immediately impeded by sharp stabbing pains in my leg and vagina. Imagine me leaning against a display of paper towels trying to regain composure; now imagine most of them all on the floor and my ‘whatever’ expression.
Sometimes I’d be sitting at work, doing my job and it would hit – in the middle of a phone conversation – and would find the phone hanging from my desk. Once I bumped into someone I hadn’t seen in awhile, literally, from the immense amount of pain that took my legs away. The expression on that woman was priceless. She didn’t know what to do or say. “Well, next time I see you, I promise, no concussion.”
I wonder how many other women with endometriosis have to keep on hand some witty comebacks for times like these, i.e. “Oh, man, sorry, I was so mesmerized by your presence it threw my feet off their train of thought.” I mean, how do you recover from something like that while saving face and protecting the other person from feeling awkward? Ok, I have my note pad and pen in hand…. I’m ready and listening!
As a women with endometriosis (Stage 1), I can empathize with women who share this diagnosis. Not only do I suffer with endometriosis but I also have some residual nerve pain from a past episode with Shingles. I live with pain, partially from the Shingles, that is amplified by my endometriosis. In my case it was discovered during a laparoscopy in 2001 that my endometriosis has attached itself to my uterus, rectum and nerves around my vagina as well as some other nerves leading to other areas of the body. During the laparoscopy I also had an ovarian drilling and all of the endometriosis removed. I am happy to say that I had no excess pain for a few years.
But, slowly over the years, I have returned to my previous state.
Endometriosis is a serious disease that develops in 5-20% of reproductive age women [1] and many women with PCOS also suffer from endometriosis. The severity of the disease does not determine the amount of issues one might have. Endometriosis is a disease that affects each person in a different way. There are four stages of endometriosis: stages 1 to 4, referring respectively, as minimal, mild, moderate and severe. Your staging does not determine the amount of pain that you may feel. Women in any stage can experience no pain at all or mild to severe pain.
Not only can endometriosis create pain, it can increase scar tissue that can affect the function of reproductive organs such as the fallopian tubes and ovaries, increase issues with cysts as well as other surrounding structures including the bladder and bowel. Endometriosis can even leave the reproductive area and attach itself throughout the body.
There are a few options [2] and like dealing with PCOS, with every patient, treatment success varies. It is important to do all of your homework and research on what might be or what might not be an option for you. Also, consider how these treatment options may affect PCOS. Having both endometriosis and PCOS may be difficult to deal with and not yet completely understood but with the power of information and a doctor well-educated in both of these conditions, you can come out a better, healthier you.
Angi Ingalls; PCOS in ConnecTion
Guest PCOS writer
pcosinct@yahoo.com
Educator for over 18 years
Diagnosed in 1985 at 12, living with PCOS since 1981
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this article/reply and the Insulite Labs website is for the sole purpose of being informative. Information obtained is not and should not be used or relied upon as medical advice. Always seek the advice of your physician, nurse or other qualified health care provider before you undergo any treatment, take any medication, supplements or other nutritional support, or for answers to any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
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[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endometriosis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endometriosis
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endometriosis#Treatments; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endometriosis#Treatments; http://www.endometriosis.org/treatment.html http://www.endometriosis.org/treatment.html
Thanks for this information. My doctor’s appointment got pushed back a week this morning and I’m going to discuss the possibilities of both PCOS and endometriosis with him. I was already FREAKING OUT over the endo symptoms so that extra week seemed like an eternity. I came online to find out if there could be a link between PCOS and endo (it seemed quite likely) and now, knowing that there certainly can be, I feel substantially better about having to wait a few more days.
Thank you again.
Thank you for this article, “The Pain of it All”.
I have suffered with endometriosis for years and I also have PCOS. Matter of fact, it was during my second laproscopic procedure that PCOS was confirmed.
I smiled with great empathy for the story described while shopping. I wish I had a dollar for every time I was training and the pain would jolt me tumbled over or throw my body in a different direction than my feet were facing. I wish I had a nickel for everytime I am on the phone with a client and literally am moving my mouth expecting words to come out but the pain that shots across my abdomen has stolen the breath I was taking along with my vocal chords; or a dime for every time I am just walking or even trying to get up from a chair (this one makes me laugh, after I recover) and my body throws this rubber band feeling in my abdomen that literally jolts my body back and forth for a quick moment.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could take all of these “involuntary moves” and create the next Broadway Musical? We would have the best dance moves to rock this nation. I am thinking the rubber band move could be the next step rocking our teen population.
Some of my recoveries- “practicing for Broadway”, “just wrapping up a mime (sp) class and this is part of my practicum”, and “just dropped the phone, be right there”.
Sometimes, I just tell folks, whether or not I know them well, that I have Endometriosis and every so often it likes to give me a kick or a jolt to just say ‘hi’; remind me it is still there; etc. This approach has actually provided learning opportunities for those who have not heard of it before and also has provided me with the opportunity to hear someone else’s story… wow, is it nice to know that I am not alone.
Oh my GOOOSH!
I feel your pain. There are times when I have to buckle. Its like a piece of metal drilling into my womb. Just reading yours made me wince.
Thank you so much.
I’m due for the larposcopy. I’m trying ot conceive. I think when I first talked ot doc. about it there was not so much information then. When I described mentruation, she said it was normal. I was taking meds. to jump start my period. Honestly, I would cry on the second day of my period. Someone(BF) had to sleep the entire night pressing his head or shoulder into my womb.These days its better. But the pain…it simply envelopes and controls me. I have to grab something and squeeze or try to push like when women are giving birth. I think that last act lowers my womb becasue of the force I exert on myself.
Than kyou so much for this article.
Hello,
I wás a women with endometriosis.
I say wás, because of a treatment, that in fact was wrong, but did something very good to me.
I have used a drug for over 2 years, in an overdosis. I don’t know the name of the drug, but it was a drug, that by taking a hormone completely blocked my periods.
I took about 20 days 2 pils, and then for the rest of the 2 years 1 pil a day.
The drug was extremely expensive, because ten pils would cost 250,- gilders (about 120,- euro’s), and that was 28 years ago.
Because of me moving to an other city, and going to a different gyneacologist, I found out, that I have had an overdosis. I in fact only was alowed to take 1 pil for over 10 days, ore something like that. I have had a huge amount of it in those 2 years.
My new gyneacologist made me stop inmediately.
After that time, I did not have any endometriosis complaints.
By the way; later I was also diagnosed with PCOS with no activery what so ever, and an uterus in the form of a hart (1 1/2 uterus) from wich the ovary which – after a furtility treatment with hormones – did not give eggs at the same moment every month, and some other fysical problems, and still have maneged to have to beatifull kids in the end!
So don’t give up hope people!!!