are these symptoms of endo?

[Jills1014]

hi I wanted to know what symptoms people had before they were diagnosed with endo..
the symptoms I have been having are:  
painful cramps with my period to where I had to call out of work every time I get my period, painful bowel movements to where I have to scream from the pain of pushing and straining to get it out and shooting pains when it actually comes out (sorry tmi), brown blood for the first few days and last day, clots, pelvic pain basically all month long, sometimes I get stabbing pains up my vagina, lower back pain, lower right side aches and pains all month long feels like it would be in the area of my ovary, right hip pain, pelvic pressure
I have been on the pill for 13 years and have always had bad cramps but it has gotten worse lately..  been to my dr had an ultrasound and ct scan which were both normal so there is no ovarian cysts.. since the tests came back "normal" my gyno told me this wasn't ob/gyn related and to call my primary.. what do I do? please help I cant live like this anymore

[Harleyboy123]

The pain is worse when on my period I can't leave the house as my belly feels like its on fire and I get stabbing pains in my belly. I was nervous the first time I went to see a consultant but it was well worth the visit as some doctors try and pass it off as having irritable bowl syndrome but when I spoke to the consultant I was referred to he was more experienced and sympathetic to how I was feeling and told me if I was happy he would like to go ahead and do a lap so I agreed and they found out I had mild endo and removed it and I was pain free for 4 years then my pain returned and i had another lap on the 13th of August this year to remove endo and unblock my right tube both ops were very quick and recovery was also quick I'm so happy I had the laps and thanked my consultant for relieving my pain. Hope your visit to the specialist goes well good luck x

[Jills1014]

hey thanks so much for your reply.. i am pretty nervous about going to the specialist.. my appointment is october 2 i am really anxious ha

did you have pain all the time or just around your period?

[Jills1014]

thank you so much for all of that info!

[Harleyboy123]

Oh also forgot to mention the gas they use u might get a bit of discomfort under your ribs in your chest and in your shoulders after the op as the gas moves around a lot and makes its way out your body :)

[Harleyboy123]

Hi I've just had my 2nd laparoscopy on august 13th to remove mild endo but even though I had mild endo I had stabbing pains up my vagina and back aches and very bad pelvic pain and I also had sickness when I had my periods. I found that I always had pain but much more severe when on my period I think you should get checked ASAP as you may have bad pain but only have mild endo like me. Some people have no pain and have a worser case of endo everybody is different. If you do have a laparoscopy don't worry its a miner operation as they put you to sleep then after the op they put you in a recovery room and have people in there watching you till you come round then they wheel you back to your room. I had mild discomfort when awake from the op but you still have the drugs in your system which wear off within 48hours so they give you pain killers to take home. If they see you well in yourself and you have something to eat and drink they allow you to go home the same day but you have to have somebody there to take you home as you will still have the drugs in your system.When I was sent home it took me up to a week and a half to recover both times hope all goes well when you see your consultant all the best :)

[Jills1014]

Well thats good to hear!  Thank you it did help.. i called my gyno today and told them that i am still in pain and he referred me to a specialist which doesnt sound too good :(

[ticked]

Thanks, it is a lot better since my first surgery in 2007.

I hope some of it helped you. :)

[Jills1014]

thank you so much for your help.. i read your journals and i am so sorry for what you had to deal with.. its so crazy.. you have been through so much.. i hope things are better for you..

[ticked]

If you want you can look at my journals in my profile. Read the one called endometiosis and migraines. I have a lot of the symptoms on there.

I had stage IV deep infiltrating endometriosis and was misdiagnosed for 14 yrs. I it wasn't for the 10cm endometrioma that grew I am confident that it would never have been found. Scary.

I had sharp rectal pain throughout the month at random times. My bowels would completely evacuate the day before my period. I was always constipated so when this happened I knew I had to pop back a lot of Advil to make sure I caught the pain in time. Most times I didn't. My legs would go numb, the pain was so intense at times I would vomit. I was diagnosed with ibs at 15 but in fact I had a rectovaginal cyst.

After the birth of my daughter in 2003 it got so bad but more other symptoms like chronic nausea, gerd like symptoms, I couldn't go in the sun or I would be sick, migraines were unbelievable.

That is mainly what my symptoms were. Severe pelvic pain starting at my second period. I kept silent as everyone sai they had bad "cramps"

I hope that helps

[Jills1014]

Thank you.. thats what i didnt understand about him brushing me off just because nothing showed up on the tests because from what ive read you need to have surgery to see if you def have it.. what were your symptoms before you were diagnosed?

[Jills1014]

thank you.. i am going to call my gyno in the morning and i guess if he wont help me ill find someone who will

[Jen12977]

I have endo I was diagnosed 12+ years ago. My advice is I believe you may have endo do not let your doctor try to give you treatment before you are diagnosed. My doctor wanted me on lupron injections which are very expensive and the medication had a lot of serious side effects so I told her I wouldn't take it without knowing for sure that it was endo. The first post is correct it can only be diagnosed through exploratory lap and biopsy. CT, MRI , and X-rays will not show endo. I also will say if you do have endo set up an appt with a reproductive endocrinologist they have a better understanding of endo and they know all of the ways endo can present itself.

[ticked]

Sounds like you could have Endo and I would try to push the gyno appointment as quick as possible.

The only way to diagnose Endometriosis is through an exploratory lap with a biopsy.

If you do have it you could have it on your bowels and that is why it could be effecting your bowel movements plus the pain.