My name is Sarah and I was diagnosed with endometriosis on July 18,2002 after my first lap, 2 days before my 21st birthday. This is my story.
I felt that undescribable pain for the first time when I was 12yrs old. My mom rushed me to our family doctor who told us I had cysts and put me on pain killers. For 4yrs I fought painful periods that would cause me to miss school and pass out from pain. Not to mention the everyday pain and fatigue. Finally at 16 the 3rd OBGYN I went to see put me on birth control and differnt pain meds. This seemed to help for a while, but I was still missing school. The pain was bad, but the fatigue was the worst. While my friends were out having fun, I was home sleeping.
My sophmore year of college I ended up in the emergency room after a large cyst burst. My 4th OBGYN put me on antibiotics to clean out the leftovers. When the pain never subsided she did an ultrasound, couldn’t see anything ,and told me I might have cancer! Then, when those tests didn’t come out she basically told me she didn’t know what was wrong with me, and maybe it was all in my head. Fortunately I met a girl at college that had been diagnosed with endo. She told me about her symptons and I was thrilled! It sounded JUST like I felt! After looking for a doctor for 3 months I found one back home who would at least THINK about me having ENDO. However, she informed I was TOO YOUNG to have it! She put me on a different birth control and new pain pills which seemed to work for almost a year.
After that year passed the pain gradually came back and became more and more crippling. My doctor refused a lap and so I switched again. This new doctor met with me once and scheduled the lap for a month later. The surgery went great and she removed several large patches of endo on the top of my uterus. It had even glued one of my ovaries to the top of my uterus and she seperated them.
5 months later I was pregnant, while on birth control. Unfortunatly I miscarried early on. For some reason after the miscarriage the pain came back over 3 months time. Now I am fighting the uphill battle all over again. Last month I started on Depo. I actually have already had less pain, but it’s still there and somedays…bed and painkillers are my only option. I had trouble with bowel movements and my doctor refuses to anything else right now. I’m getting frustrated again, and I’m SO tired of switching doctors!
I think, for me, the depression, fatigue, and lack of understanding is the worst part. If I had a illness that you could see visibly there would be SO much more understanding. My family tries to be understanding, but it’s hard for them to grasp what I face everyday. My fiance left me before we even knew I was pregnant just because he didn’t want to “deal” with it anymore. I’m grateful for a site like this where I can go and not feel so alone. Thank you for all your stories and advice.