Symptoms of endometriosis may go unrecognised for years together and is only discovered when she experiences infertility or she has some severe symptoms such as pain or bowel symptoms. Pain severity and disease severity may not correlate always. Pain may be very severe and the patient may have stage 1or2 endometriosis and pain may be less or absent but the patient may have stage 3 or 4 endometriosis
Endometriosis commonly presents as pelvic pain and infertility and some may be asymptomatic
1. The commonest symptom is Pelvic pain. Pain is described differently by different patients.
- Stabbing pain in the lower abdomen
- Pain as if someone trying to cut through her
- Pain before and after periods
- Pain during ovulation
- Painful sex
- Pain while passing urine (bladder endometriosis)
- Pain during defecation (bowel endometriosis)
- Pain at cesarean scar site (scar endometriosis)
- Pain at the shoulder during breathing movements (diaphragmatic and thoracic endometriosis)
2. Bloating & endo belly
3. Fatigue
4. Depression
5. Irregular Bleeding
REMEMBER – “PAINFUL PERIODS AND KILLER CRAMPS ARE NOT NORMAL”
INFERTILITY/SUB-FERTILITY – About 40-60 % of women may suffer from infertility but sometimes it may be a combined factor with other causes. As endometriosis causes scarring, fibrosis which makes pelvic tissues stick to each other resulting in distorted pelvic anatomy, and reduces the ovarian reserve by destroying healthy ovarian tissue, there may be difficulty conceiving for some women. Once the endometriosis is excised, chances of spontaneous conception and assisted conception improve dramatically.