operation-bagginshield:

saucefactory:

glowhq:

Endometriosis—the struggle is real.  Killer cramps are NOT normal.  Periods that last longer than 7 days are NOT normal. Heavy bleeding that soaks through a tampon every 2 hours is NOT normal; pain during sex is NOT normal. Bouts of diarrhea and vomiting that accompany every menstrual cycle are NOT normal. No, no, and no!  For many people, this reality is just endometriosis at work.

Sad truth: Many of us are taught to downplay these symptoms. Our pain is diminished by parents, siblings, friends and even health care professionals who convince us that everyone goes through this.

Maybe that is why, according to the Endometriosis Foundation of America, it takes 10 years on average to receive an accurate endometriosis diagnosis. That’s a decade, people! That’s 130 periods of agony, 912 days of someone asking you to take Advil and suck it up.  That…is not okay.

Endometriosis is pervasive.  It affects 1 in 20 Americans of reproductive age and an estimated 176 million people worldwide. It occurs when tissue similar to the endometrium (the lining of the uterus) is found outside the uterus on other parts of the body.  

There are lots of symptoms that can vary among patients.  Pelvic pain is most common, as well as pain that coincides with menstruation.  Other symptoms include heavy cramps, long-lasting bleeding, nausea or vomiting, pain during sex and, unfortunately, infertility.  Some people may even experience symptoms throughout their entire cycle—a real drag.

In addition to these physical symptoms, endometriosis takes a toll on someone’s personal and professional life. Chronic pain can severely affect quality of life day-to-day; medical care can be extremely costly. Furthermore, absenteeism can alter relationships in the workplace and at home.

Despite the intense discomfort, many people do not realize they have endometriosis until they try to get pregnant. And because the disease tends to get progressively worse over time, approximately 30-40% of people who have endometriosis experience fertility challenges.

There is no simple diagnostic test for endometriosis—no blood, urine, or saliva testing can confirm the condition. The only way to verify endometriosis is to undergo a diagnostic laparoscopy with pathology confirmation of biopsy specimens.  

On the bright side, many endometriosis symptoms— including infertility—can be addressed after diagnosis. The gold standard for endometriosis treatment is laparoscopic excision surgery. This involves a careful removal of the entire endometrial lesion from wherever it grows.

The first step to getting there is recognizing that your pain is not normal and seeking timely intervention. The earlier endometriosis is detected and treated, the better the results. Tracking your symptoms will make you better informed for your next doctor’s visit, and set you on a path to better (and less painful!) menstrual health.

For more information about Endometriosis, visit www.endofound.org

It’s like, whatever we do, people try to disinherit us from our own experiences. Whether we’re cis girls or trans boys or genderqueer. I just wanted to say that as a teen who didn’t identify as female, I still had endometriosis, but what I said wasn’t taken seriously, either. At one point, I actually got told that I was having all this pain because “I didn’t accept my female body.” Basically, it was my fault that my system wasn’t “acting right,” because I wasn’t normal. It was nature’s way of punishing me. The pain was “all in my head” because I was “rejecting” my reproductive organs.

Ridiculous, right? I continued to suffer for many years, and eventually—at the age of 30!—had to have emergency surgery to remove a massive fucking ovarian cyst that had ruptured and filled my abdomen with blood. It was only during the biopsy resulting from said surgery that I was finally, officially diagnosed with endometriosis, because endometrial tissue was found outside the womb. A lot of it. That was what the cyst had been made of. By that age, my condition had worsened considerably, and I could have died of the hemorrhage. Good job, doctor who told me it was all my fault for being queer!

Anyway, I just wanted to say that if you ever get told shit like that, don’t believe it. If you identify as female, people will try to to tell you that they know your body better than you do, that your very femaleness disqualifies you from commenting on or understanding your own body, and that nothing you say can be trusted, because, as a female, you are overdramatic and irrational and liable to exaggerate every little discomfort.

Conversely, if you don’t identify as female, people will try to tell you that the “discrepancy” between your body and your gender identity is to blame for your medical problems, which aren’t valid and don’t deserve treatment because it’s really all your fault. The world will try to tell you that a) you’re abnormal, and b) your endometriosis is a direct result of your abnormality. Authority figures will try to tell you that you deserve being tortured. That you earned it by failing to conform to their expectations.

Don’t believe any of them. If a parent, guardian, family member or medical professional doesn’t respect you, regardless of how you identify, then you can’t trust what they’re telling you. While we’re very young, we unfortunately don’t have as much freedom to seek out medical help that suits us, but if your body is in pain, then something is wrong, and YOU have the right to decide that something is wrong. YOU have the right to seek a diagnosis and treatment from somebody who truly respects you and listens to you.

Anybody who tells you that your own sense of your body isn’t trustworthy is themselves not trustworthy. Don’t let them make you question yourself or doubt yourself, and don’t let them force you to live in pain when you could be getting effective treatment for it. If one doctor is an asshole, see another. And another. And another. Eventually, you’ll find someone that can give you the help you need. It’s living in pain that is abnormal, not you.

This shit is so real.

I starting having periods when I was 11 and I was in AGONY. All the time. It felt like I was dying.

I talked to my mom, the school nurse, my friends, my friends moms, and all I got was “Women have been dealing with this since Eve. Take some Midol. You’ll be fine.”

At 22 I was diagnosed with Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome and given the pill for treatment. I was told it would take care of my symptoms. But it didn’t. (I do actually have PCOS, but it wasn’t the source of my pain.)

At 25, just this year, I was in so much agony I vomited in front of customers. I was pale and shaky and couldn’t stand upright. I was openly crying, bawling, and my boss just kind of looked at me like “You’re always so dramatic with your lady problems.”

And them BOOM. Out like a light.

Got treated in the ER and the doctor told me I needed to go back to my OBGYN’s office ASAP because this was not ok.

And I did.

And she told me she thought I had endometriosis, but couldn’t confirm without surgery even though my symptoms are textbook and she’s 100% sure that’s what it is.

Endometriosis, as stated above, happens when the endomitrium inside the uterus travels outside the uterus. 

What they didn’t say is that tissue still thinks it’s in your uterus and functions like it normally would; cramping and BLEEDING when you have your period. Only there’s no where for that blood to go.

Basically, I’ve bleeding internally since I was 11 and people told me to suck it up. 

And this is the story of how dismissive our culture is of womens health. How women who complain of reproductive health issues, of crippling pain, are looked at as liars and drama queens. 

It took 14 years and over a dozen OBGYN’s/ER doctors to get my diagnosis. 

And THAT. IS NOT. OKAY.