Watch Out For These Symptoms, It May Be A Sign Of Endometriosis!

Endometriosis is a disease in which the tissue lining the wall of your uterus grows in areas other than your uterine cavity. The lining of your uterine wall is called the endometrium. Endometriosis occurs when endometrial tissue grows on the ovaries, intestines, and tissues that line your pelvis. Rarely does endometrial tissue spread beyond your pelvic area, but it is not impossible.

The symptoms of endometriosis vary. Some people experience mild symptoms, but others can experience moderate to severe symptoms. Your level of pain does not indicate the level or stage of the condition you are experiencing. You may have mild endometriosis but experience severe pain or may have severe endometriosis but experience little discomfort. Among the endometriosis symptoms are:

1. Painful menstruation (dysmenorrhea).

Dysmenorrhea is the medical term for painful menstruation caused by uterine contractions. Menstrual cramps can feel like constant pain or pain like being shot or stabbed. It most often occurs in the lower part of your abdomen. You may also feel it on your back, hips or thighs. The pain may start before your period or when your period starts. Menstruation usually lasts about 1 to 3 days. The pain may be severe enough to prevent you from doing normal activities.

2. Pain when having sex (dyspareunia)

Endometriosis symptoms during sexual intercourse can include abdominal pain, diarrhoea or constipation, upper body pain, excessive urination, or a painful stabbing sensation. Such symptoms are also often misinterpreted as other conditions, such as appendicitis, irritable bowel syndrome, mental illness or ovarian cysts.

3. Excessive bleeding (menorrhagia) or irregular menstruation

You may experience occasional excessive menstrual bleeding, or intermittent bleeding (bleeding between periods), which is also called spotting. Menorrhagia is a medical term that refers to a menstrual period characterized by heavy or prolonged blood flow. When you experience menorrhagia, you may not be able to resume your normal activities while you are menstruating due to a lot of blood loss and cramping that occurs.

If the duration of your menstrual cycle (the time interval between the onset of menstruation) is constantly changing, you are said to be experiencing irregular menstruation. It is possible that your period will arrive early or late. Yet it is typical for menstrual cycles to be shorter or longer than the average duration of 28 days, although this is not always the case.

4. Difficulty getting pregnant

If you have endometriosis, it is likely that you will have difficulty conceiving. Women with endometriosis can experience infertility at rates ranging from 30 % to 50 %. Many factors, including pelvic anatomical distortions, adhesions, scarring of the fallopian tubes, inflammation of pelvic structures, immune system dysfunction, changes in the egg hormone environment, impaired implantation during pregnancy and altered egg quality, can all contribute to infertility. Endometriosis can affect fertility in a variety of ways, including the following: implantation is impaired during pregnancy, and egg quality changes.

5. Other signs and symptoms

During menstruation, you may experience symptoms of lethargy, diarrhoea, constipation, bloating, and vomiting.

The severity of the condition is not always proportional to the level of pain experienced. When it comes to menstruation, individuals can experience minor endometriosis but severe pain, and there are also patients who experience severe endometriosis but no pain during menstruation.

Endometriosis can be mistaken for another condition that causes pelvic discomfort, such as pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) or ovarian cyst, which can lead to confusion. It can sometimes be mistaken for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), which is characterized by diarrhoea, constipation, and stomach cramps, among other symptoms. IBS can occur in the presence of endometriosis, which can exacerbate the disease.

How is a person diagnosed with endometriosis?

Confirmation of diagnosis of endometriosis is made based on health history, physical examination and even certain tests such as imaging.

You will be asked to describe your symptoms to your doctor, including the location and time of your pelvic pain as well as other information including history such as your pregnancy, menstruation as well as other health information. This lets the doctor know the symptoms you are experiencing are a sign of endometriosis or another disease.

In addition to questions and answers on health history, the doctor will also perform the relevant physical examination. For example

Pelvic examination

The doctor will feel (palpate) your pelvic area manually to check for abnormalities such as cysts on your reproductive organs or scars on the back of the uterus during your pelvic examination. Unless endometriosis has caused cysts to form, it is often impossible to feel small patches of endometriosis.

After that, certain diagnostic or confirmatory tests will be made, including:

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

To get detailed images of the organs and tissues in your body, an MRI test is performed. When talking about endometrial implants, MRI can be beneficial because it gives your surgeon detailed information about the location and size of the endometriosis.

Ultrasound

This test produces a picture of the inside of your body using high-frequency sound waves. A transducer, which is a small device that captures images, will be placed on your abdomen or inserted into your vaginal opening (transvaginal ultrasound). Sometimes both forms of ultrasonography are used to obtain the best images of the reproductive organs. A routine ultrasound imaging test will not tell your doctor whether you have endometriosis or not, but it can detect cysts associated with the disease (endometrioma).

Laparoscopy

In some situations, your doctor may refer you to a surgeon for a procedure that allows the surgeon to look into your abdomen, known as laparoscopic surgery. The procedure is performed while you are under a general anaesthetic, and your surgeon makes a small incision around your belly button to insert laparoscopic equipment to examine evidence of endometrial tissue outside the uterus.

For more information, please contact your doctor or pharmacist.

The information provided is for information purposes only and is not meant to be a substitute for the advice of a registered medical practitioner. This information should not be used for diagnosing health problems or for self-medication. Bayer Co (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd shall not be responsible for any damages or losses arising out of access to or use of information provided

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