If you have endometriosis, small pieces of the lining of your womb stick to other parts of your body, such as your ovaries or your bladder. Endometriosis can be painful and you may have problems getting pregnant.

If you have endometriosis, you may get pain all the time or only sometimes. It can make you feel generally ill or exhausted.

But some women don’t get any pain. Some women only find out they have endometriosis when they see a doctor because they haven’t been able to get pregnant.

There’s no cure for endometriosis. But there are good treatments that can help with the pain. And there are treatments that can help you get pregnant if you want to.

Key points for women with endometriosis

• Endometriosis is very common. Up to 1 in 7 women who have not reached the menopause get endometriosis.
• It can be harmless. You only need treatment if it’s painful or if you have trouble getting pregnant.
• To find out whether you have endometriosis, you’ll need to have a test called a laparoscopy. A surgeon will look inside your body using a small camera.
• Treatments for endometriosis include hormones, surgery or a combination of both.
• If you have endometriosis, it’s important to tell your doctor if you’re trying to get pregnant. Some treatments help with pain but stop you getting pregnant.

The lining of your womb

To understand what happens when you have endometriosis, it’s useful to know something about the lining of your womb.

Your womb lies inside your pelvis. This is the area between your hips.

• The lining of your womb is called the endometrium.
• Each month, the lining grows thicker. It’s part of your monthly cycle. It happens when your body starts making more of the hormone oestrogen.
• If you get pregnant, the baby grows in this thick lining. If you don’t get pregnant that month, the womb lining comes away from your womb and you have your period.

What happens in endometriosis?

You get endometriosis when small pieces of the lining of your womb grow on other parts of your body.

Usually it happens to parts of your body near your womb. We’ve described the parts that are commonly affected.

Your ovaries make eggs and hormones. If you have endometriosis in your ovaries, it may form small bags of fluid called cysts.

Your fallopian tubes carry eggs from your ovaries to your womb. These tubes are where eggs may join with sperm (fertilisation).

Endometriosis may grow on the outside of your womb or on the lining of your pelvis. This lining stops organs in your pelvis sticking together.

Endometriosis can grow on your rectum (part of your bowel) and your bladder.

Endometriosis can also spread outside your pelvis, even as far as your brain. But this is extremely rare.

What happens to the endometriosis?

The patches of endometriosis look and work just like the lining of your womb.

The patches react to the different hormones your body makes during your monthly cycle. So each month, the hormone oestrogen makes the patches grow thicker.

And every month the patches break away and bleed, just like the lining of your womb does when you have your period.

This extra blood can’t drain away quickly. Your body slowly gets rid of the blood, but it causes problems while it’s inside your pelvis. The extra blood can damage the area around the patch of endometriosis. And it can stop organs working properly. You may get scars or small bags of fluid called cysts.

If the endometriosis damages your fallopian tubes or your ovaries, they may stick together and stop working properly. If this happens, you may have problems getting pregnant.

What causes it?

We don’t know for sure what causes endometriosis.

One theory is that it may start when a small amount of blood from your womb flows the wrong way during your period. Instead of flowing down to your vagina, the blood flows along your fallopian tubes, and leaks into other parts of your pelvis.

This is called retrograde menstruation. It happens to most women occasionally. But only some women go on to get endometriosis.

Very rarely, endometriosis reaches the lungs or brain. Experts don’t know how this happens. Cells from the lining of your womb may travel around your body in your blood,

Why me?

We don’t know why some women get endometriosis. But there are things that increase your chances of getting endometriosis. These are called risk factors. Your age is an important risk factor.

• The chance of getting endometriosis rises from puberty onwards and peaks at about 40.
• After the age of 40, the risk goes down.
• You’re unlikely to get endometriosis once you reach the menopause. After the menopause your body stops producing oestrogen, the hormone that makes endometriosis grow.

If you’re taking the contraceptive pill, you’re less likely to get endometriosis. And your risk stays lower for up to a year after you stop taking the pill.

article courtesy of www.guardian.co.uk

Hi All,

I was just wondering if anyone manages there endo naturally?  And whether you find that your diet plays a huge factor?  I’ve just about had enough of the abdominal pain, back pain, fatigue, head aches, irretable bowel, mood swings, shortness of breath, depression, heavy period, PAINFUL INTERCOURSE!  I’ve been diagnosed for about 14mths, but have suffered a lot of these symptons since i first got my period, however they became more severe after i went off the pill, for other reasons.  I don’t want to implant anything in my arm, or stop my cycle completely, but I’ve found that my diet really helps, especially if i follow an anti candida diet, cutting out the yeast/bacteria/sugar/caffiene/alcohol.

 Does anyone else find that diet works?  What about exercise?  I’ve found that i cant do high intensity exercise otherwise i end up with a gut full of agony.  Any other suggestions on how to deal with this diagnoses - or similarities?

Thanks, take care. Karina.

Hello everyone, this is Babette Gray, President of Pelvic Pain Solutions.  I have some exciting news to report:

EndoWEAR.  I am pleased to announce that my company is in the final development stage of rolling out some wonderful loungewear consisting of sweats and boxers for those ladies who are frustrated with buying pants that seem to tug, bind, shrink, and pull on the delicate tummy and pelvic region.  Right now, my staff and a few of the ladies on Facebook jumped at the chance to test these pants out.

Many of you are scheduled for or have already undergone laparoscopies, Lupron or other surgery to ease your pain.  These sweats were designed with you in mind.  During the years I had endometriosis, I remember borrowing my boyfriend’s sweats because I was so swollen from surgery and had nothing comfortable to wear that fit.  If that wasn’t enough, even when I didn’t have surgery, I constantly felt like I was 8 months pregnant due to the bloating and pain.

Key Features.  Our sweats are made from soft, warm thermal waffle knit and are designed to stretch.  Another great feature is the pelvic floor region is loose and the drawstring expands for those days when you’re feeling bloated and nothing you wear feels good on.  I also refrained from sewing care labels on the pants because I find them to be annoying and irritate the skin.  In addition, you will find that our pants have no seams, which in layman’s terms means MORE comfort and less friction.

In the future, we will be offering flannel/cotton prints and are always be on the search for fun, uplifting styles that cheer you up while providing you sheer comfort.

10% Discount.  Be on the lookout in February at http://www.endofemm.com.  All members on EndoForums.com will receive a 10% discount.

Be well.

Hello.  My name is Babette Gray and I am the President of Pelvic Pain Solutions.  I am an advocate for women who suffer from chronic pelvic pain and an Endo survivor.  I lived with Endo for more than 12 years until I had a supracervical hysterectomy at the age of 39.

It is my passion to reach out to as many women as I can on my natural heating/cooling pad I invented called “EndoFEMM”.  In these trying times, I also understand the financial hardship that Endo can bring to women suffering with such a disease.  Sadly, I can often recall being home ill more than being at work.  Because of this, I make it my goal to work with these women and do my best to offer my pad at a discounted price.

Since I started my business in 2006, I have helped over 5,000 women with my product.  I am proud to offer EndoFEMM on several sites as the IC Network, Hystersisters, Seek Wellness, Desert Harvest, and Healthy You, to name a few.  Recently, EndoFEMM was also featured in national magazines as Alternative Health, Natural Solutions, and Conscious Choice.  Other well-known sites such as the Interstitital Cystitis Association, Endometriosis Research Center, Endo-Resolved, and Endometriosis.org endorse EndoFEMM as a wonderful aid in pelvic pain.

In the near future, my company will be working with Dr. Stuart Hart, a sought-after OB-Gyn specializing in pelvic pain disorders, who believes in the healing qualities of EndoFEMM and will be offering this on his upcoming website.

It brings me such joy to know that EndoFEMM is making a difference in the lives of women by giving them more freedom from their pain, lowering their costs by offering a pad that is both effective and long-wearing, and helping them depend less on their pain medication while using the pad.

I hope that this blog will help spread the news as I believe from the many customer testimonials I have received and my own personal use, that EndoFEMM can help!  Please visit us at http://www.endofemm.com.  Thank you and be well.

10% Discount for Members.  All members on EndoForums will receive a 10% discount.

[courtesy of endometriosis.org.au]
My endometriosis began as a teenager, though I didn’t know it at the time. Throughout secondary school, I would have one day off a month because of cramps. I went to the doctor, but was told I was just one of those young women who happened to get bad cramps, and that it was manageable with over-the-counter treatments.

As the years went on, I can remember feeling as though I was some kind of hypochondriac. Having one day off a month meant I used up all my sick days every year, and would have to take unpaid or annual leave when I was ‘really’ sick. I lied about why I couldn’t come to work - no one would believe my period pain was bad enough to warrant a sick day. But the truth was that I was doubled over in severe pain. The pain would radiate down my thighs and up my back, and I had diarrhoea and bowel problems.

After hearing the same response to my period pain from several doctors, I was resigned to the fact that pain was something I just had to live with. But as the years went by, the pain became worse and the over-the-counter treatments weren’t working anymore. The pain lasted longer than one day, and the bowel troubles extended throughout the month.

The bowel problems brought me back to the doctor, and after much investigation, my new GP suggested I could have endometriosis. Finally I had something to explain all this! She referred me to a gynaecologist, who put me on the waiting list for a laparoscopy.

The surgery revealed extensive lesions, particularly on my left side. The reason I had bowel problems was because the endo had ‘fused’ my uterus to my bowel. No wonder I had been in so much pain! The removal of the lesions led to some pain relief, and within a few months I was able to work on the first day of my period!

My advice to all women who experience debilitating period pain is to insist on further investigation. I wish I hadn’t accepted the lack of investigation from GPs over the years and I wish I’d realised earlier that it’s NOT NORMAL to be in that much pain. I am not a hypochondriac, and I don’t just have a ‘lower pain threshold’ than other women. I have endometriosis. It is serious, and it’s real.

Research directed by a University of Liverpool scientist has raised hopes that novel drugs which inhibit telomerase – currently being trialled as potential cancer therapies – could also offer a more effective treatment for endometriosis. 
Endometriosis is the most common benign gynaecological disease – afflicting up to twenty women in every hundred, which equates to around 89m women around the world. Many sufferers experience severe recurring pain, but others may experience symptoms more akin to irritable bowel syndrome. They may also find it impossible to conceive: endometriosis is one of the leading causes of female infertility.

The only reliable diagnosis involves invasive laparoscopy. It’s not known what causes endometriosis, and there is currently no cure – though surgery may provide respite for a while. There are also hormone-based treatments, but they are not entirely effective and can cause undesirable side-effects.

New hypothesis

Most women with the condition have inappropriate tissue deposits in the pelvic cavity – in the ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterine ligaments and/or the intestines, but very rarely these tissue deposits can also be found in other parts of the body, even in the lungs. The disease gets its name from the endometrium – the tissue lining the uterus – because these tissue deposits closely resemble it.

Implanted patch of endometrial tissue overlying the bladder.

The most widely accepted theory of the origin of the disease is that endometrial tissue from the uterine cavity is expelled in to the pelvic cavity as a result of retrograde menstruation, giving rise to endometriotic deposits. However, most women exhibit retrograde menstruation – yet only 15-20 per cent get endometriosis.
Both the endometrial cells lining the normal uterine cavity in these women and the cells in the abnormal deposits are able to survive and proliferate, which made Dr Dharani Hapangama wonder whether endometriosis might be associated with abnormal expression of telomerase and telomere lengthening in the endometrium.
Telomeres are like caps on the end of chromosomes, protecting them from damage and degradation. They get shorter each time the cells divide and eventually somatic cells lose the ability to proliferate and die because of the associated DNA dysfunction. Telomerase is an enzyme that mends telomeres; high levels of it have been linked to cancer – and the defining feature of cancer cells is their ability to keep proliferating indefinitely.
Two years ago, Dr Hapangama set out to test her hypothesis in a pilot study funded by the University of Liverpool.

Research design & findings

Fifty six women took part in the study – 29 with symptomatic, surgically diagnosed endometriosis and 27 who were fertile and shown through laparoscopy to be symptom-free. Endometrial biopsies were taken from both groups at two time points: three weeks into their menstrual cycle (around the time of conception), and shortly before the end of their cycle.

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Dr Hapangama analysed samples from each biopsy, using immunohistochemistry techniques to evaluate levels of telomerase and an oestrogen receptor. Samples were also sent to Newcastle University, where the length of the telomeres was measured using quantitative PCR – the first time this analysis has been done on benign endometrial tissue.
Analysis of the two teams’ results revealed that mean telomere lengths were significantly longer in the endometria of women suffering from endometriosis, particularly during the embryo implantation window of the cycle – and there was good correspondence between mean telomere lengths and levels of telomerase immunoreactivity.
These results suggest that aberrant endometrial expression of telomerase mediates alterations in cell fate that enhance proliferation, contributing to the pathogenesis of endometriosis. “In other words”, says Dr Hapangama, “endometriosis may happen because sufferers shed endometrial tissue in the course of their monthly periods, and these cells are different to those in women who don’t develop the disease.
“In normal women these cells die because they can’t continue dividing; as a consequence they become prone to DNA damage and programmed cell death. In the endometriosis sufferers these cells may have the ability to remain alive and even continue proliferating after they have been shed – giving rise to endometriotic deposits elsewhere in the body. If so, they may have this ability as a result of expressing telomerase.”
The study’s findings were published in Human Reproduction in May 2008, and were featured shortly afterwards by Faculty 1000 Medicine, which highlights the most interesting papers published in medicine based on the recommendations of ~2,500 leading clinicians and researchers around the world.

[Article courtesy of Liverpool University]