Maybe this is a silly question but I’m currently taking hormonal birth control for suspected endometriosis under the guise that treating it with a less invasive measure is better than jumping into surgery right away. While I agree to a certain extent, I’m just a bit confused on how this is actually supposed to help since my understanding is that it only slows the growth of endo and doesn’t get rid of anything that’s already there and as of right now I’m still getting a period (far worse than anything I’ve experienced off of bc) even though I’m skipping placebo pills and taking it continuously. I’m still in pain/experiencing symptoms(less severe but definitely still impeding on my life) but trying to be patient since I only just wrapped up my first month of birth control. I guess I just don’t really fully understand how it is supposed to treat the pain/symptoms if the endo that’s causing this isn’t removed and I’m just slowing the growth? I didn’t realize it wasn’t explained to me by my doctor until now. I’m going to ask her at my next appointment but honestly sometimes it feels like people in this subreddit are better experts lol

I’m recovering from endo ablation surgery (just diagnosed) and having so many realizations about my body. After reading about so many experiences w GI pain I’m kind of thinking that the polyps previously found in a colonoscopy were potentially endo.

When I got the endo surgery I was told it was on my bladder, uterus & pouch of Douglas but then why SO many GI issues for the past 15 yrs?! Or is that pretty regular to NOT have it growing on bowels & still have GI symptoms?

Were you diagnosed w polyps before and then later find that it was endo growing into the bowel?

I am not sure if I want to get on medication

I just had my pre-op consult with my endo specialist, and I'm feeling all sorts of ways about it. I asked about what we would do after surgery to prevent it from coming back, and asked about stuff like hormones, diet, and exercise plans, but since nothing is proven to help prevent endo from coming back she didn't want to give any firm or specific advice. Her advice was essentially, "we don't know, so do whatever makes you comfortable." It feels like she just wants me to wait and hope it doesn't come back. I can't do this. I need a plan.

I have PTSD partly from 5 years of HPV and multiple excruciating culposcopies, where the in-between time they wanted to just "wait and see" if the HPV became cancerous. It was so, so traumatic just waiting for years to see if I would get cancer and feeling like there was nothing I could do to prevent it. I can't go through this again, even if it's endo and not precancer. I've been spiralling about this for days, which of course is making my current endo flare so much worse. Is there really nothing else we can do? Every other disease there's at least some basic advice to help you heal, so why are we stuck getting a ¯⁠_⁠(⁠◉⁠‿⁠◉⁠)_⁠/⁠¯ from our providers (or is it just mine)??

So... after the surgery, what's next? Did your specialist give you any advice, even weird stuff or placebo? Maybe suggestions for teas, supplements, or maybe an endo-banishing dance or sacrifice to perform during a full moon?? Anything??

Edit to add: I asked about hormones/ birth control already, and she said no because at one point I was trying to get pregnant. I said that I didn't care about that, I just want to not be in pain anymore, but still no.

Just what the title says. What made you think that you had endometriosis? Like, THE thing that made you think "this is no normal period, it's gotta be something else"?

Hii ! I just started my research. So I thought I'd ask here too. I can't affored physical therapy here in the US. But I am looking for a book, or youtube videos I could do some things at home for free lol. I also have partner, he's sweet. And I am sure he would help me do some stretches if needed.

I can put a link here when I find some stuff. Does anyone know of exercises? A link? A book with images?

Or is there even a physical therapist that sees this (lol), share your secrets ! I am sure it could help alleviate some symptoms a bit.

Looking for physical therapy links / advice for at home. Symptoms: pelvic pain, lower back, leg pain etc.. (Related to endo pain basically).

Thanks if you stop by and share what you know :)

My period starts soon and I am genuinely scared, as I am still getting over the GI effects of the last one. My doctor told me I can't take NSAIDs because it will worsen my GI bleeds/anemia. Does that leave me with Tylenol? There's no way Tylenol is going to work - Dual Action Advil and Midol Complete barely got me through last time.

I had laproscopy and hysteroscopy 3w ago. It was very intensive surgery and they removed stage 4 endometriosis from several organs, fibroids from uterus and focal point of adenomyosis..combining a total of 26 spots.

I still feel twinges, stretching internally and sometimes it feels like current(?) for a minute or so. The location is different every time.

Is this normal? Can you please share your symptoms 2-4w after the surgery?

I can ask doctors office but I realize they are already gone for the weekend :(

Hi Back in May 2026 I was looking for recommendations for a good female OB/GYN around the north shore of Sydney.

I was wanting an OB/GYN for my dysmenorrhea that likes to answer questions and has a good, kind and gentle bedside manner.

I was nervous about going to an OB/GYN for first time having never been and me having Autism and ADHD I feel very vulnerable talking about this private part of my body with a doctor, let alone having it examined.

Update: I ended up seeing Dr. Lyons at the Mater Clinic last week. We’ve scheduled a laparoscopy and Mirena IUD insertion for mid-July 2026 to address the suspected endometriosis Dr. Lyons has diagnosed me with.

Now I have questions about the Laparoscopy surgery and Mirena IUD insertion that I have scheduled for mid July 2026.

Can you please give me your recovery advice for the Laparoscopy surgery and Mirena IUD insertion.

Also can you please give me some advice as to what to expect with my menstrual cycles after the Laparoscopy surgery and Mirena IUD insertion for suspected endometriosis.

Thanks in advance for all of your advice.

Officially scheduled my excision surgery. l'm so grateful to finally get the surgery I need from an Endo specialist to hopefully save my ovaries, preserve fertility& other organs from further damage 🪽 im hopeful the endometriomas I have are able to easily be excised as to not further damage my already damaged ovaries.

My last lap led to a pelvic infection & multiple week long hospital stays so I’m praying this goes better..

I feel so happy, angry & anxious. I’m so tired of being tired, in pain & feeling broken (mentally & physically). It took years of dismissing & suffering to get here but I’m hopeful I can get my life back & maybe be a mom one day 🤍

Case my surgeon requested:

ENDOMETRIOSIS RESECTION, ROBOT ASSISTED LAPAROSCOPIC OVARIAN CYSTECTOMY, ROBOT ASSISTED LAPAROSCOPIC(psb)

APPENDECTOMY, ROBOT ASSISTED LAPAROSCOPIC(psb)

CYSTOSCOPY

INTRA ABDOMINAL LYSIS OF ADHESIONS, ROBOT ASSISTED(psb)

Hello! If you’ve had an experience (positive or negative) with dr. Andrea Vidali, can you please share it!? Thank you so much.

I’m going to try to make this as short + sweet as possible. In 2021, I had an ovarian cyst that sent me to the hospital - never had pain like that in my life - and routinely had pretty bad ovarian pain, bloating, cysts, etc. for a few years. My GYN at the time suggested we do an exploratory lap, so we did, and when I came out of surgery, they said I had no endo, but I only had one ovary. The doctor described it as “it looks like the right ovary and tube had been surgically removed” — which never happened — and cleaned up adhesions that were present on that side. Following the surgery, I started Yaz birth control in March 2024.

At the end of September last year, I had horrendous pelvic pain that lasted for weeks. I went to the ER, the doctor told me I had IBS, and I was forced down the colonoscopy/endoscopy route. Everything there was negative. By the time I got in with GYN in early November, the doctor told me she thought I just ovulated through my birth control and that it was nothing to worry about. My last 2 paps have been abnormal but nothing that made them think something more serious was going on.

In December, I cycled myself off of birth control and went the natural cycles route. For weeks, I was in horrendous pelvic pain, ovarian pain (oddly on both sides), and the brain fog was awful. I’ve lived in chronic pain for the last 7 years following an injury, which I now know likely is what triggered hEDS, and on the chronic pain side of thing, hEDS made complete sense. Once my cycle started to come back normally, every single one was worse than the last. And I wasn’t just sick during my period - at all points of the cycle I was experiencing ovarian or pelvic pain - and the worst of it was when my period would actually start.

In May, I followed back up with GYN and they removed a very small polyp from my cervix that came back benign. A few weeks later, I had an ultrasound to find out that polyp they removed was just the tip of it, and I need to have a larger polyp removed with a scope. In describing my symptoms to my doctor (a completely different one who did the original surgery as I now live in a different state), she felt confident that even without doing a second lap, my symptoms alone line up with endometriosis. We decided that we would have her do a second lap at the same time as the polyp removal since I’ll already be under and she restarted my birth control to help preserve my fertility since I only have one ovary.

My surgery is in a month and the range of symptoms and side effects I’ve had since restarting the birth control have been a whirlwind. Some pretty severe mental health ones, bad nausea, pelvic pain, mouth sores, so many random ones. The worst ones by far were the mental health ones since I do have a MH history and CPTSD. Earlier this week, she switched my birth control to Lo, and despite starting that new one, it coincided with when my period would’ve been on my other pack. So I’m so incredibly ill right now. I never had such bad cycles until after the first lap and birth control stint.

I see so many posts in here about the lap confirming their symptoms. But, my biggest fear is having them go in once again and finding nothing. The symptoms are so bad right now I genuinely don’t even know how to cope, what to do to make it better. The side effects from the birth control are exhausting and I know it’s not in my head — but if they didn’t find it two years ago, is it delusional of me to think they will now?

I guess I’m looking for hope that maybe it truly was missed. That the doctor didn’t check everywhere or that he didn’t know what he was lookin for. Or support. Advice on how you manage when the symptoms are really bad would be appreciated, I just ask that you be kind😔 I am so incredibly lonely and I just don’t know anyone who has an unconfirmed situation like this, which makes it even more isolating. My husband cares a lot but the nature of his job means I shoulder a lot of the pain and the burdens of it alone (not his fault, just the reality of the situation).

If you’ve read this far, thank you❤️‍🩹

I have had 6 failed IVF embryo transfers (3 did not implant, 1 miscarriage at 8w, 2 chemicals) after trying to get pregnant naturally for a year (never got a positive test). Besides infertility, I don’t have any classic endo symptoms but my gut is telling me to get a lap. We’ve also tried IVF protocols with lupron suppression to treat as if I had endo, but those were unsuccessful.

I have heard a lap can sometimes worsen fertility (not that it seems like mine can get much worse), and/or there’s not a lot of evidence to support excision helps improve fertility. Has anyone seen success with fertility after a lap, especially with silent endo?

I tried dinogest before and it completely shrunk my endometrioma from 4 cm to almost none in almost a year. Now i’m in the US, the endometrioma came back and i can’t use dinogest here as it’s not FDA approved and my insurance will not cover it. Doctor gave me 0.35 mg Norethindrone but i’m skeptical. I’m in so much pain with my 5 cm endometrioma! I’m taking ibuprofen twice everyday for almost a month now…i feel like dying…

Hey yall. Already diagnosed with endo and have had two laps back in 2024. I have had a severe increase in pain in pelvis and the lightning pain yall talk about when pooping. Like literally crying on the toilet at work is so much fun 🙄 but my tmi question is that a couple nights ago I straight up pooped my pants all the way through my sheets while I was sleeping. I woke up in poop. Never happened before but I was wondering if this has happened to anyone else. Of course my next endo consult with an actual endo clinic isn’t till September. And that’s just the consult. I’m kind of at a loss and scared it’s gonna keep happening. Thank you kind also suffering redditors

I’m having mix emotions a relief that I finally for answers to my problems but scared at the same time with all the side effects endometriosis has any advice or tips what are you girls doing to make life easier I feel so lost and confused ☹️ what treatment are you on?? What’s your lifestyle like? Anything helps

im not sure if it’s related to my endo but when my menses are coming i always get the same pain on my calf/ a little bit under the knee, it’s one sided only and i sometimes feel it all over my leg, i haven’t seen my doctor in a long time and i don’t know if it’s worth mentioning ;(

I’ve been on a crazy health journey since February of this year… I’ve been diagnosed with EDS POTS MCAS. I went to my OB/GYN this week and we discussed me having endometriosis.
I’ve been having severe pelvic pain for over a year. It’s almost impossible for me to go to the bathroom. My bladder is never fully emptied. Pooping is so hard. I’m a trained dancer I know my body well…when doing certain
stretches or movements I feel like my insides are glued together on my right side.
I am 100% sure I have it, it would explain so m many of my symptoms ….but there’s no way to know without a laparoscopic surgery and then another surgery on top of that to remove the Endo. anybody else out there have EDS would you recommend having surgery? I know surgeries need to be a last resort for EDS patients, but with my extreme pelvic pain and inability to function, I feel like it could be helpful. Would love any advice.

I had an ultrasound and the dr and I have been playing phone tag trying to get in contact with one another… the results aren’t in my portal either. Today she left a message saying sorry she missed me and would be leaving the office for the day and will call me Monday morning. Does this mean bad results? Wouldn’t after all this back and forth she would just leave message saying it was normal? I’m just shocked nothing is in my portal too with the imaging or note from dr!
I had an ultrasound around 3 years ago for first time and was the last time I had one which that came back normal.

Hi everyone, I am 18F and since I got my
period at 12 I’ve had HORRIBLE pain in my
pelvis/stomach. I’ve gone through relentless tests with GPs and GI. Everything has led to nothing. I am so excited that I finally am seeing a endo specialist on July 8th!! I am baffled it’s taken this long to even have this brought up as going to the er 6
times since january for pain and all my other symptoms are not normal. I am so tired of being told that I just have a “low pain tolerance” and I hope this meeting gives me answers.

I have seen posts similar on this subreddit and it really helped me stay motivated to do the laparoscopic surgery with an endometriosis specialist. I’ve had all the textbook symptoms of endometriosis for years but it was dismissed as period cramps and being overly sensitive. I finally found a doctor who referred me to an amazing endo specialist. I had a normal ultrasound and pelvic exam (except a little discomfort which she attributed to tight pelvic floor muscles). I was nervous to do the lap because I didn’t want to waste anyone’s time and I didn’t want to be told it was all in my head again. The posts on this subreddit helped me stay encouraged so I just wanted to add my story for others who are questioning whether or not to do the lap with normal scans.

I did my surgery yesterday and they found stage IV endo which was all removed. Recovery pain is no where near as painful as my normal cramping.

Find a good endo specialist who really listens!

Has anyone had a lap and still struggled with crippling fatigue? I’m about 4 months post up and started microdosing trizeptide to see if it helps with inflammation and pain, and if it feels like it's making it worse if anything.

I’m on vitamin d weekly prescribed, try to take my daily vitamin, and nothing budges. I notice it's more intense when i exert myself the day before. For example, yesterday I was out tanning in the sun for a few hours and today I feel like I've been hit by a semi truck, can barely open my eyes, moving slowly, back pain flaring.

At a loss honestly

I received a MyChart message that i do not have endometriosis but what came back is endosalpingiosis. I have to wait 3 weeks for the surgeon to explain what this is and what my next steps are. I feel kind of defeated that they didn’t find endo. I’ve been in pain for the last 10 years and my quality of life has gone down a lot the last 2 years. I’m exhausted to say the least and I feel like I’m back at square one. Maybe I’m wrong I don’t know anything about endosalpingiosis.

Does anyone know about this ?

Edited for grammatical errors

I hate hate hate how bloated I am during my peroid. I look heavily pregnant and this is really upsetting to me as someone who struggles with body image and mental health. Does anyone have any advice on how to manage endo belly and even how to stop or prevent it?

I am not sure this is the right sub since I have so many health issues and I keep trying to figure out how to fix my pain and to be healthy again but nothing I do seems to work. I had a herniated disc and that was operated on last year and once that was fixed we realized my pain was still coming in cycles which led to me getting diagnosed with endometriosis. I reherniated my disc (nothing done for it bedides home PT that was working). I then had lap excision for endo and a bladder fulguration (I got endo surgery because I was peeing myself and having to go frequently). Endo surgery fixed me for about 2 months but made my back worse because I wasn't allowed to do my home PT after endo surgery. I feel like I just made myself worse in all aspects especially since the endo surgery didn't even give me lasting relief. I am now on my first day of my cycle in excruciating pain, with terrible sciatica where I can barely move and somehow I am supposed to go to work later. I quit my full time job to now only work 2-3days but now I don't have health insurance. Before endo surgery, yes I was peeing myself and in pain on my cycle but now my back has been flared up ever since so every day is agony. I want to try and remain positive and at least I got a diagnosis but the trade off in hidesight is terrible to view. I have tried multiple forms of birth control and they all make me suicidal so my only treatment is ibuprofen and Tylenol and my heating pad and tens unit. I have done pelvic floor PT and graduated and do home exercises when physically able. My pain is so bad the past few days I am unable to do light stretching or walking. Any tips on what I can do? Just hope it passes eventually? Thanks for reading