what does it feel like to have something happening to your body that you just don’t understand? “headaches, migraines, sleepless nights, bloating, fatigue, gas,” denise campbell says of the early symptoms that gave her a clue that something was wrong. “this was before i even had my first menstrual cycle. i was missing school and went to several doctors’ appointments, but no one had answers.”
the toronto woman went through years of pain and uncertainty before a diagnosis of endometriosis, a complex disease that is often overlooked and misunderstood.
what is endometriosis?
endometriosis is a condition that affects about one in every 10 girls and women (and unmeasured numbers of trans and non-binary people), where tissue that’s similar to the endometrial tissue that lines the uterus, grows in other locations inside the body, like the ovaries, fallopian tubes, bladder or bowels. . during menstruation, the tissue bleeds just like the regular lining of the uterus, except it has no way to exit the body, so it pools inside the tissue and leads to pain, inflammation and scarring. the result is often chronic pelvic pain, nausea, excessive menstrual pain and infertility.
symptoms, though, also mimic other disorders like ovarian cysts, pelvic inflammatory disease and irritable bowel syndrome (ibs) which causes bouts of diarrhea, constipation and abdominal cramping. ibs can accompany endometriosis, further complicating the diagnosis, according to the
mayo clinic.