Endometriosis
Endometriosis in College: How to Take Care of Yourself When Life Doesn’t Pause
College is challenging enough when you’re healthy – throw endometriosis into the mix, and it can feel downright impossible some days. Classes, exams, and the
Pelvic pain
Rectal pain (lightening)
Painful sex during and after
Nausea
Constipation
Bloating
endometriosis signs and symptoms
Extreme bloating
Terrible low back pain that can also radiate to my hip and down my legs
Pain with urinating/full bladder
Pain with having a bowl movement/constipation
Sharp pelvic pain and pressure and sometimes just a dull ache and heaviness in my pelvis
Headache
Pain with sex
Sharp shooting pain in my upper abdomen
Nausea
Exhaustion
Infertility
I’m on suppression medication so I don’t have a period right now but when so did pain so intense I would be sick, unable to walk, nothing touched it except prescription pain medication which still took hours to work.
Extremely painful period cramps starting at age 14. I had relatively painless periods for 3-4 years before that. At 14 the cramps became debilitating and I’d often vomit on the first day of my period. After the first day, I didn’t have many symptoms. I’d take as much OTC pain killer as was safe, only to usually still be stuck in bed with a heating pad because the pain was too intense for anything else. I would often miss school or work. Right before excision surgery, I was prescribed prescription strength aleve, and had next to no cramps on the first day of my period that month. For about 6 months to a year before excision surgery I was experiencing pain and fullness in my abdomen all month long, along with the need to pee often but not much coming out. I went to the doctor to see if I had ovarian cancer(because I had 3 of the 4 warning signs) or what was going on, and the doctor suggested I might have endometriosis. I went to an excision specialist in March 2022 and he found endo on my colon, rectum, endometrioma inside of my left ovary, and both ovaries covered in endometriosis. It was shocking to me that I had this wrong with me, when I thought I just had a “bad period”. After finding out I had endo on my colon and rectum, I connected my IBS type symptoms and painful bowel movements that I had been having for years back to my endo diagnosis. I had no idea they were related until after the surgery. All in all, debilitating periods, vomiting, painful bowel movements(so so painful), pelvic pain and fullness, urinary frequency and inability to empty bladder, and tailbone pain have been my symptoms. Hoping pelvic floor therapy alleviates the last standing symptoms.
Intense cramping pelvic pain, severe burning in pelvis and down my legs. Back pain and pain shooting down my butt. Nausea, upset stomach, diarrhea. Lowered immune system and allergy flare ups during cycle. Brain fog, vaginal dryness, sharp random pelvic pain during and off my cycle. Infertility.
Debilitating cramps, cyclical back and hip tightness that impacted work and exercise, bladder frequency, constipation, diarrhea, food sensitivities leading to previous 2 items + extremely itchy and painful hives, insomnia