It is Women’s History Month and as women we go through so much especially when it comes to our reproductive system. Whether it’s bad menstrual cramps, infertility, cysts, fibroids, and/or something else, these are all things common to us females.
Now for me, other than the first 5 months after starting my menstrual cycle as a young girl, I’ve had pain each month and if not for medication, lots of food, heat, tea, rest, and now the Honey Pot feminine products I don’t know how I would make it through and be functional. A few months ago during one of my monthly cycles, I experienced pain I’ve never felt before as it felt like I was paralyzed for about 2-3 minutes before I could move and this happened at two different moments within a two day period. As we move forward to going to see a doctor and having scans and test done it was determined that I had endometriomas on my ovaries which means Stage IV endometriosis. Most of us as females have some type of cramping during our cycles and think of it as the norm unless we are either excessively bleeding or the pain is unbearable, so when you experience this pain you rarely think about endometriosis.
This condition has been mentioned more in recent times as many women, including celebrity women have talked about their diagnosis which usually is not discovered until they were in their late 20’s or early 30s. Endometriosis has 4 stages with the endometriomas being part of Stage IV and the most severe that is a threat to fertility. So as a women approaching my mid-30s and having no children at this point, this is now a worry that I would have never thought I needed. In doing some research as well as hearing this information from my Doctor, some women with symptoms may be at Stage I and others with no symptoms can still be at Stage IV, so there is no way to know unless you have some type of pain. Also, having endometriomas is not always a threat to fertility as more than half of women with them go on to have children. So, are there any of you who have pain during your monthly cycle and always saw it as a normal part of your cycle? Have any of you had a condition of your reproductive system and didn’t find out until later in life? What were your feelings and thoughts dealing with this?