5 Worst Pieces of Advice About Endometriosis

Endometriosis affects around one in 10 women of reproductive age and women often receive all kinds of wrong and unscientific advice. Here are the 5 worst pieces of advice about endometriosis.

1. Get pregnant and your endo will go away

Pregnancy is not a cure for endometriosis. In fact, infertility is one of the most common symptoms of endometriosis with nearly 50% of the patients finding it difficult to conceive naturally. Women may experience temporary symptom relief during pregnancy. However, pregnancy itself is not a cure or treatment for the disease, and getting pregnant will not make your endometriosis go away.

2. Wait till after menopause and endo will cure itself

Endometriosis symptoms generally coincide with the onset of menstruation, giving the impression that menopause will result in the cessation of symptoms. However, the production of estrogen, to which the lesions respond, continues after menopause, and therefore menopause will not “cure” endometriosis.

Although relatively uncommon, endometriosis can also occur in women after menopause, and research suggests that doctors should consider endometriosis in cases of unclear pelvic pain

3. Period pain is normal

While most women experience some amount of pain during periods, know that debilitating pain is not normal. Painful periods or killer cramps are often a result of endometriosis.

Painful periods can result in significant deterioration in overall quality of life and emotional well-being, so do not consider it to be normal.

Also, note that the intensity of period pain does not necessarily correlate with disease severity.

4. Have a hysterectomy to cure your disease

Healthcare providers inexperienced in the treatment of endometriosis often advocate hysterectomy, or the surgical removal of the uterus, as a cure for endometriosis. However, endometriosis lesions can also occur outside the uterine cavity, so a hysterectomy will not cure the disease.

Moreover, hysterectomy results in surgical infertility and is not an easy decision to make. At Seckin Endometriosis Center, we perform hysterectomy only when all options are completely exhausted, and the patient understands the implications of having their uterus removed.

Laparoscopic deep excision surgery is the gold standard for complete removal of all lesions and symptom relief.

5. You probably have IBS

More than 90% of endometriosis patients also complain of gastrointestinal symptoms such as bloating, flatulence, gas, and abdominal pain that are not too unlike what one experiences with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). This often leads to doctors misdiagnosing endometriosis as IBS.

However, it is of utmost importance to distinguish between IBS and endometriosis to ensure the patient gets the right treatment. However, healthcare providers often do not ask the right questions.

Usually, if IBS-like symptoms coincide with the onset of menstruation, it is probably endometriosis and must be treated as such.

Have you received any of these pieces of advice? Would you like to share your own experience? Please do not hesitate to leave a comment on our post on Facebook or Instagram.