Endo Awareness Month

The dictionary definition of Endometriosis - "a condition resulting from the appearance of endometrial tissue outside the uterus and causing pelvic pain, especially associated with menstruation."

Today marks the beginning of Endometriosis Awareness month where the annual EndoMarch would usually take place around the world but this sadly cannot happen again this year due to the pandemic.

Now, I am sure if you know me personally then you must've heard me mention this condition a thousand times and that is because despite it affecting 1 in 10 women, which equates to 176 million women worldwide, it takes on average 8 years to diagnose. There is NO known cure and all treatment offered, in my opinion is quite simply not good enough.

I wont go into my story completely in depth in this blog post, but if you are interested in knowing the ins and outs of my experience with endo, feel free to watch my YouTube video I made last year where I talk about my whole diagnosis process and what symptoms I deal with - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM1TttbxKgc

In short, if you'd rather not watch me rant for 20 mins straight (fair play), I will explain my journey here. I began to notice I was unwell in 2011 when I first began puberty. My periods were completely irregular and so heavy, I would frequently have to miss school or just curl up in a ball in agony every day of my life. I thought this was normal because we as women, are not educated enough on these types of conditions, I genuinely believed with my whole heart that women just had to live with the pain because this is also what the doctors were telling me. I was put on the pill at the ridiculous age of 11 years old - HOW INSANE IS THAT? Cannot believe that even happened now but anyway.. they did this to stop the pain and try to regulate my cycle. Nothing worked but I learned to live with it, the agony 24/7, the heavy bleeding, all of it was awful. My skin was also noticeably a lot worse than any of my friends and I never understood what I did to deserve it. I must've gone to the doctor about twice a week, every week wanting answers as to why I had to spend my life in constant pain. I was told I had "anxiety", I was told I was "exercising too much", I was also told it was an STD which made no sense because I was a child at the time so yes at that point I came to realise these doctors don't have a clue and I just gave up. It got to 2018 and I was beginning to have severe migraines and the doctor took me off the pill finally because they said, the pill will cause a mini stroke if we aren't careful. Months down the line, I thought.. wow, I think my cycle is finally regular and the pain has stopped by itself. Oh how silly I was, next thing you know the pain and the bleeding and the chaos has come back ten fold. It wasn't until my sister then said to me "Bekki, I think you might have PCOS or Endometriosis". I had never ever heard of either of these things but spent that night doing an excessive amount of research until I realised yes that is exactly what I have. I booked in to see the nurse and for the first time in forever, I was listened to and this got the ball rolling for my diagnosis to actually begin. Sadly, it still took nearly 2 years after that appointment with the nurse to be in the hospital having my laparoscopy. I was given all sorts of scans before and they were adamant they didn't want to cut me open. However, my mum was having none of it and said they had to go through with it because seeing me live like that and have no clue why I was so unwell, was unbearable. I am still unwell with it now, but have been put on the coil which as far as I know is just masking the issue and I dread to think of what awaits me when I finally have the coil out.

Here's a pic of me just after my laparoscopy (as high as a kite clearly on painkillers). This was a bittersweet day for me as finally, after 8 years, I knew I wasn't crazy and had answers. On the other hand, being told you have a chronic illness and there is nothing they can do for you, really did take it's toll on my mental health.

The debilitating condition Endometriosis can be so different for every woman who has it, but some of the main symptoms that I myself experienced are the following:

-Pelvic pain

-Back pain

-FATIGUE (big one for me, my goooodness)

-acne

-infertility

-irregular, heavy periods

-Pain during and after sex

-Nausea

-ENDO BELLY during a flare up (SO MUCH BLOAT. So much pain. One of my least fave symptoms tbh because of how insecure it makes me feel when my stomach bloats such a wild amount)

and so so many more. The long lasting effects of living with this illness can severely impact your mental health and your relationships. I feel so lucky to be surrounded by amazing friends and family and a very supportive boyfriend who make me feel so loved and have been a great help throughout it all. However for some, living with this condition and fighting to get a diagnosis and be listened to by medical practitioners is a very lonely journey.

I am furious that women's health is such a taboo subject and is consistently dismissed. WE MUST keep the conversation going and get women the right treatment and answers they deserve.

More research is being done and inquiries have began taking place this past year, so there has been some progress made since I first started learning about this condition a few years back, however it is not enough. More needs to be done, so please spread the word, educate yourselves and if you know anyone with the condition make sure to let them know you're there for them too!

If anyone ever needs to talk with me about any worries they have regarding symptoms they're dealing with, if they think they might have it or they don't know how to go about voicing their issues to a doctor, please feel free to contact me at any time. I am here for all of you!

Anyway, I really hope you all have a lovely March and here's hoping to a bright and wonderful spring and summer ahead.

Thanks again for reading, it means a lot if you've got this far with my ranting, but I will not stop until more is done to support these millions of women suffering everyday with this debilitating invisible illness.

Bekki x