Endometriosis Awareness Month
Let’s talk about ENDO!!!
A systematic inflammatory disease that affects millions of women but with not a lot of recognition and understanding around it…
A common issue that arises in the sport and health sector constantly is the lack of research, research funding and understanding around female health.
Endometriosis affects millions of women, however on average it can take a whopping 7.5 YEARS for a female to gain a formal diagnosis!
So what is this mystery, undiagnosed, and highly painful disease called endometriosis?
What is Endometriosis?
Endometriosis is a systematic inflammatory disease where tissue similar to the lining of the womb (endometrial-like lining) is found to be growing in external areas to the womb (where it’s not meant to be!) such as, but not limited to, the ovaries and the fallopian tubes. This lining can grow anywhere in the body, however it is most commonly found in these areas,
Endometriosis is commonly referred to and thought of as a ‘period’ disease, however this is not the case! Symptoms may worsen around menstruation as endometriosis tends to respond to our hormonal cycles, but endometriosis is present throughout our entire cycle and symptoms can also present throughout. This means that using things to stop periods may be useful for managing symptoms and pain, however, this will not cure the disease!
One of the most common ways we try to stop periods is hormonal contraception (HC) will dive a bit deeper into HC and it’;s relationship with endometriosis further in this blog, as this can be a common misconception amongst many of us that HC is the answer to endometriosis. This unfortunately is not the case, and there is no definite cure for endometriosis…
Symptoms and their management
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Symptoms and their management 〰️
What are some common and less common symptoms to look out for?
Some common symptoms are as follows:
pain in your lower tummy or back (pelvic pain) – usually worse during your period
period pain that stops you doing your normal activities
pain during or after sex
pain when peeing or pooing during your period
difficulty getting pregnant/fertility issues
Fatigue
You may also have heavy periods. You might use lots of pads or tampons, or you may bleed through to your clothes.
For some women, endometriosis can have a big impact on their life and may sometimes lead to depression.
Abundant irregular menstruation
Blood in the stool
Diarrhoea or constipation
*see links to NHS website in above text
Some less common symptoms or accompanying symptoms may include:
Lightening crotch (this is when you experience a sharp pain in your vaginal/pelvic area that comes out of what seems no where. Often seen in women who are pregnant, but can also be a lesser recognised symptom of endo!)
Nausea
Dizziness and headaches
Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar levels)
Rectal bleeding
Hematuria during menstruation (large blood clots when menstruating)
Susceptibility to infections and allergies
Symptoms can be managed through various methods, some will work better for others, but to start off with the following may help you!
Pain killers. Such as anti-inflammatory’s (ibuprofen) can give temporary relief, your doctor may also be able to prescribe you stronger anti-inflammatory such as Mefenamic Acid which is usually prescribed for period pain but may help to reduce pain.
Good old hot water bottles! This is a low cost and effective method to relieve pelvic, stomach and back pain. It can also feel very comforting and can relax muscles which will help to reduce targeted pain!
Baths. Like hot water bottles these can help relax muscles and help anxiety and stress. It could also be recommended to add magnesium salts and essential oils to help relax your body and mind even further.
Ice packs. If hot water bottle don’t work for you, you might want to consider ice packs for areas of discomfort. This can act as a natural anti-inflammatory and numb the area for a while.
TENS machines. As you may have seen already, we work with Myoovi to give our clients discounts on the Myoovi TENS machine and also on their supplements. Myoovi works to trick the brain with electric pulses to tell it you’re not in pain! They also have Endometriosis specific supplements which may also help you manage your endo!
* see below for links to TENS machine and supplements, use DC: EMILYDIVINE for 10% off all products!
Okay… so now what?
So there isn’t a cure… what do we do now?
There isn’t an easy fix, but the first stage is definitely speaking to your doctor! This can be quite a daunting thought for women due to negative previous experiences. I know this is something I struggled with and ended up coming out of my GP practice crying multiple times after receiving, what felt like, little to no help,
There is the option to go to private health care, however this can be very unaffordable for a lot of individuals. So if this isn’t available to you, we need to go down the route of resilience and asking for more from our doctors! These are some things I found helpful when going to the GP with symptoms and being fearful I wouldn’t get any help:
Tracking and reporting my cycle. As well as anything I experienced which was out of the ordinary, and then having this available to show them in my appointment. I use Natural Cycles for this but you can use lots of different apps! Health on iPhone can be great, as well as Flo (it’s a lot harder for someone to tell you ‘you’re fine’ when you have proof you’re not!)
Finding a community out with the doctors surgery. What I mean by this, is that although you may sometimes not be over the moon with the help you want from your GP, you can find unbelievable support and tips from communities of women experiencing the same things as you! (that’s what we are also looking to do at DSC too! Check out our socials below)
Asking lots of questions!!! We tend to take on board medical professionals advice without question, which in some cases is absolutely fine! However, I would urge you to ask as much as possible about anything you are being prescribed, offered, or advised will help you. This can include possible side effects as there are normally A LOT of them! This way you are making sure you are 100% happy with your plan going forward and you will understand it a lot more too!
Being honest with your GP. 99% of the time, our GP’s want and are there to help us the best they can, I have found that being honest, letting my GP know that I’ve had negative experience with GP’s in the past, and telling them I’m worried I won’t get the right help, allows them to understand what you have already been through, be empathetic towards your journey, and also consider referring if they are unable to directly help.
If you have large areas/cysts of endometriosis, your doctor may suggest surgery as this cannot be treated with medication and will not go away on it’s own. This is something you will need to discuss with your doctor for available options.
With the symptom management tips above, medical advice, and plenty of rest and recovery, managing endometriosis can become a lot more achievable!
Endometriosis and Hormonal Contraception (HC)
Often it can be perceived that HC is ‘treatment’ for endometriosis, however, this is not the case. It can help manage symptoms caused by endometriosis, but it does not help the disease directly and does not mean it goes away,
HC can suppress the painful symptoms experienced with endometriosis which can be really beneficial for women if they are finding it debilitating, however, this can act as a mask and if you then decide to come off of HC you will then need to learn how to deal with the symptoms of endometriosis,
It is important you keep tabs on your endometriosis as if this reaches a stage of risk, this can have an effect on fertility, ovary, and organ health depending on where the endometriosis presents itself. We need to keep our bodies healthy not just thinking about fertility and future plans, but for our own current health and wellbeing!
Overall, HC can be useful for managing painful and debilitating symptoms from endometriosis, however this acts as a mask, and it does not stop growth or cure endo!
How to stay up to date…
Thank you for getting this far into our first blog! If you liked it and want to stay up to date you can subscribe to our newsletter and events list here:
and you can find our socials here to connect with us!
References and further reading:
Some guidance and tips were also used from @jen.dometriosis who is a fabulous creator and shares lots of useful things about endo on her instagram! Please give her a follow to keep up to date. You can find her instagram here:
Pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management of endometriosis
Horne, A. W., & Missmer, S. A. (2022). Pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management of endometriosis. BMJ. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2022-070750
Endometriosis
NHS. (2022, September 5). Endometriosis. NHS choices. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/endometriosis/
Endometriosis: Etiology, pathobiology, and therapeutic prospects
Saunders, P. T. K., & Horne, A. W. (2021). Endometriosis: Etiology, pathobiology, and therapeutic prospects. Cell, 184(11), 2807–2824. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2021.04.041
Endometriosis
World Health Organisation. (2023, March 24). Endometriosis. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/endometriosis