Annika's Story about Living with Endometriosis
My periods had always been painful, but after I turned 25 it got worse. And worse. And worse. All of a sudden I found myself passing out in public, breaking down in front of friends, saying no to events I really wanted to attend.
This was in the late 90’s & even gynaecologists had very little knowledge about endometriosis. The most common advice was to “get pregnant”. I wasn’t even in a relationship…
…and then I was. I got married at 30. We tried to start a family. All of our friends who got married that same summer had babies by the next summer. I was just in more & more pain. I was given paracetamol, ibuprofen – & enemas. When I tried talking about endometriosis doctors would say “who’s the doctor in this room? Stop overthinking!” & such. I was also told everything looked fine on ultrasound – which is irrelevant, as endometriosis often doesn’t show on ultrasounds. I felt like a hypochondriac, diminished & miserable, all at once.
At 32 I finally got diagnosed with endometriosis. What was to be a quick laparoscopy “to ensure everything was fine” turned into open surgery for several hours.Afterwards I was told that “the inside of your abdomen looked like a freezer that no one had defrosted for years”. One ovary & both fallopian tubes were removed, along with lots of scar tissue. I was put on hormones to put me into chemical menopause. I remember lying in my bed at the hospital, thinking “I told you so!” while feeling happy because I could physically feel how “clean” & spacious my tummy felt all of a sudden.
I loved menopause! After that we tried a round of IVF but were extremely unsuccessful. We adopted two children & I felt fine for a few years. Then I wasn’t again, but did pretty well with a combo of birth control pills + various hormonal implants. All of a sudden I realized I hadn’t been to a physiotherapist or chiropractor for years – it was never the office desk, the mouse or the keyboard – it was the stomach cramps causing the rest of my body to tense.
I am now 52 &, to even things out, I’ve had the easiest menopause out of all my friends. My children are soon to be adults. (The fact that my daughter has no DNA from me gives me joy – hopefully none of this will happen to her). The endo years feel very distant & I hope no one will have to go through what I did. But if you do – don’t give up. It is common to have to fight for years for a diagnosis.
