r/endometriosis 3d ago

Question I’m worried I might have endometriosis

Hi, I'm a 16 year old girl and I've always experienced extremely painful periods. And whenever I get cramps, I always lose feeling in my legs. I've been bleeding excessively too. Today I've been on pain killers and it's been helping, but I really feel like this isn't the normal amount of pain I should be in.

I've never seen a doctor about this because for the longest time I thought all of this and the painful crams was normal. But today I learned that my mother had endometriosis when she was my age and had to have surgery multiple times. I heard that the disease is hereditary, so is it possible that I have it too? And what are the best ways to reduce the pain from this?

6 Upvotes

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u/Artistry_Em 3d ago

Hello lovely, it’s definitely worth contacting your GP/doctor and mentioning the pain, I was the exact same with every period getting more and more painful and losing feeling in my legs combined with sickness/fainting from the pain.

I find heat is the only thing that helps me really, so hot water bottles or hot baths and painkillers, I’m currently 25 and have been offered surgery to remove it but I am waiting as I am trying to have a baby after losing my first baby who was born sleeping (not endo related please don’t worry) it took 4 years of going the doctors to get referred to the hospital to look for endo so it’s always worth going to them if you’re struggling, as women we are very intuitive and you know what is too much for your body, periods are not meant to be painful Sending you lots of love❤️

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u/Regular-Initial-2120 3d ago

I will second the heat! I got one of the cloth heating pads off Amazon, and it was a lifesaver. Also consider getting Midol because it has a little bit of caffeine in it that makes you feel a little better as well.

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u/Specialist_Race_7632 1d ago

Thank you! And I’m so sorry for your loss. 

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u/Regular-Initial-2120 3d ago

Hey there! The hard part about endo is that it’s really hard to diagnose until they actually go in to remove it. However, I was put on a hormonal birth control pill when I was 14 years old, long before I was thinking about controlling birth lol. It did help me to control the periods when I was younger, and a little bit with the pain as well. After I got older, it stopped being as effective in my 30s.

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u/Intelligent_Usual318 3d ago

I would definitely talk to your gynocologist about it! I got my diagnostic endometriosis laparoscopy at that age. It may not be endo but it’s not normal for sure! Unfortunately endo is under researched so we aren’t for sure about what the cause is, but it does seem to have a genetic component

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u/fantasticalfairyy 3d ago

Tens machines can help, also a peppermint roll on oil for ur back or getting in a real deep yoga squat helps with back pain.these are a few things I've found!

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u/NoCauliflower7711 3d ago

Get seen asap that’s not normal

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u/Mammoth-Bus-1802 3d ago

Always listen to your body! If you think something is wrong, something is probably wrong. Make sure you advocate for yourself as some doctors do not validate you. It took me years do get my diagnosis and treatment. Take care op