Untreated endometriosis can cause significant pain, bloating, excess menstrual bleeding, and digestive distress. Over time, it can also affect a person's fertility. When endometriosis tissue grows outside the uterus, it can affect other organs — especially the ovaries and reproductive structures.
Endometriosis does not resolve on its own. If you experience pain and other symptoms, these symptoms will remain unless you receive treatment. In some cases, your symptoms may get worse. In addition to pelvic pain, infertility is another common complication of endometriosis.
Endometriosis sometimes gets better by itself, but it can get worse if it's not treated. One option is to keep an eye on symptoms and decide to have treatment if they get worse. Support from self-help groups, such as Endometriosis UK, can be very useful if you're learning how to manage the condition.
Endometriosis has significant social, public health and economic implications. It can decrease quality of life due to severe pain, fatigue, depression, anxiety and infertility. Some individuals with endometriosis experience debilitating pain that prevents them from going to work or school.
Overview. One of the most common gynecological diseases, endometriosis often goes undetected for years because the abdominal pain associated with the condition is mistaken for menstrual cramps, or because there may be no symptoms.
Stage IV: This is also known as severe endometriosis. With stage IV, deep implants and dense adhesions are present. There may be superficial endometriosis and filmy adhesions, but the disease is more widespread than in Stage III. Any score greater than 40 indicates severe endometriosis.
Stage 4 endometriosis is not considered to be a fatal disease. However, it can cause dangerous, life-threatening side effects, plus severely hamper your quality of life.
While endometriosis is a common disease, the overall risk of an endometriosis-associated cancer remains low. In a large epidemiological study, the overall frequency of ovarian cancer arising in a patient with a diagnosis of endometriosis was 0.3–0.8%, a risk that was 2–3 times higher than controls [46].
For many, it gets worse as they get older. Other endometriosis symptoms include: Very long or heavy periods. Severe cramps.
Endometriosis Staging System
Stage 1: Minimal disease (five points or less) Stage 2: Mild disease (six to 15 points) Stage 3: Moderate disease (16 to 40 points) Stage 4: Severe disease (41 points and higher)
Endometriotic growths on the bowel or other abdominal organs can cause inflammation that leads to bloating, constipation, and other gastrointestinal symptoms that may contribute to weight gain.
Retrograde menstrual flow is the most likely cause of endometriosis. Some of the tissue shed during the period flows through the fallopian tube into other areas of the body, such as the pelvis. Genetic factors. Because endometriosis runs in families, it may be inherited in the genes.
Endometriosis doesn't always need treatment. Treatment of endometriosis is indicated to treat symptoms (including pain) or infertility, when your quality of life has suffered. If left untreated, sometimes endometriosis symptoms will improve, but most will stay the same.
Endometriosis can invade organs that are near the uterus which can include the bowel and the urinary bladder. This type of endometriosis is called, “deeply infiltrating” or “deeply infiltrative endometriosis” [DIE] because it is found deep within the tissue or organ.
Endometriosis tissues are affected by hormones in the same way as endometrial tissues inside the uterus. Hormone changes that occur with a menstrual cycle can make endometriosis pain worse. Treatments that include hormone therapy can alter hormone levels or stop your body from producing certain hormones.
With every period the deposits bleed, setting off a vicious cycle of inflammation and scarring. Women with endometriosis commonly experience very painful periods and painful sex. Some will also have pelvic pain which can last throughout the cycle.
Symptoms of endometriosis of the bowel
In bowel endometriosis, endometrium tissue grows on the surface of or inside the intestines, on the rectum, or in other parts of the bowel. This may cause: constipation. bloating or gas.
The most common sign of endometriosis is pain in your lower belly that doesn't go away. It can get worse before and during your period. You may also have very heavy bleeding. Pain during sex is likely.
Changing your diet can help reduce endo belly symptoms, such as bloating and other gastrointestinal symptoms, which can reduce your discomfort and pain. You can try to: Avoid foods known to cause inflammation eg alcohol, caffeine, dairy, gluten, processed foods and red meat. Drink peppermint tea or ginger tea.
If obstruction of the bowel or urinary tract occurs due to infiltration of endometriosis, urgent surgical management plays a vital role in minimalizing the loss of organ function.
If you are worried about how much you are bleeding during your menstrual cycle, have noticed your periods have become heavier or are experiencing some of the other common endometriosis symptoms we've discussed, such as severe period pain, then it is time to visit a doctor.