are you affected without knowing it? 6 signs that should alert you

If endometriosis is better and better known, this disease may still seem unclear to many, who fail to associate the pathology with their own pain. State of the symptoms.

Endometriosis affects 1 in 10 women of childbearing age, recalls the French association EndoFrance. Sensitive to hormones, it therefore stops at the time of menopause. This disease was very often overlooked, because the pain endured, especially during menstruation, was perceived as normal, which women knew how to "handle". "Nobody dared to talk about it, the suffering was 'normal' https://www.aufeminin.com/", explains Nasrine Callet, gynecologist, oncologist and referring physician for women at genetic risk of breast and ovarian cancer at the Institut Curie-Hôpital René Huguenin. Diagnoses could thus be given years after the first signs, or even never made, which worsened the patient's state of health.

Remember that endometriosis is defined as "the presence outside the uterine cavity of endometrial-like tissue which will be influenced by hormonal changes during each of the subsequent menstrual cycles". It is thus responsible for disabling pelvic pain and also infertility. With a real impact on the quality of life of those affected, both at the personal and marital level, but also, professional and social. "Being bent in half and not being able to go to school or to work is not normal", insists the doctor.

Read also: Endometriosis: "The doctors told me it was normal to be in pain, I was called an imaginary patient"

Signs of endometriosis that should alert you

Over the years, Dr. Callet receives more and more patients talking about their pain. But for the health professional, even if the floor is free, doctors and gynecologists do not immediately think of endometriosis. "Women who have severe stomach aches during menstruation are prescribed painkillers or the pill. But the pill can 'cover up' the symptoms of endometriosis, which are diagnosed later. The situation needs better analysis.", says Nasrine Callet, member of the first free, 100% digital directory of French and French-speaking experts Les Expertes.

So what are the signs that should alert? For the gynecologist, several factors must be taken into account:
# 1 Pain that is punctuated by the rules. "At first, you are in pain then it subsides and secondly the pain returns", announces Dr. Callet.
# 2 Irregular period cycles, non-period bleeding. Painful periods.
# 3 Infertility: ovulation disorders, decreased follicular reserve, fertilization abnormalities, oocyte uptake disorders or gamete transport disorders. "It is often when stopping the pill to conceive that the disease can be detected, because the pill blocks the foci of endometriosis", she notes.
# 4 Cysts on the ovaries are effects that can be thought of as endometriosis.
# 5 Pain during sex (dyspareunia).
# 6 Pelvic and urinary pain. Dysuria (difficulty emptying the bladder). As well as pollakiuria (frequent urge to urinate).

Do you have symptoms of endometriosis? Discuss with other concerned women on the aufeminin forum

Every endometriosis is different

Endometriosis detected early with medical imaging is more easily processed. It is therefore important to speak freely with your doctor. "It's all in the dialogue. To demystify endometriosis, I talk about this disease to my patients, announces the health expert. I explain the treatments and I reassure. If it is someone who wants a pregnancy that does not happen, I can be more interventionist than with a young girl who comes into my office. It is up to the doctor or gynecologist to sort out the symptoms and not to the patient, who should above all not read things that will not be appropriate to her case. Contractions during menstruation is a definite thing, but it becomes abnormal when the pain is punctuated by them ", she adds.

Definitive treatments for endometriosis do not yet exist, but hormone therapy and surgery can block the progression of the disease. "Each endometriosis is specific, so we need a personalized speech", concludes Dr. Callet.