“As I got older, the cramps worsened,” Ms Namira says. “During every period, I experienced bloating, nausea, backaches, a prickling sensation in my legs and . When I was 26, I noticed that the pain had spread to my bowel. On two occasions, it got so bad that I almost passed out.”
Not long afterwards, she went to a public hospital known for its female reproductive care where she was prescribed hormonal and contraceptive medications and painkillers. This led to a short stay at Singapore’s Institute of Mental Health, during which Ms Namira came across Nancy’s Nook Endometriosis Education, a Facebook support group for endometriosis sufferers. Through this group, she found a doctor in Singapore who specialised in the disease.
“If endometriosis develops within an ovary, the blood accumulates and forms an endometriotic cyst called a chocolate cyst. Adenomyosis can cause the uterus to become large with painful and heavy periods.
Some cases of pelvic endometriosis are also hard to identify without performing a laparoscopy to look inside the abdomen. The gynaecologist may instead prescribe hormonal treatment if the symptoms are suggestive of endometriosis; a positive response to the treatment can help confirm the diagnosis. Not all women with endometriosis have fertility issues. Often, doctors diagnose endometriosis when a woman has her first ultrasound during her pregnancy, says Dr Tsui. And whether endometriosis impacts a woman’s fertility depends on its location and the extent of the scarring.
Source: Healthcare Press (healthcarepress.net)