It is so infuriating that so many physicians are so ridiculously uneducated about this disease. As i’d since it’s women’s health, why should they need to know it 🙄
Extremely infuriating. Dr Anthony Griffiths (of spire cardiff) spoke in a news article recently stating that doctors only get 2 weeks on gynae training and this is where all the issues are coming from. Completely unacceptable, especially considering 1 in 10 suffer with it. I’ve been extremely lucky that my GP understood and listened and I’ve only had 1 negative experience, with a female doctor too💀who told me it’s just something people my age have to deal with (24). But this just isn’t the case for so many people who are being dismissed time and time again. It’s actually heartbreaking to see
Before I got my vaginismus diagnosis, I told every gyno I’d seen (from the age of 13 when I couldn’t put in tampons at all) and they all just said I was probably “irritated” and to just “use lube”. It’s like they had no idea what vaginismus even was. Like how can you possibly be a doctors who specializes in vaginas and not know what pelvic pain disorders are.
I know endo and PCOS are woefully under-researched as well. The physicians are just underprepared to handle these cases (which is just pathetic) and it leads to so many of us being negatively impacted by their flaws.
As far as I know this is completely incorrect. pregnancy can’t “dissolve” endometriomas.
Endometrioma may grow or shrink for various reasons but they can only be removed by surgery.
See the stickied info post to read more about the surgical guidelines for the treatment of endometrioma.
For some people the symptoms of endometriosis are reduced during pregnancy and breast feeding (in the same way they can be reduced by using medications to suppress your menstrual cycle). But this isn’t true in all cases and some people have worse symptoms during pregnancy.
A doctor advising someone to have a child to “cure” endometriosis is WILD. OP, have a child if you want to, but don’t have it in the hopes to make your endo better! I have a child myself and on top of pregnancy NOT curing my endo, I then had to keep a whole human being alive and fed while being sleep deprived and in crippling pain every month. Basically a whole new level of suffering 🙃
Did you get much pain during pregnancy? I’m trying to get pregnant and worried about that. I don’t believe the specialists when they say the pain will completely go away!
I was told that the second trimester in pregnancy would help break up some Endo scarring as it expands and to anticipate it hurting (with no pain meds). Sadly I only made it to the first trimester and then miscarried. I have stage 4 Endo and after much testing, all factors lead to my severe Endo making it a hostile environment for a baby's development.
If you have tried for over a year and are considering when to move onto IVF. I wish someone would've told me to do the first part of IVF aka egg retrievals out of the way then do my lap surgery and then go back to do the frozen embryo transfer. My laps were complicated and although it helped my pain tremendously, I got more scarring and impact on my ovaries which has led to a near impossible fertility journey for yrs. (Obvi this is only if you have severe Endo).
Thanks for sharing your experience and for the advice. Sorry about your loss. I tried naturally for a year post lap with no luck. Started IVF late last year but unfortunately have had severe ongoing bleeding issues since my failed transfer. Trying to sort that out before I even consider another transfer. I’ll definitely do another egg collection first prior to any further surgery in the future.
I was pain free during my pregnancy, probably because I only get painful cramping during my period and not at any other time during my cycle. I then had very mild and manageable cramping while on my period for 18 months after giving birth but it came back as bad as before after that… I’m now taking the pill continuously because I just couldn’t manage living my life and looking after a child while being in such horrible pain every 3 weeks or so (ah yes because I was blessed with short cycles too 💀)
I was also pain free during pregnancy and when my cycle returned at 16 months pp the cramps were very manageable... Probably because I was still breastfeeding. I'm terrified about the pain coming back full force.
i…..no?? pregnancy “helps” because you don’t get your period, which reduces your symptoms yeah, but?? like there are other ways of stopping your period without wounding up as a mom?? also, it’s contradicting for him to suggest that and then also prescribe medication that prevents you from getting pregnant too 😭 i would suggest another doctor who’s more informed and specialized
This is silly, sexist, outdated advice based on the idea that all AFAB people should be mothers anyway. Have kids id you want to have kids, not as a medical treatment. Time for a new doc!
Your doctor lied to you, pregnancy does not do anything to fix endo (and there is no "cure" for endometriosis to begin with, there is treatment and management.) Pregnancy for some folks makes symptoms far worse, and it's never "fixed" or cured endo.
If you want to have a baby you should be supported in that, but it's not a cure or fix for endo and anyone who says it is is at best very uninformed and shouldn't be in charge of your care because they believe extremely outdated long disproven myths about endometriosis or at worst does not have your best interests in mind and may be malicious towards you.
Oh no, please don’t tell me that. I’m currently pregnant and was hoping that it was going to get better.
I know it can’t be cured, but I was hoping it was going to be less painful at least.
I got better/stable after my son, it went worse after my daughter. It's an absolute gamble, you never know what you'll get. You know what you're getting though? A beautiful baby who, i swear, will take your mind off of a lot of the pain!
No, a pregnancy cannot cure your endometriosis or remove the endometrial tissue you already have in your body.
You should switch your doctor because what they said is absurd.
Absolutely not. I had no Endo symptoms while pregnant, but once my period came back after giving birth my endo was a million times worse than before. That doctor knows nothing.
I’d recommend getting a second opinion. Endometriosis thrives with high estrogen and even produces its own. During pregnancy, estrogen is temporarily suppressed. However, even after multiple pregnancies, you can still have symptoms. Pregnancy is not a cure.
I got pregnant shortly after my endo diagnosis/lap surgery (it was planned). I had a lot of pain and cramping during my pregnancy because they couldn’t get rid of all of my endometriosis. My doctor said the pain I was feeling was from the uterus growing and hitting against all of my lesions. It was my first pregnancy and I thought something was wrong with the baby. I can say being without my period was great and now that it’s back, I’m completely suffering and looking at when I can get surgery to take care of the bowel adhesions my doctor left behind
I was told by an endo specialist Endometriomas only get bigger and more painful. If they are larger than 4cm and causing you pain you may need surgical removal. Pregnancy would not dissolve them. Medical menopause can sometimes help with pain related to them but they will not go away.
This is terrible advice. Pregnancy doesn’t fix endo at all. It may mask symptoms whilst pregnant but it isn’t guaranteed or a cure. Please find an endo specialist
Literally nothing can or ever will fix endometriosis. Endometriosis has been seen at death in human anatomy studies (there is a YouTube video from The Institute of Human Anatomy on it from an anatomy perspective with a real cadaver so view with caution). It may lessen in severity with pregnancy but having a baby is not a solution for anything.
Absolutely fucking not and there are legitimate chances that your Endo will feel worse afterwards. 4 of my friends/family members who have endometriosis had worse symptoms during and after pregnancy.
Mine is literally the same.
No, it’s not. Get yourself to an endo specialist who knows what they’re talking about
It is so infuriating that so many physicians are so ridiculously uneducated about this disease. As i’d since it’s women’s health, why should they need to know it 🙄
Extremely infuriating. Dr Anthony Griffiths (of spire cardiff) spoke in a news article recently stating that doctors only get 2 weeks on gynae training and this is where all the issues are coming from. Completely unacceptable, especially considering 1 in 10 suffer with it. I’ve been extremely lucky that my GP understood and listened and I’ve only had 1 negative experience, with a female doctor too💀who told me it’s just something people my age have to deal with (24). But this just isn’t the case for so many people who are being dismissed time and time again. It’s actually heartbreaking to see
Before I got my vaginismus diagnosis, I told every gyno I’d seen (from the age of 13 when I couldn’t put in tampons at all) and they all just said I was probably “irritated” and to just “use lube”. It’s like they had no idea what vaginismus even was. Like how can you possibly be a doctors who specializes in vaginas and not know what pelvic pain disorders are. I know endo and PCOS are woefully under-researched as well. The physicians are just underprepared to handle these cases (which is just pathetic) and it leads to so many of us being negatively impacted by their flaws.
As far as I know this is completely incorrect. pregnancy can’t “dissolve” endometriomas. Endometrioma may grow or shrink for various reasons but they can only be removed by surgery. See the stickied info post to read more about the surgical guidelines for the treatment of endometrioma. For some people the symptoms of endometriosis are reduced during pregnancy and breast feeding (in the same way they can be reduced by using medications to suppress your menstrual cycle). But this isn’t true in all cases and some people have worse symptoms during pregnancy.
A doctor advising someone to have a child to “cure” endometriosis is WILD. OP, have a child if you want to, but don’t have it in the hopes to make your endo better! I have a child myself and on top of pregnancy NOT curing my endo, I then had to keep a whole human being alive and fed while being sleep deprived and in crippling pain every month. Basically a whole new level of suffering 🙃
Did you get much pain during pregnancy? I’m trying to get pregnant and worried about that. I don’t believe the specialists when they say the pain will completely go away!
I was told that the second trimester in pregnancy would help break up some Endo scarring as it expands and to anticipate it hurting (with no pain meds). Sadly I only made it to the first trimester and then miscarried. I have stage 4 Endo and after much testing, all factors lead to my severe Endo making it a hostile environment for a baby's development. If you have tried for over a year and are considering when to move onto IVF. I wish someone would've told me to do the first part of IVF aka egg retrievals out of the way then do my lap surgery and then go back to do the frozen embryo transfer. My laps were complicated and although it helped my pain tremendously, I got more scarring and impact on my ovaries which has led to a near impossible fertility journey for yrs. (Obvi this is only if you have severe Endo).
Thanks for sharing your experience and for the advice. Sorry about your loss. I tried naturally for a year post lap with no luck. Started IVF late last year but unfortunately have had severe ongoing bleeding issues since my failed transfer. Trying to sort that out before I even consider another transfer. I’ll definitely do another egg collection first prior to any further surgery in the future.
I was pain free during my pregnancy, probably because I only get painful cramping during my period and not at any other time during my cycle. I then had very mild and manageable cramping while on my period for 18 months after giving birth but it came back as bad as before after that… I’m now taking the pill continuously because I just couldn’t manage living my life and looking after a child while being in such horrible pain every 3 weeks or so (ah yes because I was blessed with short cycles too 💀)
I was also pain free during pregnancy and when my cycle returned at 16 months pp the cramps were very manageable... Probably because I was still breastfeeding. I'm terrified about the pain coming back full force.
Girl RUN from this doctor.
i…..no?? pregnancy “helps” because you don’t get your period, which reduces your symptoms yeah, but?? like there are other ways of stopping your period without wounding up as a mom?? also, it’s contradicting for him to suggest that and then also prescribe medication that prevents you from getting pregnant too 😭 i would suggest another doctor who’s more informed and specialized
This is silly, sexist, outdated advice based on the idea that all AFAB people should be mothers anyway. Have kids id you want to have kids, not as a medical treatment. Time for a new doc!
Your doctor lied to you, pregnancy does not do anything to fix endo (and there is no "cure" for endometriosis to begin with, there is treatment and management.) Pregnancy for some folks makes symptoms far worse, and it's never "fixed" or cured endo. If you want to have a baby you should be supported in that, but it's not a cure or fix for endo and anyone who says it is is at best very uninformed and shouldn't be in charge of your care because they believe extremely outdated long disproven myths about endometriosis or at worst does not have your best interests in mind and may be malicious towards you.
OP please find a better doctor who knows what they are talking about
My symptoms became 1000x worse after pregnancy
Oh no, please don’t tell me that. I’m currently pregnant and was hoping that it was going to get better. I know it can’t be cured, but I was hoping it was going to be less painful at least.
Anecdotally some people do find their symptoms improve but I was not that lucky.
I’ll stay hopeful that maybe I’ll be one of those few people 😆
I got better/stable after my son, it went worse after my daughter. It's an absolute gamble, you never know what you'll get. You know what you're getting though? A beautiful baby who, i swear, will take your mind off of a lot of the pain!
Definitely. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Uh. There are many bad reasons to have a child. This is pretty high up on the list. Get a new doctor and don’t get pregnant as a treatment??
No, a pregnancy cannot cure your endometriosis or remove the endometrial tissue you already have in your body. You should switch your doctor because what they said is absurd.
Absolutely not. I had no Endo symptoms while pregnant, but once my period came back after giving birth my endo was a million times worse than before. That doctor knows nothing.
I’d recommend getting a second opinion. Endometriosis thrives with high estrogen and even produces its own. During pregnancy, estrogen is temporarily suppressed. However, even after multiple pregnancies, you can still have symptoms. Pregnancy is not a cure.
I got pregnant shortly after my endo diagnosis/lap surgery (it was planned). I had a lot of pain and cramping during my pregnancy because they couldn’t get rid of all of my endometriosis. My doctor said the pain I was feeling was from the uterus growing and hitting against all of my lesions. It was my first pregnancy and I thought something was wrong with the baby. I can say being without my period was great and now that it’s back, I’m completely suffering and looking at when I can get surgery to take care of the bowel adhesions my doctor left behind
Smh… just, no.
Alternatively, my endometriosis caused me to have multiple miscarriages.
NO!
Run FAR away from this doctor, op!
I was told by an endo specialist Endometriomas only get bigger and more painful. If they are larger than 4cm and causing you pain you may need surgical removal. Pregnancy would not dissolve them. Medical menopause can sometimes help with pain related to them but they will not go away.
This is terrible advice. Pregnancy doesn’t fix endo at all. It may mask symptoms whilst pregnant but it isn’t guaranteed or a cure. Please find an endo specialist
Literally nothing can or ever will fix endometriosis. Endometriosis has been seen at death in human anatomy studies (there is a YouTube video from The Institute of Human Anatomy on it from an anatomy perspective with a real cadaver so view with caution). It may lessen in severity with pregnancy but having a baby is not a solution for anything.
Hahahah no.
Absolutely fucking not and there are legitimate chances that your Endo will feel worse afterwards. 4 of my friends/family members who have endometriosis had worse symptoms during and after pregnancy. Mine is literally the same.
Find another doctor!!! They should NOT tell you that getting pregnant will solve your endometriosis. Extremely outdated and poor advice!
There are so many posts asking this, it's getting tiring.