My period symptoms regarding colon/saecum and rectovaginal endo are rather different from the common endometriosis symptoms. Some doctors even neglected what I was trying to say about my own symptoms, thus I even found a doctor who refused to accept that I had endometriosis even after a pathological analysis just because I didn't have that sort of common symptoms. Yeah, some doctors are just that close-minded.
But recently I found out that my symptoms actually match to what is called gastrointestinal endometriosis symptoms, which I have jotted down in my previous post. It's just that this type of endo is quite rare (I don't know in what circumstances it's called rare, I just repeated what a doctor told me, I've never done any research or found any statistic), thus not many doctors have knowledge about it.
I've tried to recall my memories to list all symptoms I had and am having during menstruation. Here's my list:
1. Early periods:
I had my first menstruation at about 12 years old. In my early periods, in the first year, I had heavy crams and pain in the pelvic. I even fainted in the first 2 or 3 periods. I didn't take pain-killer medicine often. It got lessened through times, though. After the first year, although I can still feel the pain in the first 2 or 3 days, I could still do daily activities... although lying down in bed was always the best... (^_^)p
2. At my 20s:
Then at some point, I think it was when I was in college, the symptoms changed. I felt pain in my upper belly, located 2 fingers above belly button. It felt exactly the same like when you are having a gastric pain.
It only occurred in the first 2-3 days of my period. It didn't go away with any usual pills for gastric pain.
3. The last a couple of years, before Operation #1:
My abdominal pain got worse and worse. Together with heavy gas and bloating, nausea, vomit, low back pain, funny feeling in my rectum (it feels as though you want to go to the toilet to defecate), and fatigue.
They all came together during the first 2 days of my period. The 1st day is worse.
I even often took a day-off from work (The company I was working at has a regulation to let women taking a day off in their 1st day of their period. I was very thankful for that, though it might have made me least popular by taking a day off every month).
Come to really think of it, I think I also had diarrhea and constipation every once and awhile.
4. The last period right before Operation #1:
My abdominal pain didn't disappear even after my period was over. It stayed, got worse. I could not defecate, and I think I could not release gas either.
My stomach was getting bigger and bigger as all defecation and gases were stuck there.
I had a colon obstruction... then I was put into Operation #1.
5. After Operation #1:
October 2008: My abdominal pain, heavy gas and bloating disappeared. But I still felt a low back pain, heavy nausea, and vomit. And there I felt a slightly pelvic pain.
November 2008: The pelvic pain and vomit were gone. Low back pain and nausea remained.
December 2009: Nausea was gone. A slight low back pain.
January-February-March 2009: No symptoms at all. For the first time ever in my life, I was completely free of pain. It felt as though I didn't have a period. I felt so light as a feather.
But did it mean I was free from endo? No.
Because during those months, there were one symptom remained; funny feeling in my rectum. In Feb and March, I had rectal bleeding in the range of few hours before menstruation.
And even though I was completely free of pelvic pain or any kind of pain whatsoever, it was in these moments, an ovarian endo cyst emerged...
Read on >>
