is this endo?

Hey everyone, i'm new to the forum and was wondering if anyone could give me some information or if anyone has had these symptoms?

I am 23 years old and I haven't been able to have sex or use tampons for about a year, i have been with my partner for about 4 years and he understands but it still strains our realtionship. The pain is so bad it can't really go in, if it does a bit, i get burning pain. I have done some reading about endo and i don't have really bad period pain, there is some pain but not too bad, but i also have crohn's disease and i suffer from abdominal pain nearly every day. I tend to get uti's pretty often and I also need to pee many times during the day and can't hold it. The most worrying thing lately has been extremely bad lower back/pelvic pain, the pain lasts for 20-30minutes then leaves, i had a ct and fluid was found on the pouch of douglas, my dr said it's normal and could be from a cyst rupturing. i am having this pain about once a week and it is so excruciating that i have to leave work.

Do these symptoms sound like endo to anyone? any help would be greatly appreciated :)

Hi, sorry I can't really help about the Endo, but has your doc tested you for an infection?
Sorry if it's a bit of a personal question, and if your doc has already done that, but the burning/pain that you're getting could be from an infection.
I had one a few years ago that wasn't picked up for almost 8 months, had burning and pain every time my now ex-fiance DTD and lower abdominal cramping a couple of times a week that had me bedridden, and was only picked up when I had my pap-smear and my doc said I looked a bit red and inflamed down there. I wouldn't have known what was causing all the pain and discomfort if it wasn't for the pap-smear.
HTH's a bit :)

I don't know that the pain you are experiencing is really endo related - but I guess anything could be possible.
My endo had other very painful symptoms. I would be leaning more towards an infection of some type - I would suggest going to see a gyno.

hey.. thanks for the info guys
i have had a pap smear, swabs, urine tests and blood tests and all came back normal. i saw a gyno awhile back and he didn't no whats wrong, he thought maybe endo but he didn't really think so coz i don't have a many of the symptoms, so he is sending me to have a laparoscopy and cystoscopy but i've been waiting 7 and a half months and this new lower back and pelvic pain is new and very painful so it has me worried.
Jenna, thanks for ur info, sounds similar to me but i recently had tests, its very strange that it took so long for them to find ur infection!
if anyone else has had similar pain please let me no.

thanks :)

Some people dont have any symptoms and find out they have endo. the only way to diagnose endo is via a laparoscopy. good luck with your procedure.

hi everyone,

i would like to know if anyone knows more about dyspareunia. i went to my family doctor the other day to have my first pap smear but it was very painful even if he hasnt even used the instrument yet - he just tried to check my thing using his fingers. he stopped and said it might only worsen things for me if he continues the test. he referred me to a an ob-gyn with his initial diagnosis as me having dyspareunia. Is it safe to rely on his diagnosis even if he has not really conducted a thorough test on me? My DH and I also have trouble with sex because it's way too painful for me. I'd appreciate any advice you may have on this. Thanks :)

This sounds like Vaginism to me..
My friend has this and she is unable to put anything near her vagina as it too painful and it tenses up on her. She has been trying to fix it for years with physio and instruments she uses herself at home to try to relax her vagina.
It is commonly bought on by sexual abuse though.
I dont know too much about this deseise, so maybe look into it and see if it is similar to what you are experiencing?

Hi there,
Kmp1, I'm really glad to hear that you're getting the lap to check for endo - that is the only way to know for certain whether or not it's endo, or something else.
So many women go undiagnosed with endo, and you can have endo without ANY symptoms and one view is that ALL unexplained pelvic pain in women of child-bearing age should be investigated as possible endo.
Have a look at this site: Endometriosis Care Centre of Australia - Specialist care for women with endometriosis :: Australia.
Of course, my own experience colours my view. I had "mild' symptoms, ie not too bad period pain, only occasional pain during sex but I did have bowel issues, and lower back pain throughout my cycle and lo and behold after 7 years of asking specialists and getting scans (which are pretty vague, in my view), and being constantly dismissed by doctors, I asked for a lap and with some reluctance by my doctor, was given one, and I have stage 3 endo which was worsened by fertility treatments undertaken when I was told "everything's normal". I had to fight all the way to get this diagnosis. It does anger me.
And may_15, dyspareunia actually just means pain during sex. So your statement is enough for the doctor to use that term in relation to you. What you want to know, of course, is the cause. I think you're best to listen to your new ob-gyn when you see him/her. Be assertive, ask as many questions as you can, and just don't leave until you're satisfied that a thorough investigation will be done of any physiological causes. There are also psychological causes. If this is a possibility, I'm sure you can get a referral to a specialist in that field.
I also just wanted to send you both support. It's not easy having these kind of problems. Hang in there,
WW

hi poopie, thanks so much for your input about your friend who has vaginismus. i have tried to research on dyspareunia online and have come across that term as it has been closely identified with dyspareunia. i dont have any history of abuse or rape or anything traummatic and im curious to know if indeed your friend has been told that she may or may not get pregnant because of her vaginismus...and have the instruments helped her relax her vagina? also, were there other options she can choose to solve her problem? like surgery..etc. i haven't been officially diagnosed with that because i havent really gone to my ob yet(will meet him 2 weeks from now), but it's good to know these things. i really am a beginner in all of these issues and i guess it makes me worry a lot. getting more information about these things really help.

hi worry wart, thank you so much for your note and encouragement. i know that it's still early in the game and i should not assume so many things based on the term my family doctor used to label my condition. while it may be a general term for painful intercourse, it made me worry a lot when i started reading about it. im really hoping it's not a very big problem and that my ob will tell me exactly what i have or what i need to do to address the issue. i just wanted to ask you if you know how it is usually address if it's more of a physiological/anatomical problem rather than psychological. is surgery an option for something like this? i'm hoping i don't need to undergo surgery but it would be helpful to know what other people with a similar problem had to go through to fix it..also is it possible to get pregnant with this condition? please enlighten me. thank you so much!

Hi guys,

I just wanted to share the news about my visit to the ob-gyn referred by my family doctor. He was able to do a successful pap smear on me this time around, and it was such a relief to hear him say that everything looked normal down there. he also said that as for the painful intercourse, my DH and I should just keep trying harder with more patience so that in time, I can dis-associate intercourse with pain. He thinks I have to stop thinking of the pain as the solution because everything looked normal to him when he did my very first pap smear so I was very happy to hear that. so for now, my DH and I will try our best to do the next steps as the doctor advised and im hoping we can eventually have sex without too much pain(for me)..and of course get pregnant soon! hopefully the pap smear test results will come back normal when i get them next week and also, i realized that the procedure wasn't that bad-not as painful as i thought it would be..just a bit uncomfortable and some sharp pain in the beginning but not too much to handle. :)

Thats good to hear that everything is fine. Hope you get pregnant soon!

thanks poopie, i really hope so too. i appreciate your note. :)