Not so silent endo after IVF stims
Hi fellow endo warriors!
My endometriosis was mostly silent all my life. The PMDD was there every other week before my period, I had a three-day bleed and managed the pain with one ibuprofen on the first day, that was it.
Everything changed when my gyno noticed an ovarian cyst in 2021 which was monitored for a while, until he suggested to see another specialist in December 2024. Still I had little to no symptoms apart from that, he said it might be an endometrioma or teratoma. That specialist turned out to be an endometriosis specialist, who finally properly diagnosed me, I literally first learned about it, and she suggested a full hormone panel including AMH and FSH. Turned out, first of all, I had endo on my ovaries, bladder and rectum, and second, at age of 29 I had AMH of a woman in her early forties and a super high FSH, both the specialist and my gyno urged me to see a fertility doctor or start trying for a baby. I was nowhere near the point in my life to start a family, so me and my partner decided to freeze eggs or embryos.
To be fair, they all (gyno, specialist, fertility doctors) said that IVF stims are like throwing kerosene on the fire AND that getting any eggs would be difficult and in my case i would have to do multiple rounds (which turned out to be true), but I had no idea what i am getting into…
After surviving three rounds of freezing embryos, which i thankfully got, I was recovering for a while and started having symptoms one after another one that i only read about: urge to pee and pain while peeing, painful bloat, pain around belly button, extreme fatigue, pain-induced vomiting, brain fog, muscle ache etc. - so the whole endo package!!
I think my options are:
- stay as it is, pain killers, heat pad, bed rest
- start a BC which i am terrified of, i have PMDD and genuinely never heard any good stories from my girl friends
- beg for a surgery, which might affect my already fragile fertility, yet i might have a chance now that i froze
P.S. i am at loss for words, I could not imagine before how much pain endo can actually induce in one‘s body. I genuinely feel for every one in this sub, i hope that everyone of us will find their own ways to handle this and live the best life possible. I knew the risks and still advocated for myself and my future, now I have to find a way to live with my new circumstances, but I hope anyone who reads this never gives up and keeps pushing through, choose what YOU think is best for you.