Intense Rectal and Abdominal Pain

by April
(TN)

I've not been officially diagnosed with endometriosis, but I have been doing a ton of research on it ever since discovering such a disease exists.

For years (ever since the middle of high school or so - I'm 27 yrs old now) I experienced significant discomfort in my rectum during my periods, but I always thought it was a normal part of having a period. I had girlfriends talk about pain during their periods, so I figured that was all I was experiencing.

But it continued to get worse as I got older. And then the stabbing pain started. Sorry for the "gory" details, but it felt like someone suddenly jammed an extremely sharp object up my rectum, straight up into my pelvis and through my body.

The piercing pain would last for several seconds, and all I could do was tense up drastically and try not to move. It would immobilize me and take my breath away for those few seconds, and then it would ease off and just turn into a dull ache.

Around the time these stabbing pains started to occur, I also began to feel pain during ovulation. I honestly didn't think about it much because it wasn't that bad, but it got worse as the years went by. My allergies continued to get worse, too.

And then in college I was diagnosed with hypoglycemia. It took me a long time to discover that was also a classic symptom of endo.

I've always had very heavy periods, almost always with clots, that lasted 6 or 7 days. Thankfully they were always pretty regular. But I always felt pain about a week before my period, and I still do, even though I'm on a fairly heavy progesterone dose of birth control.

I eventually got to where I couldn't go for a run the first two days of my periods because (and again, sorry for "gory" details) it felt like my guts were trying to fall out of my rectum. The pain was so intense and so "heavy" that walking was very uncomfortable, much less running.

Sitting for too long was excruciating, and standing for too long was even worse. My thighs and lower back started to hurt, too. And then the first two days of discomfort grew to three and four days. And the bloating! Goodness!

I was celibate until I got married, and quite honestly, I began to really suspect endometriosis after a couple months of being married and having sex. The pain during intercourse went from a dull ache/cramping in the same locations (mostly bowel/butt area and pelvic area) when not on my period to biting, piercing pains close to and during my periods.

Thankfully the pain rarely stuck around long after intercourse was over, but the pain during was often enough to make me almost leap away from him at times.

There was one such time I felt a dull ache around my right ovary during intercourse that didn't go away after we were done, but got worse. It ended up being so bad I couldn't eat due to nausea and extreme fatigue, so I scheduled an appointment to see my doctor.

After asking me a bunch of questions, she said I might have endometriosis and prescribed a stronger BC. She also ordered a vaginal ultrasound where they found two large cysts on my right ovary. Thankfully, those resolved on their own and burst without significant pain, and the BC helped the pain during my periods.

But I started to have breakthrough bleeding every other week, and the pain during sex hadn't gone away at all. So at my follow-up appt my doctor put me on an even stronger dose of BC and offered to do a lap to see if she could officially diagnose endometriosis.

My husband and I have decided to see how I do on this new BC. So far, I've been on it two weeks and have already seen significant improvement where breakthrough bleeding and pain during intercourse is concerned. While I still feel pain during sex, it's significantly less and much more manageable.

I'm still experiencing pain before my periods and cramping during ovulation, but it's so much more manageable than it was! No more shooting pain up my rectum!

As long as this BC continues to (hopefully) work in my favor, I'll stick with it as my husband and I want to try for kids in the next couple of years. I'm a little trepidatious about fertility (I know my mom has had issues with cysts and had a little bit of trouble conceiving, although she did end up having 4 children).

I'm ready for the lap surgery to be the next step if need be. But for now, I'm enjoying the relief the BC has brought me.