Five Endometriosis Symptoms I Hate

There are a lot of painful and annoying symptoms associated with endometriosis - cramps, swelling, back pain, IBS, etc. And while some women have little to no symptoms, others have a ton. Personally, I feel like I have moderate symptoms and they decrease every day that I stick to my endo diet. However, I do still suffer from some and these are my top 5 most hated endometriosis symptoms.

Five Endo Symptoms I Hate

1. Endo Belly

I think this is in the top 5 of every endo sufferer who experiences it. The only way to describe it is imagine your entire gut swelling to the size of a 5-8 month pregnant belly in the matter of moments. It's extremely painful, anything and everything seems to trigger it and any pressure applied can bring you to your knees. My kitten, who loves to cuddle, has jumped on my swollen belly a few times by mistake. I can't think of a worse pain... except...

2. Bowel Movements

Now I'm not talking about how often, how easy or hard it is, or anything like that. I just mean the simple act of going during a flare. If it's a flare with endo belly, you might as well give up on being able to leave the house. It takes all your strength not to die/pass out on the toilet from the pain.

3. Brain Fog

Thank god I take a lot of notes at work, plug bills into my calendar and have a husband who knows I try, but unless you tell me something several times, I'm going to forget it. I space out, forget that I need to stop at the store on my way home, or even if we walked the dogs or ate. Since changing my diet, I have lost a lot of the fog (I usually now remember eating!) but it's still there. So I take a lot of notes and simply try my best.

4. Chronic Fatigue

I am almost always tired and burnt out feeling. I either nap or go to bed early every day. I am out like a light in less than 5 minutes after snuggling down. And the only time I feel fully rested through the day is if I sleep 9+ hours and have a nap. Again, it's improving some with my diet but because I've had to cut out a lot of things from my diet, I don't always have a ton of energy which makes the fatigue worse. If I let myself get too exhausted, I can't remember anything, I can't stand up without bumping into things or falling down and I giggle a lot. Basically, I appear sloppy drunk but really I'm just exhausted.

5. Food Sensitivities

I've known that I was lactose intolerant years ago, but now I have gluten sensitivities, starch sensitivities, and coffee sensitivities. Most things I don't miss because I'm focusing on what I can have, but I really miss cookies that have gluten and Kraft Deluxe Mac and Cheese. Especially on my period. But I also love feeling good, so while I hate this giant endometriosis symptom, at least it's not painful or embarrassing provided I don't eat anything I shouldn't.

Until next time my lovelies!

-M

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