ENDOMETRIOSIS – SYMPTOMS
This causes the symptoms, and these will depend on where the ectopic endomentrial tissue is situated.
In the ovary, the repeated bleeding leads to the formation of “chocolate” cysts. These cysts may become as large as the size of a baby’s head and are filled with thick chocolate-colored fluid which is old blood.
When the tissue lies deep in the walls of the uterus, it causes enlargement of womb, and often, heavy bleeding with the periods. Pain is a fairly constant symptom with endometriosis, no matter which part is affected.
Women with this condition may also have difficulty conceiving. But, if they do, the absence of menstruation leads to a loss of symptoms and they may remain symptom free for some time, after the pregnancy, even though normal menstruation reestablishes itself.
In the same way, when a woman goes on the pill, the symptoms may totally subside.
The modern treatment of this condition offers the sufferers great hope. It may be treated surgically with either radical or conservative surgery.
In a woman who has finished her family, major surgery to remove the endometriosis-affected tissue and, possibly, hysterectomy can render her symptom-free.
Younger women who wish to retain or establish fertility may require lesser surgical procedures.
A new drug, danazol, which seems to block the action of the female hormones, also gives good results.
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