Light periods and Endometriosis
Hello! I have heard that many people with endometriosis have really heavy periods. That is not true for me. Mine were very brief and light, but I still have endometriosis. I had surgery a couple months ago and it helped a lot with the pain but recently I started feeling pain again. Sometimes I feel like my periods are light because my blood is flowing to other parts of the inside of my body instead of coming out. Does that make sense? Is that a thing? I thought I would have a longer period of relief before I had pain again, especially since I had an IUD put in.. but it doesn't seem to be that way. Feeling a bit discouraged. Looking for support from other ladies. Sounds like a lot of you are in the same boat.
I also have been having ongoing issues in the bedroom with my partner. He is generally pretty sensitive to some of my needs but seems to get upset whenever I bring up things that make our sex life more difficult. He takes it personally, so it makes it hard for me to talk about with him. I tell him I love him and am sexually attracted to him but my anxiety and occasional pain and discomfort makes it hard for me to be in the mood.
Hi
! Gosh, I know exactly what you mean about having light periods but feeling like the blood is going everywhere else. I just got an IUD put in back in January and I also still experience pain, especially like a day or two before my period comes and during. I would definitely recommend letting your doctor know about your pain to get it documented but also to see if maybe there is something they can do for pain relief or even discuss a different method of contraception. As far as the sex life issues go, I can so totally relate to you with this too. When I first got my IUD, my sex drive tanked for like 3 months because of all the new hormones but also because even during days that I wasn't in pain, I just felt, I don't how to explain this, I felt heavy in my uterus. It just felt tender and I was totally anxious about the idea of sex hurting that it turned me off to the whole idea. At first, my partner had a hard time reconciling that it had nothing to do with him until I remember one night, I decided to be brutally honest and tell him everything about what I was going through and how I was feeling. I ended up in a ball crying because I had never been that vulnerable with someone before and because I was, he totally got it. I know that isn't the case with everyone but even if things hadn't changed between us, me opening up and being explicit about what I was going through was so cathartic for me. I wanted to leave you a few articles to check out that talk about sex, relationships and intimacy. No pressure at all, just leaving them here if you want to take a look: https://endometriosis.net/living/pain-mental-health
https://endometriosis.net/living/fix-painful-sex
https://endometriosis.net/living/intimate-partners
https://endometriosis.net/clinical/iud
I really hope those help dear! Please also remember that you have an entire community of support here for you whenever you need it. We get it and will always be here for you! 💛 Warmly, Kayleigh, Endometriosis.net team Thank you so much 💜
You're definitely not alone in this, and I'm so sorry to hear that you're having pain so soon. I had excision surgery a few months ago, but I still have pain with periods, even if they're not heavy. Though, I wasn't expecting that to get better since I likely have adenomyosis. My recent doctor, an endo specialist, said the pain around endo is so misunderstood that it's hard to know how people will feel post surgery. He also suggested I go back to pelvic floor therapy 3 months post surgery, which I'm starting up next month. While my surgery did help with some things — exercise and deep penetration — it seems to have worsened some of my pelvic floor tension, which is one of the main things that makes sex difficult for me.
I also think my husband got a better grasp of my symptoms when I explained the biology of endo and some of the physical issues that make sex hurt. I also took him with me before my last surgery so the doctor could go over, again, all the pain issues that come up. I think having a medical professional explain why sex hurts really helps non-endo partners understand it's a medical issue and not an insult to them. Pelvic floor therapists, sexual health educators and counselors are good sources, too. I'll also add that two great books really helped my sex life: "Come As You are," by Emily Nagoski, and "Becoming Cliterate," by Laurie Mintz, a sexual psychologist who also has endo. I'm wishing you well, and I'll leave you with these articles in case they're helpful! - Keri (team member)
https://endometriosis.net/living/sex-diary-1
https://endometriosis.net/living/sex-dinner
https://endometriosis.net/living/pelvic-floor-therapy-sex
https://endometriosis.net/living/how-talk-partner
