i’ve always had very heavy, painful periods since i started them at 12. endometriosis runs in my family. my mom had it and so did my aunts. i soak through super tampons in under an hour. i get extremely nauseated on my period as well. i’ve also always had bladder pain on my period, pains in my urethra and burning while peeing. i get really bad rectal pains too. i have pain during bowel movements and struggle with constipation. i’m bloated 24/7. i stopped having a period last year due to a side effect of my mood stabilizer and i barely had any symptoms during that time. i went on birth control to induce a period and everything flared up really bad. i was in a LOT of pain. i went to the ER and the doctor said to see my gynecologist. i went off the birth control and forgot to see my gynecologist cause i continued to not have a period. however, in october my period came back and i was woken up with very painful rectal cramps. ever since then i’ve been having pain in my pelvis, burning while peeing, urgency and frequency. i went to a urologist and he said it could be interstitial cystitis but he was also convinced it was a uti and gave me antibiotics and told me to see him in three months. i was very disappointed and dissatisfied about that because i’ve had multiple negative uti tests and cultures! i’ve tried medications for interstitial cystitis and they don’t help! i’ve tried AZO/pyridium and antihistamines. i guess it still could be interstitial cystitis but why would i only have symptoms on my period and no symptoms during the year when i didn’t have a period? i’m not really convinced. i’m seeing my gyno this week and i’m bringing my mom along so she can help advocate for me cause she went through her own endometriosis journey.