#endometriosis infertility

[surinderbhalla]

Pain to Possibilities: Understanding Endometriosis!

Endometriosis is a complex and misunderstood medical condition affecting millions of women worldwide. It’s a condition that can cause excruciating pain, disrupt daily life, and even lead to infertility. Yet, despite its prevalence and impact, endometriosis remains underdiagnosed and frequently under-discussed. In this blog post, we will be understanding endometriosis, from pain to possibilities.…

[peggy-sue-reads-a-book]

How To Be a Safe Person to Menstruate With

You can be private without expressing disgust. Just step away politely or be honest that you are embarrassed. Neither of these choices shames women.

The reverse is also true. Like I said, just because someone doesn’t want to talk doesn’t mean they’re lame and ashamed.

Compliment girls wearing on their self-expression like red jewelry or watering a Venus flytrap with their menstrual cups.

There are lots of sustainable products now but accessibility is not equal. Not everyone has the water resources to wash reusable products so don’t get preachy.

If you shit on someone else’s choice of birth control, by God I will come for you.

Vote to protect birth control

Do not tell someone they’re gross for using pads and cups that require washing.

If you have found a trustworthy gynecologist, spread the word

If a woman tells you she feels ill, in pain, or like something is wrong believe her

Do not tell her to lose weight or consider therapy. If you do, I will hit you with a fish.

Take hormonal diseases seriously

When someone tells you she has endometriosis, interstitial cystitis, cancer, or PCOS, do not come at her with medical expertise you suddenly think you have.

Offer to buy pads and tampons but make sure to ask what kind — some have allergens.

You can always get someone a glass of water.

If it’s a trans guy you’re talking with, validate his body without treating him like one of the girls. If you don’t know how, just ask.

Do not try to guess if someone is on their period. That’s rude.

I have an alpha period. If we hang out, you will sync to my period and we can all be unhappy together.

If you bleed monthly and are talking to a woman who doesn’t, you aren’t better than her. You define your period. She can define hers.

If someone is confused because she started her period and got a positive pregnancy test, take her to the hospital and defend her with your life. She is miscarrying and needs an ultrasound. If a doctor dismisses her as just having a difficult period, make ape noises and then threaten him with arson.

If after all this you are still angry, DM me his name and I will personally come for revenge. I am pregnant and very powerful.

For that matter, my husband will sort him out for you.

Take black women seriously. Respect that WOC face medical discrimination and gaslighting on the daily.

Advil is valid. Homeopathics are valid. Do not assail your friend with essential oils when she’s asked for a Midol.

If your friend shares some concerning symptoms with you, do not freak her out with an armchair diagnosis.

But you should definitely validate her pain and encourage her to get help. Or even help her get help. Throw her in the car and personally drive her to the doctor.

If your friend confides in you that she has an STI or you are able to guess that she has an STI, be nice to her because if you don’t I will find you and I will yeet you away into the night like Batman.

Educate yourself about periods. Learn the correct anatomical words.

And for God’s sake, you still have to wear a condom.

[magicalaugirl]

To everyone being told their unbearable menstrual pain is normal

Today is endometriosis visibility day

To everyone being denied medication for menstrual pain when needed

Today is endometriosis visibility day

To everyone being accused of exaggerating when describing menstrual pain

Today is endometriosis visibility day

To everyone that had to go through outrageous numbers of ginecologists before being given a diagnosis

Today is endometriosis visibility day

To everyone that only found out they had endometriosis because they were trying for pregnancy and were infertile

Today is endometriosis visibility day

To all the scientist advocating and being denied funding for the study of endometriosis and women’s menstrual rights

Today is endometriosis visibility day

To every single person that up to this date have to take contraceptive pills because there is no treatment for endometriosis

Today is endometriosis visibility day

To everyone being denied medical leave by their jobs despite not being able to get themselves to work due to menstrual cramps

TODAY 14/03 IS ENDOMETRIOSIS VISIBILITY DAY

[affectionatepanda]

I recently had a diagnostic laparoscopy because my doctor and I were sure I had endometriosis. None was found (although I’m not entirely convinced it’s not the problem but I’m no expert) but what was found was just… So much scar tissue. Things were stuck to other things and I had an organ twisted out of place. The biggest thing for my long term health (I think) that was found- and this might be TMI but really is anyone going to read this?- my fallopian tubes are completely blocked. Meaning I can’t have children unless I either get that treated or use IVF. I didn’t particularly want to have children, at least not by using my body. But it’s weird knowing that it’s not even really an option for me. I’m not sure I’ve really processed this information; I just feel numb about it. Apparently blocked fallopian tubes are a fairly common cause of infertility. Infertility. Is that something I have to identify with now? Do I have to say I’m infertile? I’m really adding to my list of adjectives over here. Chronically ill, disabled, mentally ill, lesbian, nonbinary, neurodivergent… infertile? I guess I am. It’s such a strange feeling. I don’t know what to do with it. Oh, and we don’t know exactly what caused the scarring. My doctor’s best guess was some sort of infection but I don’t remember ever having any kind of infection that would cause this. I thought this would give me answers but I feel just as confused as before. But I’ve deemed “fixed” and he said I only need to be seen for routine screenings anyone my age would get. Maybe I’m supposed to be satisfied with that. Maybe I want too much out of my doctors, I don’t know. All I know is I don’t really… have anyone to talk to about this. Not anyone who knows what to say. It’s fine though, I don’t even know what I want to hear.

[zenwannabe]

being childfree after infertility is like being a long line to get ice cream and getting up the window and the shop owner is like, "sorry, you can only have the ice cream if you pay $30,000 for it. and even then, you might not get the ice cream. it might fall on the floor."

and you're like "what the hell? why would I do that?"

and then you walk next door and get a giant free tiramisu instead.

now, if someone ran up to me and offered me an ice cream would I be happy? would I take it? totally, I love ice cream! but I'm not paying $30,000 for ice cream, especially if I have to get surgery first. ice cream is actually a terrible metaphor for babies because you definitely do not eat babies please don't call the cops on me

[eatclean-bewhole]

Ladies, save this one. This your cycle-syncing and hormone balance guide. I will be speaking on this in-depth during my women’s retreat this Saturday. If you are ever going to restore hormone balance, you have to get familiar with your cycle and sync it to the diet and movement that will best support the phase you’re in. I know many of you are dealing with thyroid imbalances, uterine problems (endometriosis, fibroids, etc), infertility issues, and hormone imbalances. I know this because I see a lot of clients for these issues. I’ve experienced them myself, but you CAN heal and restore balance with the know-how and patience.

[rachelxhan]

BASICS

FULL NAME: Rachel Fenna Han

NICKNAME(S): Rach, Rachy-Roo 

D.O.B / AGE: October 23, 1982 / 41

RESIDENT IN BLUE HARBOR: Moved here in September 2021

GENDER: Cis-female 

PRONOUNS: she/her 

SEXUALITY: Bisexual 

ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Biromantic 

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Divorced; Single 

HOMETOWN: Boston, MA 

OCCUPATION: Op-Ed Journalist of The Blue News

NEIGHBORHOOD: Deer Park 

PETS: dog- Dachsund; Walter (named after Walter Cronkite) 

PERSONALITY 

LIKES: books, coffee, travel, music, learning, family/friends, news, crocheting, eating food

DISLIKES: disappointing others, pretentious people, know-it-alls, cooking food 

POSITIVE TRAITS: smart, kind, gregarious, social, brave 

NEGATIVE TRAITS: selfless/self-sabotaging, quick temper, overthinker, martyr-complex

TW: infertility, depression, cancer

Rachel Hargrove was a city kid through and through. She was born and raised in Boston and was independent from an early age. Her parents were both world renowned surgeons working at Massachusetts General Hospital, first generation United States citizen on both sides. Her mother Dutch and her father Chinese. She did have a privileged lifestyle even if it could be a lonely childhood at times. She had her curiosity though, always asking questions that didn’t come with easy answers. A tradition she always loved was watching the nightly news. She wanted to know what was going on in the world. The love of informing others made her realize just how much she wanted to become a journalist. She wrote for her school newspapers, she got a job while she was still in high school for the town paper, she was committed to knowledge and spreading that to others. 

When it came to looking for colleges, her mother and father said they would spare no expense for her. And although she did love the schools in Boston, Rachel felt the need to go explore. So she applied to go to University of California-Berkeley for journalism. It was a dream school and she knew it could be a long shot, but she had good grades and an impressive amount of extracurriculars (newspaper, swim, volunteering, student government, etc.) She got in and moved out West, filled with a brand new excitement. She was in awe of the beauty California had to offer. She found herself becoming a more generous and open person too. Some of the walls she had put up were melting down. The want for knowledge was still there, but some of her competitive attitude made way for more vulnerability and empathy. The articles she wrote for the school went from being declarative pieces to op-eds that gained her employment in San Francisco.

She still found herself missing Boston a bit, the dream of working at the Boston Globe still in the back of her mind as she worked on fluff pieces at work. She at least had made friends though including her photographer that she worked with, Luke. She was 24 when she went to Luke’s birthday party and met Charlie. Rachel had never been one for dating in the past, but there was intriguing hard softness to the man that she fell for quickly. Their passion was overflowing and it made her realize just how much she saw a future that included him and a family with him and that dream became a reality when he asked her to marry him. A few years later, the second part of the dream came true when she got a call from a former college classmate that had been working at the Boston Globe for a few years said she would be perfect for the position opening up and had already recommended her for it.

Asking Charlie to move his life away from a place he had grown up and lived in all his life felt selfish, she tried convincing herself it was just for the job and telling him just how amazing the universities in Boston were as well. But, part of her knew that she also wanted to be closer to her family again, which looked more picture perfect than Charlie’s own family. When he agreed, she felt so grateful for his sacrifice. When they moved into their new home, they started trying for kids. It was amazing at first, the excitement of it all, until they both realized nothing was happening. It was time for a consultation. Rachel had endometriosis and the likelihood of her being able to not only become pregnant, but carry a child to full term was 0.1% She felt at fault, she wanted to give Charlie a family so badly, but she couldn’t and it made her feel like a disappointment as a wife. 

For a while after the news, she couldn’t tell if Charlie was upset with her or if she was putting this burden she felt on him. Rachel began working more, their routines conflicting, no more days of relaxing in bed all day or going on adventures to learn all they could, no more sitting in their favorite armchair together having silly arguments over specific books. Sometimes they wouldn’t even see each other unless it was bedtime. And when they did see each other their arguments were about not spending enough time together or small things that led to bigger things and she would feel as though she had taken Charlie’s life away from him and not been able to give him anything in return. The longer they stayed together, the more she hated herself for making him stay with her. She loved him so much, but what she couldn’t do was love herself. And instead of reaching out to him for help, she pushed him further and further away until she knew the right thing to do by loving him was to let him go. She asked for a divorce, and let him know he could have anything and everything, he deserved it for what she put him through. 

When all was said and done and Rachel moved out of their place to let him have it, the emptiness was all consuming. Her motivation to work and will to do much of anything was gone. It took her a few months to ask for help, but finally she started the process of finding a therapist, knowing it was time she needed to re-enter the real world. What she began to realize though as she found herself becoming more and more aware of how she was feeling was how much she still loved Charlie. He was everywhere she went, she began to realize she had made a colossal mistake. Instead of telling him she needed help, instead of fighting for them, she had failed him and herself. She had done wrong by him and she wanted to see if she could reconcile. But when she got to their old place, he was no longer there. So she called Luke, pleaded with him to tell her where Charlie had gone. He finally cracked. Blue Harbor. 

Rachel quit her job and told her therapist she was going to fight like hell for a second chance. She packed up her belongings, which had shrunk quite a bit after the divorce, and asked her mom for a ride to the airport. Her mom kept asking on the drive if she was sure this was a good idea and how risky it could be and asked what if he said no or what if he had moved on and she was stuck living in the same place as him. Rachel just simply said, “I can’t let that stop me from doing this, because he deserves to be swept off his feet.” She got on the plane and promised herself that once she got to Blue Harbor and settled into her house, the first thing she’d do is find Charlie.

When she did; everything had changed between them. The man she’d promised forever to had rightfully felt betrayed and there she was again upending a new life he had created for himself. He was trying to move on and even though Rachel felt as though he deserved to know what she was feeling it only confused things for Charlie even more. And as time went on she realized that letting him go was the best thing she could do to show him her love was still there. 

She really did intend to do her best at making a new life in Blue Harbor, but life certainly threw her another curve ball and she learned she had stage 2 ovarian cancer. Telling her loved ones was rather difficult. There were very good chances she could come through with the surgery, but she hadn’t realized just how scared she was until Charlie found out and quickly filled the role of her doting husband. With a successful surgery, she was in remission and all throughout her recovery he stuck by her side. 

Things started progressing quickly between them, it was difficult to not feel pressure like this was the final chance at it. Rachel wanted to make sure they did talk about their problems so they started couples therapy. She went from being a freelance journalist to writing the op-ed section at The Blue News. She and Charlie were trying to reverse back into dating but it was hard to do when it quickly just went back to feeling like they were married again. As time went on, she started to let go of some of that pressure, but it seemed like for him they’d rushed into things too quickly again. In the end there’d been too much trust broken and although she always will love him, he was asking for them to both move on. 

And that’s what Rachel is trying to do. The more time she spent in Blue Harbor, the more it started feeling like home. She has friends here now and things she enjoys doing, she has somehow become part of the community despite it all. This is her new home now and it’s a good life that she intends to live. It is filled with a sense of belonging that she is happy that she gets to live her next chapter of life here.

[beastwars-transformers]

Got up to go do something for once and immediately the body is like hmmm. How about excruciating pain 👍

[sillyhampterkohane]

ONE OF MY FRIENDS WISHED ME A HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY CAUSE I'M LIKE A MOM TO THEM AND I'M SOBBING. IT'S VERY RISKY FOR ME TO HAVE KIDS CAUSE I HAVE ENDOMETRIOSIS, PCOS AND POTENTIALLY OTHER ILLNESS AS WELL AS BEING A LESBIAN, HAVING KIDS WOULD BE HARD FOR ME. BUT I LOVE BEING MATERNAL, THAT'S PART OF THE REASON WHY I HAVE SO MANY ANIMALS. SO I AM MATERNAL TO MOST OF MY FRIENDS WHO ARE YOUNGER THAN ME. THAT MADE MY DAY IT MADE ME SO HAPPY

[ttc-baby]

Surgery Update

Surgery went well, they were able to clean out my uterus and the endometriosis, my left tube was open so she didn’t have to do anything to it. She said there was no signs of scar tissue either. Now we recover!

[rockstarlwt28]

Endometriosis Stages

Symptoms do not always correlate with the stage. Meaning that, some people may experience excruciating pain, yet have stage one (minimal) and vice versa.

Trigger Warning: Menstrual Cycle / Growth Diagram / Cyst and Lesions and Adhesions / Infertility / Digestive Issues / Pelvic Cavity.

[jadwiga-abremovic]

"This condition affects 35 percent of women and 10 percent of men and can cause cancer, psychosis, 10 out of 10 scale pain every day, premature aging and suicidal ideation( from the pain).

We're not going to do anything about it, though, because original sin means the women deserve to suffer, and the men must be those weirdo queers who don't matter"

[sorrowandpride]

Gotta love seeing people shame women in your endometriosis group for enjoying their own infertility, and flat out tell them that they "don't actually suffer from the disorder" 🥴

[aurawomen]

How to induce a period with PCOS?

Inducing a period with PCOS often involves addressing the hormonal imbalances associated with the condition. Keep in mind that it's crucial to consult with a healthcare professional before attempting to induce a period, as they can provide personalized advice based on your specific health situation. Here are some general strategies that may be recommended:

Hormonal Birth Control: Birth control pills, which contain estrogen and progestin, are commonly prescribed to regulate menstrual cycles. They work by providing a steady hormonal balance.

Progestin Therapy: Progestin, a synthetic form of the hormone progesterone, may be prescribed to induce a withdrawal bleed similar to a menstrual period. This can help shed the uterine lining.

Metformin: If you have insulin resistance, your healthcare provider may prescribe metformin, a medication that helps manage blood sugar levels. Improving insulin sensitivity can have positive effects on hormonal balance.

Lifestyle Changes: Maintaining a healthy weight through diet and exercise can be beneficial for managing PCOS symptoms. Weight loss, if applicable, may help regulate menstrual cycles.

Natural Progesterone Cream: Some women with PCOS use natural progesterone cream under the guidance of a healthcare provider. This is applied topically and is thought to help regulate hormonal levels.

Fertility Medications: If you're trying to conceive, fertility medications such as Clomiphene may be prescribed to induce ovulation, which could lead to a more regular menstrual cycle.

Remember, individual responses to treatments can vary, and what works for one person may not work for another. It's essential to have a comprehensive discussion with your healthcare provider to determine the most appropriate course of action for your specific case. They can assess your medical history, conduct necessary tests, and tailor a treatment plan that addresses your unique needs and goals.

[bubbles081021]

Women's healthcare is such a joke. You know what's wrong but since you're a woman you're never taken seriously. And they want to force you to carry a pregnancy and keep your period gone with birth control. The problem isn't my period. The problem is that you don't listen to me. No one knows my body better than me.

[zenwannabe]

i really look forward to becoming a foster mom someday and temporarily providing love, safety, and attention to a child while their parents get clean/stable. like not that infertility HAS to have some higher meaning but i feel maybe this was always meant to be the path.