{"id":3961,"date":"2020-01-11T06:36:02","date_gmt":"2020-01-11T06:36:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/news\/?p=3961"},"modified":"2021-03-31T00:54:49","modified_gmt":"2021-03-30T19:24:49","slug":"living-with-endometriosis-my-dream-of-having-a-family-was-over","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/living-with-endometriosis-my-dream-of-having-a-family-was-over\/","title":{"rendered":"Living with endometriosis: \u2018My dream of having a family was over\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Source: irishtimes.com<\/p>\n

Affecting up to 100,000 women in\u00a0Ireland, endometriosis is a gynaecological condition which causes pelvic pain and in some cases infertility. It can be difficult to diagnose and many women suffer for years before receiving treatment.<\/p>\n

Caitr\u00edona McCormack has experience of this, she went through many years of crippling pain before finally being diagnosed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had my first symptoms when I was 22 years old – I suffered with excruciating pain and ended up in A&E more times than I can remember,\u201d says the\u00a0Kildare\u00a0woman. \u201cThey couldn\u2019t tell me what was wrong as nothing showed up in my bloods or x-rays. I didn\u2019t like taking painkillers because I believed they were bad for the body but seven years later I was still in an out of my GP every other week and eventually a friend saw me curled up on the sofa with a hot water bottle and said I needed help.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I had become so used to the pain that it became my norm. But it was affecting everything, my hormones were up and down, and I was having mood swings. It affected my relationships with my family, boyfriend and my work was suffering. Until that point, I just kept going and didn\u2019t see anyone when I was in a bad way, so I don\u2019t think people really knew how bad things were.\u201d<\/p>\n

McCormack took her friend\u2019s advice and sought medical help. After a laparoscopy and hysteroscopy, she was diagnosed with endometriosis and pelvic congestion syndrome. And while the initial treatment alleviated some of the pain she was going through, it didn\u2019t last long.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe doctor removed some endometrial tissue during the procedure, and I had some relief for about a year, then the symptoms worsened again,\u201d says the 47-year-old. \u201cI was prescribed the pill to help with the symptoms as well as different painkillers and anti-inflammatories. I was told that they would work, but they didn\u2019t, and I ended up many more times in A&E over the years in dire pain. I put on morphine which finally took the pain away but the side effects (debilitating migraines and nausea) were dreadful – so I couldn\u2019t take it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Things began to get worse for McCormack who developed a cyst on her uterus which was removed. But a week later, while visiting a friend in the UK, she haemorrhaged and was rushed to hospital. She lost so much blood that she was bedridden for a fortnight and the whole experience sent her body into shock and triggered depression.<\/p>\n

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