What symptoms are associated with endometriosis?
The most common symptoms include occasional or constant pelvic pain and/or severe period cramps—often referred to as chronic pelvic pain. Pain can occur before, during or after a period and may be cyclic or acyclic. Teens may experience pain at rest, with exercise, sex or after a pelvic exam. Painful or frequent urination, diarrhea or constipation may accompany the pelvic pain, confusing the diagnosis of endometriosis with inflammatory bowel disease, recurrent urinary tract infection, appendicitis, or pelvic inflammatory disease. Each month the CYWH hosts an online chat about endometriosis, inviting women anywhere in the world to participate. Additional chats are held each month on a variety of topics. To learn more, visit www.youngwomenshealth.org. How is endometriosis diagnosed? The only way to be completely sure that the problem is endometriosis is to have a laparoscopy—a minimally invasive, outpatient surgery to examine the pelvic organs. Blood tests, cultures to check for infectio
