Could this be endometriosis? please help. any input is helpful!?

Hi I am 18 years old and a female. For the past 2 or 3 months I have been experiances irregular periods, really bad pelvic pain when I play soccer, abnormally tired. I went to the OBGYN and she did an examine and said it sounds like endometriosis and wants me to do something called a lap? She said my bladder felt really tender. Can someone please tell me either other possibilities or their thoughts? I'm really scared and my mom wants me to make a decision on the surgery by tomorrow. thanks..

Hi there
It can be a scary time trying to decide what to do however rest assured, you've done the right thing by going to the OBGYN. This is the first step in diagnosing whether you have endo.

From what you say, you have some of the symptoms of Endo, which are
# Pain before and during periods
# General, chronic pelvic pain throughout the month
# Low back pain
# Heavy and/or irregular periods
# Painful bowel movements, especially during menstruation
# Fatigue
# Diarrhoea or constipation

Unfortunately the surgery is the only way to know for sure whether you actually do have endometriosis. The advantages of having the surgery is that they can go in (using the lap surgery, which is minimally invasive surgery - you end up with three tiny cuts in your stomach which you can barely see) and see whether you have endo growths there and if you do, they will get rid of it.

I had my surgery when I was 23 and felt ten times better afterwards, particularly with sport. The other alternatives to surgery are going on the Birth Control pill, which will minimise symptoms but will not get rid of any endometriosis that is there, as well as changing your diet.

Check out http://www.yourendometriosisonline.com for more info and best of luck for your decision.

For me surgery was the best thing I did because it really helped. I would also back it up with changes to your nutrition as well.