Endometriosis - Symptoms of endometriosis
- Introduction
- Symptoms of endometriosis
- Causes of endometriosis
- Diagnosing endometriosis
- Treating endometriosis
- Complications of endometriosis
- See what the doctor sees with Map of Medicine
Symptoms of endometriosis can vary significantly from person to person. Some women have no symptoms at all.
The most common symptoms include:
- painful periods or heavy periods
- pain in the lower abdomen (tummy), pelvis or lower back
- pain during and after sex
- bleeding between periods
- difficulty getting pregnant
The experience of pain varies between women. Most women with endometriosis get pain in the area between their hips and the tops of their legs. Some women have this all the time, while others only have pain during their periods, when they have sex or when they go to the toilet.
Other symptoms may include:
- long-term exhaustion and tiredness
- discomfort when urinating or passing stools
- bleeding from your back passage (rectum) or blood in your stools
- coughing blood (in rare cases where the endometriosis tissue is in the lung)
How severe the symptoms are depends largely on where in your body the endometriosis is, rather than the amount of endometriosis you have. A small amount of tissue can be as painful as, or more painful than, a large amount.
You should see your GP if you have symptoms of endometriosis so they can try to identify a cause and refer you to a specialist if necessary.
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