What are the symptoms of endometriosis?

Symptoms vary and some individuals have only infertility

  • Severe pain during menstruation (see “Pain“)
  • Pelvic or abdominal pain not associated with menses
  • Low back and/or leg pain
  • Pain with sex (see “Sexual Functioning“)
  • Painful bowel movements
  • Stomach problems including nausea, bloating, diarrhea and/or constipation (see “Bowel/GI“)
  • Fatigue (see “Fatigue” and “Inflammation“)
  • Infertility (see “Fertility Issues“)

Less common symptoms

  • Pain with breathing and/or shoulder pain particularly during menstruation may indicate diaphragm or lung endometriosis (see “Thoracic (diaphragm)“)
  • Coughing up blood or collapse of lung during period may indicate lung endometriosis


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Endometriosis Systemic Effects

Endometriosis Systemic Effects Alderman III, M. H., Yoder, N., & Taylor, H. S. (2017, May). The systemic effects of endometriosis. In Seminars in Reproductive Medicine (Vol. 35, No. 03, pp. 263-270). Thieme Medical Publishers. Retrieved from https://www.thieme-connect.de/products/ejournals/abstract/10.1055/s-0037-1603582 “While the most commonly seen

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Immune System

Is Endometriosis an autoimmune disease? Medical News Today. (2019). Is endometriosis an autoimmune disease?. Retrieved from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/326108 “Experts do not classify endometriosis as an autoimmune disease. However, endometriosis may increase a person’s risk of developing an autoimmune disease, as well as other chronic

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Adhesion Related Information

Adhesions are bands of scar-like, fibrous tissue that can form when there is any kind of tissue injury. According to Van Den Beukel et al. (2017), adhesions can cause pelvic pain. They also reports that “reformation of adhesions has been

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Endometriosis and Exercise

Exercise has been noted to affect levels of inflammatory markers and estrogen, which might influence endometriosis symptoms; however, chronic pelvic pain and fatigue can severely limit the ability to exercise (Buggio et al., 2017; Moradi et al., 2014). One study

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