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Aina, 25 is one jolly good fellow many people see from afar and want to be like. When she is at her best she radiates positive energy. She is beauty. She is brain. She is the life of the party you hear people talk about. But behind that glamour lies a woman carrying a burden of pain.
When it is time to experience her monthly cycle, Aina undergoes a monthly ritual of agony, fire and death; the kind that turns her into a mess for five full days. It is a period her life is at a pause. It is the time people call her the daughter of the rivers- they say it may be the sacrifice she has to pay for the beauty the gods had given her. Better put, they say for her to look beautiful for the next month, she must undergo the mounding of the gods prior to that month.
It is a period she is highly misunderstood even by her family members and close friends. Those who should care say she exaggerates the pain. They say there is menstrual pain but not to the point of incapacitation and character summersault. They say she has no reason to stop attending school or communicating with people.
But they are all wrong. Aina is suffering from what the Founder, Endometriosis Support Group of Nigeria (ESGN), Dr. Abayomi Ajayi has described as Endometriosis; a painful condition in which tissues that normally line the womb grows outside of it.
In a bid to establish that none of what people think of her was true, Aina sought medical advice, but she was told nothing was wrong with her. For every medical facility she approached, the results were the same. She however knew the clean bill of health she was been given was because she was being misdiagnosed.
To this anomaly, Ajayi said a doctor that does not think of Endometriosis as a condition, will never be able to diagnose it even when a patient with the condition is staring at him. This was what Aina went through for over a decade before she finally knew what she is suffering from.
Though she has undergone a surgical procedure once, the pain still persists. To alleviate this, she lives on painkillers whenever it is time.
“I am usually a happy person, but it is hard to be happy when you are in so much pain, and that time of the pain is the worst part of my life,” she said.
Aina is not alone. Kate is a business woman in her early 40s. Since 12, she has never experienced a painless menstruation. Overtime she accepted that that was who she was and decided to live with it while living on painkillers.
But it became a concern for her after marriage. She realised in addition to the monthly pain, she also suffers from pain during s*x. Then by the tenth year with her husband, it was clear the condition had also taken a toll on her reproductive life.
Kate is currently accessing treatment with Nordica Fertility Centre for the management of the condition as well as invitro fertilization.
The Grim Picture
Aina and Kate are just two among the 10 per cent of Nigerian women affected by the condition with majority still living in confusion as they cannot tell what really the issue with them is.
Worse still, only few Nigerians, including health experts really know what this women go through as the condition is still shrouded in mystery.
About 180 million women worldwide are currently living with the condition, while almost 40 per cent of such women may be affected by infertility, according to available reports.
Curbing Misdiagnosis
Ajayi believes it is time health experts are aware the condition is real, emphasising that doctors can only think of diagnosing a condition if they also think of that condition as a possibility.
He said one of the issues health experts have is that Endometriosis as a condition presents in more ways that could suggest other conditions.
“For instance, an Endometriosis patient can present as suffering from epilepsy even as she continues to have severe pain around the abdomen. With that, a general practitioner or a gynaecologist may miss the underlying condition unless he probes beyond the surface presentation of epilepsy.
“Sometimes too, an Endometriosis patient could bleed while coughing; giving an impression it is tuberculosis. The diagnosis would however be easily done if this presentation occur around the monthly cycle of the patient,” Ajayi said.
Ajayi who spoke during a pre EndoMarch press briefing to commemorate World Ednometriosis March in Lagos, organised by the ESGN in collaboration with the Nordica Fertility Centre, said there is increasing great methods of diagnosing endometriosis in the country, noting that these include the use of CT scan, Laparoscopy, among other.
He also said one important thing was for the patient to present to the right facility and medical diagnostic Laboratory.
Good Looks as Precursor for Endometriosis?
Ajayi said studies may have shown that the qualities that lead to a woman’s good looks also predispose her to the painful gynaecological conditions.
“You know female attractiveness is linked with higher estrogen levels, and it is possible that the hormone might favour the development of aggressive and infiltrative endometriotic lesions,” he said.
Link Between Endometriosis and Infertility
Ajayi, who is a fertility expert said being diagnosed with endometriosis – and the fertility problems that come with it – often brings emotions of shock, denial, anger, and depression, particularly if the person is planning to start a family.
He said: “From the wish to have a baby to the diagnosis of reproductive problems, the experience of infertility on its own can cause anger, confusion, depression, a sense of helplessness, and frustration. Having to cope with endometriosis on top of all this is challenging.
“Imagine this scenario: You have experienced painful periods and discomfort for years before being diagnosed with endometriosis. Worse still, you’re having trouble conceiving. Put together, it’s a combination of emotions that require attention.
“It’s normal to feel anxious, sad, and stressed, especially with the pain that comes first even before the infertility issues. Pain is physical and emotional with endometriosis. So you may have been dealing with such difficult issues for a while.”
He however said not all women with endometriosis are infertile, as many women have children without difficulty, have children before they are diagnosed, or eventually have a successful pregnancy.
He said while Endometriosis and infertility are serious and uncomfortable conditions, the good news is that help is available.
”Getting pregnant with endometriosis is possible, though it may not come as easily as expected. It has been established that up to half of the women with endometriosis will have trouble getting pregnant; however, the likelihood of having fertility problems depend on your age, your partner’s fertility, and how severe the endometriosis is.
“If you’re struggling to conceive, surgery or fertility treatments like IVF help. Perhaps you have been trying to conceive unsuccessfully for some time, and now, after a fertility evaluation and diagnostic laparoscopic surgery, your doctor has diagnosed you with endometriosis.
“Or maybe you haven’t even started thinking about having children yet. However, after experiencing pelvic pain or severe menstrual cramps, investigation and diagnosis show you have endometriosis.
“It is natural to wonder if you have any chance of conceiving. If you have been diagnosed with Endometriosis before you even thought about getting pregnant, you may wonder if it’s worth trying to get pregnant on your own before seeking fertility treatment. The answer is yes. You can conceive with endometriosis. It’s not a guarantee, but it is possible,” he added.
source: www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2019/03/28/dealing-with-endometriosis/?amp