Know the risks, symptoms, and treatment of endometriosis after menopause.
With therapy, the right foods, medication, and exercise, you can successfully deal with endometriosis after menopause.
Reaching menopause is the most dreaded time for any woman. It makes you feel extremely painful and slightly weird, with your periods stopping once and for all. While the good news is that you do not have to suffer from cramps and severe pain in your back due to periods, menopause comes with its own sets of problems.
Let us read on to find out more about endometriosis after menopause and how you can manage it.
Endometriosis is a tissue on the uterine lining. You can find it growing outside the uterus. Each month some tissue of it starts growing inside.
It is primarily found on the ovaries, the bladder, the bowel, and the recto-vaginal septum.
The problem is that the tissue outside the uterus cannot come outside of your vagina and gets hooked. This causes pain. Besides, you can have inflammation and adhesions too. Problems begin to occur both inside your body and outside your body.
The endometrial tissue requires the estrogen hormone for growth. Since your periods will stop or have stopped entirely, estrogen production in your body is significantly less. For some of you who have had your ovary removed, then your estrogen production is nil.
Though the symptoms come down slightly, the body is capable of producing estrogen. This can add salt to the injury if you want to put it that way. Having endometriosis after menopause can be a complex case to handle.
You may need therapy, and symptoms can worsen. The situation depends on how your body condition was before you had menopause. Few women have had mild symptoms that tend to vanish with their menopause.
The symptoms vary from woman to woman. Some might notice sweeping in their urinary tract area or experience fibroids. At the same time, others might see mild changes in their bowel system or digestive area.
There are two scenarios with endometriosis after menopause. One occurs at an early age for some women. This is when too many doubts tend to creep in, like getting married or having regular sexual intercourse with your partner.
So what are the symptoms?
As mentioned earlier, pain from endometriosis can be severe, like extremely painful periods- pain in the lower back, legs, belly, pelvic area, etc.
Endometrium grows outside your uterus, causing immense pain closest to the uterus- pelvis, reproductive organs, abdomen.
Such is the kind of pain that over-the-counter medicines may not relieve.
Besides the pelvic area, the endometrial cells can stick to your lower back. The pain may be severe and felt deep within your body.
It may be difficult to relieve the pain by changing your posture or seeing a physiotherapist or a chiropractor.
Sciatic pain can be described as pain in the back of the thigh and in the lower leg. The leg pain from endometriosis can feel like:
It may result in difficulty in walking with ease or standing up quickly.
Painful bowel movements during endometriosis can result in:
Imbalanced lifestyle habits can make it worse- consumption of highly processed food, alcohol, red meat, gluten (baked goods, pastries, bread, cereals, packed food, pasta, noodles, beer, etc.)
Pain from endometriosis can result in Dyspareunia. Penetration and other movements during intercourse can stretch and pull the endometrial growth if it has grown behind the vagina. Pain during intercourse may feel like:
Some may feel the pain during the penetration, and some may feel it after the sexual intercourse.
Endometriosis may cause difficulty in getting pregnant. The growth outside the uterus can affect your fallopian tubes and keep the egg from meeting the sperm.
However, the relation between infertility and endometriosis is debatable. Infertile individuals are 6 to 8 times more likely to have endometriosis.
Endometriosis may also affect uterine implantation.
The good news is that it can be manageable if you take immediate medical attention, consume proper medication, or have surgery done. Some individuals tend to leave it untreated due to a lack of general awareness by women and health care providers.
However, there is no known cure:
If you talk to women with endometriosis after menopause, they will tell you that it is a painful experience. Some might even say that it is worse than pregnancy. So, we suggest that you get it looked into once you notice pains or feel unwell in your reproductive area.
In the end, it all comes down to how you take care of your health when having endometriosis after menopause. It is manageable, and you can beat the pain that is caused both physically and mentally.
Consume a lot of fruits and vegetables. According to research, women who consume less red meat have less pain and fewer consequences of endometriosis after menopause. So, when you realise that you are hitting menopause, please avoid red meat altogether.
Avoid foods high in trans fat.
Learn more about how it can make endometriosis pain worse.
Fruits like apples, oranges, bananas, berries, spinach, and milk products to a certain extent. Vegetables, legumes, and whole grains will positively affect endometriosis.
Spinach, kale, broccoli, nuts and seeds, beans, beetroot, dried apricots, etc. Red meat, eggs, and fish contain heme-iron from protein sources. But in the case of endometriosis, the person is recommended to consume foods with non-heme iron from plant-based sources.
4 to 8-ounce glasses of water- no sugar, caffeine, alcohol, sweeteners, or soda, will aid relieve the endometriosis pain.
Consider doing some exercises to ensure that your body is getting all the activity you are supposed to get. Aim for 30 to 50 minutes of exercise on most days a week. Avoid high-intensity workouts.
Learn about the Top Energy Boosters to Help Fight Menopause Fatigue!
Medical advice will help you manage endometriosis with medication, hormone therapy, hormonal contraceptives, hysterectomy, and conservative surgery.
Endometriosis has no known cure, as mentioned above. But timely medical intervention can help resolve the painful effects of endometriosis after menopause.
Your doctor may recommend either of the following:
To deal with endometriosis after menopause does not have to be challenging to control when you armour yourself with vital information, medication, exercise, and foods that affect endometriosis positively.
As suggested, you may want to consult a doctor about your endometriosis after menopause, as the symptoms can vary from person to person.
