Janet Mbugua Ndichu Shares her struggle with Endometriosis
She has been struggling with endometriosis for the longest time now, not until 2005, when she went for diagnosis "laparoscopy for deep ovarian endometriosis also referred to as endometriomas or ovarian cysts."
The former news anchor and now reknown media personality, Janet Mbugua, has candidly openned up on how she has been struggling with painful and prolonged menstural period.
The struggle has been tough with painful menstural periods lasting more than 7 days accompanied by severe lower back and pelvic pain.
As evidenced in a series of long posts in her instagram page, the former news anchor recounts how the painful menses and pain in the lower back had taken toll of her studies and jeorpadizing her job. But she says that after the right diagnosis all she can say is that she has a lifetime relief from the pain and struggle.
Endometriosis (en-doe-me-tree-O-sis) is an often painful disorder in which tissue that normally lines the inside of your uterus — the endometrium — grows outside your uterus. Endometriosis most commonly involves your ovaries, fallopian tubes and the tissue lining your pelvis.
"This endometriosis causes the formation of cavities within the ovary that fill with blood. It had been years, literally since high school, of painful, prolonged periods and could deny me opportunities and free space to go to school or attend office duties particulary on the first few days of my menses. But after a long period, i got abreakthrough in my life my getting the right diagnosis and immediately i was put on birth control thereafter and have had to continue using this, except for the times we were trying for a baby,” she said.
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In addition, the media personality added that she still uses the medication during her menses or period and goes further to advice fellow ladies that the very painful prolonged period are an alarm for something unsual in their reproductive system.
" Was it not that i still use the medication, I would be painfully struggling with my periods." Statistics shows that 1 in 10 women between the age of 15 to 49, during the reproductive years are affected by endometriosis. This is approximately 176 million women around the world. She remarks and says lets talk about periods and particulary, lets talk about period pain.
Is Endometriosis Curable?
According to Mayo Clinic and Medical News Today endometriosis is an incurable but manageable gynaecological condition:
Treatable by a medical professional
Requires a medical diagnosis
Lab tests or imaging often required
Chronic: can last for years or be lifelong
With endometriosis, the tissue can be found on the ovaries, fallopian tubes or the intestines.
Symptoms
The most common symptoms are pain and menstrual irregularities.
Symptoms of endometriosis include:
Severe menstrual cramps
Long-term lower-back and pelvic pain
Periods lasting longer than 7 days
Heavy menstrual bleeding where the pad or tampon needs changing every 1 to 2 hours
Bowel and urinary problems including pain, diarrhoea, constipation, and bloating
Bloody stool or urine
Nausea and vomiting
Fatigue
Pain during intercourse
Spotting or bleeding between periods
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Diagnosis
-
Transvaginal ultrasound
To diagnose endometriosis and other conditions that can cause pelvic pain, your doctor will ask you to describe your symptoms, including the location of your pain and when it occurs.
Tests to check for physical clues of endometriosis include:
- Pelvic exam. During a pelvic exam, your doctor manually feels (palpates) areas in your pelvis for abnormalities, such as cysts on your reproductive organs or scars behind your uterus. Often it's not possible to feel small areas of endometriosis unless they've caused a cyst to form.
- Ultrasound. This test uses high-frequency sound waves to create images of the inside of your body. To capture the images, a device called a transducer is either pressed against your abdomen or inserted into your vagina (transvaginal ultrasound). Both types of ultrasound may be done to get the best view of the reproductive organs. A standard ultrasound imaging test won't definitively tell your doctor whether you have endometriosis, but it can identify cysts associated with endometriosis (endometriomas).
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). An MRI is an exam that uses a magnetic field and radio waves to create detailed images of the organs and tissues within your body. For some, an MRI helps with surgical planning, giving your surgeon detailed information about the location and size of endometrial implants.
-
Laparoscopy. In some cases, your doctor may refer you to a surgeon for a procedure that allows the surgeon to view inside your abdomen (laparoscopy). While you're under general anesthesia, your surgeon makes a tiny incision near your navel and inserts a slender viewing instrument (laparoscope), looking for signs of endometrial tissue outside the uterus.
A laparoscopy can provide information about the location, extent and size of the endometrial implants. Your surgeon may take a tissue sample (biopsy) for further testing. Often, with proper surgical planning, your surgeon can fully treat endometriosis during the laparoscopy so that you need only one surgery.
Treatments:
Effective treatments, such as hormones and excision surgery, are available.
Consult a doctor for medical advice.
Your doctor may recommend that you take an over-the-counter pain reliever, such as the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others) or naproxen sodium (Aleve) to help ease painful menstrual cramps.
Your doctor may recommend hormone therapy in combination with pain relievers if you're not trying to get pregnant.
Hormone therapy
Supplemental hormones are sometimes effective in reducing or eliminating the pain of endometriosis. The rise and fall of hormones during the menstrual cycle causes endometrial implants to thicken, break down and bleed. Hormone medication may slow endometrial tissue growth and prevent new implants of endometrial tissue.
Therapies used to treat endometriosis include:
- Hormonal contraceptives. Birth control pills, patches and vaginal rings help control the hormones responsible for the buildup of endometrial tissue each month.
- Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (Gn-RH) agonists and antagonists. These drugs block the production of ovarian-stimulating hormones, lowering estrogen levels and preventing menstruation. This causes endometrial tissue to shrink.
- Progestin therapy. A variety of progestin therapies, including an intrauterine device with levonorgestrel (Mirena, Skyla), contraceptive implant (Nexplanon), contraceptive injection (Depo-Provera) or progestin pill (Camila), can halt menstrual periods and the growth of endometrial implants, which may relieve endometriosis signs and symptoms.
- Aromatase inhibitors. Aromatase inhibitors are a class of medicines that reduce the amount of estrogen in your body. Your doctor may recommend an aromatase inhibitor along with a progestin or combination hormonal contraceptive to treat endometriosis.
Conservative surgery
If you have endometriosis and are trying to become pregnant, surgery to remove the endometriosis implants while preserving your uterus and ovaries (conservative surgery) may increase your chances of success.
Fertility treatment
Endometriosis can lead to trouble conceiving. If you're having difficulty getting pregnant, your doctor may recommend fertility treatment supervised by a fertility specialist. Fertility treatment ranges from stimulating your ovaries to make more eggs to in vitro fertilization. Which treatment is right for you depends on your personal situation.
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Comments (1)
Very sorry Janet but all will be well ....trust on your God.
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