Over 176 MILLION women have been affected by endometriosis and yet this is a topic not many people know about. We need to bring this reality to light so people understand what 1 in every 10 females have been diagnosed within the US alone.

Endometriosis, "Endo" for short, is described as being the most painful thing a woman can go through before childbirth. Sometimes the pains can get so bad that doctors call them "labor-Like pains", this is when the pain level rises above normal causing the female to be completely unable to perform average daily tasks. Something as simple as walking to the next room or even standing up can be made a difficult task by "Endo". To understand this more we need to know what the actual definition is. Endometriosis is defined as "a condition resulting from the appearance of endometrial tissue outside the uterus and causing pelvic pain.(Endo-online)" This means that part of the uterine lining comes out into other parts of the body, getting stuck and causing extreme symptoms. Some of these symptoms include the following,

• “Killer cramps” – cramps that do not go away with NSAIDS and/or impede the activities of daily living
• Long periods – periods that last longer than 7 days
• Heavy menstrual flow – having to change your pad or tampon every hour to two hours throughout most of your period
• Bowel and urinary disorders – including but not limited to painful urination or bowel movements, frequent urge to urinate, or diarrhea
• Nausea or vomiting
• Pain during sexual activities
• Infertility

These are just a few of the horrible symptoms that come with having this condition. But I can tell you personally that they can get much worse than that.

I have a history of Endo in my family, my Grandmother had it, my mother has it and my aunts have it. This was all passed down to me. My mom constantly feels bad for giving me this pain but I tell her that there's nothing she could have done to prevent this and I know that. I don't blame my mother for this, in fact, I'm happy that we can understand each other when we have pains. Sometimes it gets so bad that neither of us can move for days at a time. The slightest movement can cause horrendous pains and leave us covered in blood and these are the normal pains.

The more intense symptoms that we have had include bleeding for TWO YEARS STRAIGHT, having pains so bad you have to be taken to the hospital, waking up in a pool of blood, screaming and crying on the ground because of INTENSE pain, my mother had her ovary taken out and STILL has the pain in that same spot. In fact, my mother's doctor told her that he never wanted to see her again because he was scared to operate on her because her organs are stuck together from Endometriosis and he couldn't tell what he was doing. I have been on three different birth controls and I've had my body reject them all.

Probably the most frustrating part of all of this is that most men think we are making it up. Once, I told an officer I was in so much pain I couldn't move, he asked me why, I told him because of my Endometriosis and he told me I was MAKING IT UP. People who have Endo know the feeling of being told, "Oh, it's just that time of the month, everyone has those pains you'll be fine." These people have no idea what we go through on a daily basis. Sometimes we can feel our insides "pulling apart". This is when the lining that comes out hardens on our other organs and we can literally feel them pulling away from each other after being stuck together for a while.

This article is to give a voice to those who have endo and for their family and friends to know that this is REAL and even though we are usually in constant pain we don't let it stop us. We don't let it control our lives. We move on, we go to work and class, and we get things done. Next time you see a female in pain think twice before telling her it's just "that time of the month" because it could be that time for the entire month or even years.

Raising awareness for Endometriosis. There is no cure, there is no treatment, this needs to change.