Fibroid

Abnormal growths that develop in or on the uterus

Share Your Story: Kimberli

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Smiling woman dressed in yellow

After a long battle for answers, Kimberli was finally diagnosed with Endometriosis at 27 years old. Four years later, she’s forging ahead with the disease, spreading awareness, raising hopes and spirits, and supporting EndoWarriors everywhere!

Kimberli’S JOURNEY:  

I remember getting my period at age 11, one of the first out of my group of friends. Besides heavy bleeding, I didn’t think too much about anything being ‘wrong’. I was athletic, I played all sorts of sports, ate fairly healthy for a kid and was always playing outside or doing things with my friends. My immune system was pretty crappy though, I got sick a lot. Just your typical strep throat and flu type sicknesses. It wasn’t until high school, where I really started to notice some more symptoms. Bowel issues, severe headaches, horrible cramps.

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Relugolix: An Up-and-Coming Treatment for Endometriosis Symptoms?

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a pill

You’ve more than likely heard of Elagolix, but have you heard of Relugolix? It’s a GnRH antagonist. And, yes, it’s the same classification of drug as Abbvie’s Elagolix (aka Orlissa). It’s being groomed to treat fibroids, prostate cancer, and (yep, you guessed it) Endometriosis pain.

Although not yet approved here in the United States, Japan approved Relugolix in January 2019 to treat uterine fibroids under the name Relumina. According to an Amsterdam company, TheSocialMedNework, Relumina is available for $1,400 for a box of 100 tablets (the standard dosage is one 40-mg tablet per day). I’m curious how that price rate would change in the United States if it were ever approved. It is expected that the FDA will receive an application for approval to treat uterine fibroids later this year.

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Share Your Story: Michelle

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Photo of Michelle

Michelle was diagnosed with Endometriosis when 20.  Now 35, and living in La Mesa, California, Michelle shares her Endo story with us.

Michelle’s Journey: My endo story I first got my period at 10 years old. I remember I was still in elementary school, playing in PE when I got my first one. From there, my periods became increasingly more and more painful.

By 15 years old I remember rolling around on the ground in the bathroom, sometimes in so much pain that it made me throw up. I would miss school sometimes but most of the time tried to tough it out. My periods were always at least 7 days long, super heavy and lots of huge clots. I thought that was normal…..I was taught to believe this was all normal.

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Endometriosis & the Appendix

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Diagram of the appendix

Here I go again, once more intrigued by Endometriosis growing in odd places inside the body.  Today I’m going to focus on the appendix.  I’ve read that many Warriors have their appendix removed because physicians may confuse Endometriosis pain for the symptoms of appendicitis.  But on Tuesday an article hit my email about Endometriosis growing on the appendix…and I became obsessed.

Please remember: I don’t write this to scare you, or freak you out, or say that all of your right-sided abdominal pain is from Appendix Endo.  Take a deep breath – I like to document these things in case anyone would like to discuss it further with their healthcare providers so they may be aware during surgery.  Appendiceal Endometriosis is considered extremely rare and it is suspected that only 1-3% of all cases of Endometriosis involve the appendix.  But…knowledge is power.

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Share your Story: Nathaly

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Woman standing holding a box that reads "Happy Birthday"

Nathaly was diagnosed with Endometriosis, Adenomyosis, and fibroids when she was 26 years old.  A year later, she shares her story with us.  And, Nathaly will be walking on March 25th with friends and family at our Endometriosis Awareness walk! Looking forward to meeting her ❤

Nathaly’s Journey: My story starts when I was only 11 years old. I often found myself curled up in a ball waiting until I would finally pass out so the pain could be over. My mother was very strict growing up so birth control was out of the question, even if it was for medical purposes.

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Share Your Story: Lakia

| Bloomin' Uterus
African American woman smiling poolside, wearing a white wrap, holding a glass of ice water, and a stuffed giraffe toy

Lakia was diagnosed with Endometriosis when she was 29 years old, after suffering with symptoms since the Sixth Grade.  Now she’s 30, living in San Diego, and she’s found our little support group.  I met Lakia just a few weeks after her diagnositic surgery and she’s recently undergone a difficult decision for her second surgery! Lakia has proven to be an amazing and incredibly strong woman, and someone I am proud to call friend.  Her story follows…

Lakia’s Journey: I always thought in my mind that my reality was normal. But what is normal? My first period was in sixth grade. I remember being so excited because I finally felt like a woman! I stuffed my bra everyday, secretly shaved my legs, and wore tinted lipgloss. But that first period felt like a rite of passage. All of the boys will like me now! Little did I know what was ahead…

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Recap: PCOS Workshop

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Photos of PCOS presentation event

On December 8, 2016, we had the opportunity to reach out to our local Marine Corps community and teach a workshop about Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, or PCOS.

Background

A few months ago, I received an email from the Marine Corps Community Services Exceptional Family Member Program for the Marine Corps Recruitment Depot/Western Recruiting Region here in San Diego, California.  They wanted to know if Bloomin’ Uterus could coordinate a PCOS Workshop for their interested enrolled members, which included staff, service members, and/or family of service members.  Of course, I jumped at the chance!

I reached out to Dr. Mara Killen, a nurse practitioner at San Diego Women’s Health, my doctor’s office.  The staff at San Diego Women’s Health have been so incredibly helpful in my Endometriosis diagnosis, treatment, and journey and I’m so grateful that Dr. Killen agreed to speak at the PCOS presentation.

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Is Flax Good or Bad for Endometriosis

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wooden bull with whole flaxseed inside

So for the past several months, I’ve been using flax milk instead of coconut milk in my tea, cereal, and protein shakes.  I’d grown tired of coconut milk, and am also wanting to lose an unwanted and “sudden” 20-pound weight gain.  It really wasn’t sudden, I just hadn’t noticed it until none of my pants fit…grrrr.

I’d read the flaxseed (also known as linseed) was a phenomenal source of Omega-3 fatty acids, protein, and fiber, and people boast of it’s anti-inflammatory properties.  So I was ecstatic to try it out and actually not mind the flavor of flax milk!  It’s gotta be good for my Endo, right?

That is, until this weekend, when someone on an Endo group on Facebook responded to my flax milk post that flax is bad for Endometriosis.  Why?  She didn’t say until several posts later, but it looks like flax seed and flax oil mimic estrogen, much like soy… *grumble grumble grumble*

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Cervical Endometriosis

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Sprinkle-covered donut
…not really a cervix, but you get it… 😉

So, WordPress shows me a lot of the searches that people run that lead them to my site.  One has recently come up again and again.  “Cervical Endometriosis” and “Endometriosis on Cervix.”

Seeing as I’ve never touched up on that particular location, I figured I would today!

What are the symptoms? How are you diagnosed?  What’s the treatment?

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