MThe case of Aria is very special and thought-provoking. She has had a normal menstrual cycle all her life, but it was around the time of her menopause that she got the unpleasant surprise. But I won't spoil it for you, welcome Maria's endometriosis story!
I'm sure you'll be amazed when I write: I'm 54 years old, and until recently I was struggling with endometriosis. I also decided to write my story on Nóra Árvai's blog because I think it's important to let women know that it does happen.
I had my first bleeding very early, when I was 12 years old, I didn't know if I was eating or drinking, what I was supposed to do, what it was all about. My mother was a reserved woman, always busy, always running around, no time to teach me how, no time to deal with things like that. She had no time for me, I had four brothers, like four sons.
I remember I was often thought of as a boy, I was teased at school, I wasn't a pretty girl, my hair was short and I wore my brothers' outgrown, worn-out curls. We had a hard life, there was a lot of work at home, cooking and washing, even when I was doing the monthly. I bought double underwear in those days, I stole cotton wool from my mother and stuffed it between my underwear.
By my teenage years I had a crush on a village boy, and two years later we were married. We had two children, easily and quickly, I would have had a third, but my husband hesitated, and by the time he said yes, it was too late. I'm not angry about that, there was enough to do, enough to worry about, but I'll tell you, we brought them up decently, they had a profession, a good job, two beautiful children.
I tried to do better than my mother, sometimes I succeeded, sometimes her words somehow fell out of my mouth. I once made fun of my older daughter, but she had her tongue cut out, she wouldn't take it, not like I once did.
I never had a problem with my periods, they were regular and without any major pain, they were long, but I couldn't complain. Both of my daughters were easy, the first one was born easily, the second one was a c-section, but I didn't mind that either. But after the second baby, even though I was breastfed, I started bleeding at four weeks and it didn't stop for weeks or months.
I was not in pain, but there wasn't a day that I didn't bleed. I was patient for a long time, and the doctor kept telling me that I was breastfeeding, that my hormones were upset, that I shouldn't worry about it, that it would be fine, and I took his advice, I don't like to be on anyone's back. But for 3 years I bled almost every day, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot, so three years passed.
I was 34 years old when I went to a doctor in Budapest, he didn't like something, but in the end he just prescribed contraceptives, saying that would solve it.
He did, but I wanted a third child. I tried several times to stop taking the medication, but the problem always developed within a short time, and I was like, "I'll make myself suffer if my husband doesn't want a third anyway. I was on the medication for over 13 years, I was fine with it actually.
I stopped when I thought that it doesn't matter, menopause is coming, I'm not getting any younger, and my mother, at 48, I think she's already started. I suffered through that period, with all its attendant problems, waking up at night, hot flushes, irregular bleeding, which took a good two years before it really did stop for good.
What's very interesting is that I didn't show much of anything on the ultrasound, ever. In principle, endometriosis can't develop after menopause, but I had a very severe increase in bloating, tightness and abdominal distension, and I just went to the doctor again. It was worse than ever before, I tell you, life was bearable for me with endometriosis. It was the first time after I stopped bleeding that endometriosis was clearly detectable on ultrasound.
I hadn't had my period for a while when I noticed that I had a constant fever, I was always running to the bathroom, it was always unpleasant, our pharmacist knew me from afar, he gave me chamomile, nettle tea, cranberry capsules without asking. When I was in great pain I went to Budapest again, to see a doctor, but the culture found nothing either, the doctors kept their hands busy.
Finally, one of them just said that he could see some scar on the bladder, and it was like the bladder was attached to something, stuck there..., so at first I turned off the chair when he said that he wanted to operate on me, I ran home, but the symptoms didn't go away and finally last fall we had this operation, we took off what we could, we took it apart, so the doctor said.
Before that I was so excited that my daughter had me in for a few sessions with Nora, it was nice to talk to someone about these things, she explained a lot of things and you just feel more relaxed when you understand what's happening and why. I also got some good advice, for example one of my daughters is a big healthy living believer, she often brings us tofu, soy sausages, mouth meat substitutes- I found out that this is not good because it is also considered external hormone replacement around menopause because of the plant estrogen in it. It was also because of her that I started taking long, brisk walks again, on her advice I sat down to think about what I would like to do and could do well as a grandmother to my daughters, and what I no longer wanted to do...
I thought a lot about why this could be, how I could have endometriosis after menopause. Nori and I also talked about how I was so disturbed by menopausal symptoms, I was fighting them so much that I was taking a lot of products, teas, capsules to relieve menopausal symptoms, and they could have somehow affected my estrogen levels as an external source.
Anyway, that's the theory for now, I've stopped using this stuff, and I'm also writing my story so that everyone can watch out and be careful, because the age of change is not a solution in itself, and to be careful, because you can also harm yourself with natural, over-the-counter stuff, unknowingly, with completely good intentions.
Oh, and why is it a success story?
Fortunately, by going off these drugs, taking regular walks and swimming, switching to plant-based meals - except for the occasional "average" pastry... - I was able to completely overcome the problem, with no unpleasant complaints. And so, more athletic than I've ever been, I've come to terms with the age of transition.
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