Endometriosis: Difficulty Diagnosing Disease - WMDT 47 News - Delmarva's Choice

WMDT 47 NEWS - Endometriosis is a painful disease, which currently has no cure. In part 2 of this series, WMDT's Emily Lampa tells us why diagnosing the condition is so difficult.

"It is a diagnosis of exclusion," explains Pamela Fleckenstein, a Certified Registered Nurse Practioner with Womens Wellness at Peninsula Regional Medical Center. "We do have a lot of things to rule out. We want to rule out any kind of pelvic pathology. So we would usually order a trans-vaginal sonogram, to make sure it was not a persistent ovarian cyst, that there weren't uterine fibroids, or any other source of pain."

Which is why for many women, like 25-year-old Emily LaCates of Delmar, the process of pinpointing the source of the pain often takes years. "It just took a bunch of time finding the right doctor, trying to get people to realize that this is serious," explains LaCates. "This isn't just a normal period."

This disease is much more than a heavy painful menstruation. Experts with the Endometriosis Association say it puts you at a higher risk for six cancers (Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Ovarian, Breast, Melanoma, Thyroid, Brain), and at higher risk for seven autoimmune diseases (Multiple Sclerosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Systemic Lupus, Sjögren's Syndrome, Hypothyroidism, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and Fibromyalgia).

They also say 20 percent of women with endometriosis also have one or more of these other chronic pain conditions: Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Interstitial Cystitis/Painful Bladder Syndrome, Vulvodynia, TMJ, Migraine, Fibromyalgia, and Rheumatoid Arthritis.

"And it can really only be diagnosed through laproscopic surgery," adds Fleckenstein.

What's frightening is researchers still aren't sure what causes this disease. Some believe it's hereditary. Recently scientists have found an environmental toxin called dioxin, a chemical bi-product of paper bleaching and the incineration of medical waste, appeared to cause endometriosis in monkeys.

For a link to an article about dioxin and endometriosis, CLICK HERE.

If you have endometriosis and would like to share your story, visit our WMDT 47 News Facebook page and tell us about it.

And in part 3 of this series, doctors and experts tell us all about treatment options.