MYTH!
The Endometriosis Research Center (ERC) addresses the following in their FAQ:
“I have heard Endometriosis only affects white, “career women” who delay childbearing. Is this true?
“No. Endometriosis knows no racial or socioeconomic boundaries. Women of all ages, including teens and post-menopausal women, can suffer from Endometriosis. There have even been a few men who were diagnosed with the disease!”
EndoAlert.org writes, “The occurrence of endometriosis bears no relation to when or whether a woman chooses to become a mother. Many women are diagnosed after they have already had children or when they are trying to conceive. Pregnancy should not be considered a preventative measure for endometriosis. Likewise, any notion that it is a disease suffered by women who have ignored their womanhood for career life or a lifestyle that does not include children is unsubstantiated and likely the creation of a mindset from an earlier generation.”
See also Fact or Myth? Endometriosis only exists in industrialized countries.
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3 users responded in this post
[…] See also Fact or Myth? Endometriosis only affects white “career women†who delay childbearing. […]
I had stage IV Endo. My first OBGYN told me I was just STRESSED OUT! HERE, TAKE THIS PILL, LEXAPRO, IT WILL HELP. NEXT VISIT, I SAY–HEY DOC, I AM ON NARCOTICS, EATING THEM LIKE CANDY AND STILL SEVERE PAIN, NOW THE BOTTOM OF MY HORMONES HAVE BUSTED OUT, I AM LASHING OUT HORRIBLY AT MY FAMILY. WELL, IT WILL STRAIGHTED OUT, GIVE IT A COUPLE OF MONTHS!!!! GO BACK, THIS TIME IN HOSPITAL, DOES A SONOGRAM TEST ON MY OVARIES, UTERUS, ETC. COMES IN SAYS, NOTHING WRONG WITH YA, I SAID THEN KEEP LOOKING, CAUSE YES THERE IS. HE SAID, WELL, WE WILL GO AHEAD AND CUT OUT UR UTERUS, ALTHOUGH THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH IT. WHEN HE DID, HE FOUND MY LEFT OVARY, EMBEDDED IN THE LEFT SIDE OF MY ABDOMINAL WALL, OBLITERATED!!!!THIS ROLLER COASTER RIDE STARTED AUG 2008, I HAVE BEEN IN THE HOSPITAL 2 MORE TIMES SINCE THEN, AND TODAY I AM SEEING A UROGYNECOLOGIST BECAUSE THE DOC DAMAGED MY BLADDER. MY MARRIAGE, 21 YEAR CAREER, AND FINANCES ARE IN SHAMBLES BECAUSE OF THIS DISEASE!!!!! MY OBGYN DOUBTED MY PAIN, PLUS HE LACKED KNOWLEDGE OF THIS COMMOM DISEASE. THIS IS ALL TOO UNNACCEPTABLE!!!!!!!!!!
Much love to you, Heidi. Stay strong and fight for recognition of this terrible illness. My own surgeon did not remove all the endo she found because she was too afraid of damaging my bladder. I never experienced any pain relief after the surgery. Tell everyone your story. Stand tall and be fierce! You are not crazy. There are up to 10 million of us in the U.S. alone who suffer from this hellish disease. Worldwide, we number over 70 million. Anyone who tries to minimize your pain deserves to taste some real pain themselves!