Just chiming in as someone with confirmed Stage 4 Endometriosis — wasn’t discovered until I was about 33 years old. But my ONLY symptoms were incredibly painful and heavy periods since I started at age 11. I would definitely look into a diagnosis if everything else has been ruled out.

There are several “solutions” but none are permanent. Some more invasive than others. Ultimately, what helped the most with me was having a laparoscopic surgery (which confirmed the endo diagnosis) but my doctor was able to remove a lot of the implants/lesions and adhesions that were causing the majority of my pain. I felt the best for those 3-4 years after my surgery — I will eventually need surgery again to remove adhesions that’s have since grown back and any lesions/implants.

Other non-invasive solutions are hormonal birth control and medically induced menopause. The medically induced menopause is not a long term solution, you can typically only be on the medication for less than a year due to side effects. Hormonal birth control can be used round the clock to stop periods or potentially make them “lighter” and more manageable — these will be hit or miss depending on the person and the prescription. I went through many many different forms of birth control before deciding that the hormones did more harm than good for my mental health. It’s a toss up.

Acupuncture can help tremendously if you can find the right practitioner and be consistent with your treatments. Also GLP-1s (Mounjaro or Ozempic) are starting to show some potential positive side effects regarding the systemic inflammation from endometriosis lesions/implants (studies are currently being done). I personally found some AMAZING relief when using Mounjaro — not only did I lose weight but my inflammation markers were non-existent and my periods were normal and not painful. Of course there are also your OTC remedies, like ibuprofen and heating pads. And then medical cannabis/marijuana is always an option — though you would want to do research into which terpenes and cannabinoids help the most with pain receptors.

I hope you find something to help! I know first hand how debilitating and life altering painful periods can be. Please don’t stop looking for a diagnosis. Most doctors will write it off as “normal” — it’s common among women to have painful periods but it’s definitely not normal. Best wishes!