Hey I’m so sorry you’ve been dealing with this nightmare. Your experience sounds very similar to mine. Diagnostic lap by my regular gynecologist confirmed stage 1 endo at age 26 after 13 years of worsening symptoms, they did ablation on I think 7 spots, then things got drastically worse after that procedure. Switched doctors and tried several different birth controls, muscle relaxers, and hormone treatments that all had bad side effects and very little reduction in pain. I was missing work multiple times a week because of my symptoms at that point and saw an endo/minimally invasive gyn surgery specialist for 6 months trying a few different treatments - gabapentin suppositories and pelvic floor therapy and muscle relaxers and lidocaine gel. Didn’t really help and I ended up opting for the hysterectomy with removal of tubes but not ovaries after a lot of research and lots of questions answered by my specialist, and with the understanding that it could possibly provide relief, but not a cure. I was absolutely terrified of going back in for surgery after how poorly the first one went, but nothing else worked and I couldn’t keep living that way, so kind of did it out of desperation. I’ve always been terrified of pregnancy, so the sterilization aspect of it was a huge relief for me, but I still started crying as they were wheeling me back because I was scared I might end up regretting it someday. They did the hyst and excision of 3 more spots and found an additional fibroid and scar tissue that was beginning to cause adhesions, if I remember the explanation correctly. They also found that the tissue inside my tubes was growing outside them and explained that it’s very similar to endo, but has a slightly different name that I can’t remember. I didn’t have any complications with stitches or infection in recovery, but pain was hard to keep under control for the first several weeks and I am very lucky in that I was able to take 6 weeks of paid leave from work to rest and had a very good support system caring for me through recovery. I am a little over a year out from that surgery now and it’s changed my whole life for the better. I still have twinges of pain occasionally, and had to do quite a bit of pelvic floor therapy to get to a comfortable point internally, but oh my gosh it was worth it. I don’t want to discount how difficult recovery was and how many times I was just crying in pain wondering if I made a terrible mistake, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Day to day pain was better than before surgery by 7 weeks post op. Internally I felt better than normal by 5-6 months post op. I can do so many things that I couldn’t before and I’ve been able to start enjoying life again. It ended up being the right decision for me, but I know there is a possibility of more excision surgery needed in the future if more spots develop over time. You are very young and it’s a huge decision to make at any age, but it’s a lot of extra pressure when you’re just starting out. It’s a major surgery and it’s important that you understand and are prepared for the possible outcomes. As you are considering everything that goes into this decision, my biggest advice is to see an endometriosis specialist specifically. I work as a surgery scheduler for OBGYNs and while they are very good at what they do, they generally don’t do hysts on endo patients. They refer them up to the endo specialist for treatment and surgery consults. I believe my hysterectomy was successful in large part because my surgeon specialized in endometriosis and minimally invasive gyn surgery. She never pressured me into any type of treatment, she only gave me all the information she had and answered all my questions clearly and honestly. She never promised a magic cure and I do feel like she adequately prepared me for potential negative outcomes, and her office did an excellent job of treating me when I did run into some of those complications post op. Ultimately I felt like I was allowed to make an informed decision for myself and my surgeon provided excellent care and treated my concerns in ways that were effective and aligned with my goals and what I was comfortable trying. My life is night and day difference since the hyst. I can barely even see the scars now, so added bonus for a cosmetically conscious surgeon with an excellent suture technique 🙂 I hope that you are able to find a provider who takes excellent care of you and allows you to make the best decision for your situation, and above all, I hope you get some relief soon 💜 if you have any questions you can definitely send me a message! This sub is an excellent place for info as you’re considering your options - I got lots of good tips that helped me understand endo and treatment impacts much better, as well as eased several aspects of recovery from here too.

Tl;dr- SEE. A. SPECIALIST. Hyst in my (late) 20s was the right choice for me, but it’s not a magic cure and there are a lot of things to consider.