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Post by scarlett on Jan 11, 2007 10:05:25 GMT -5
I just wanted to post something about how being diagnosed with endo has made me take a look at the other women in my family in a new way. Since I found out that women with endo are between 7 and 10 times more likely to have close female relatives who also have the disease (source: pretty much everywhere on the internet that talks about endo, but it's not definitive obviously).
My sister, who is quite a bit older than me, has not had children although she's been married for 10 years. She also had really, really painful periods when she was younger and sometimes still does. It made me think it seems quite likely she might have endo too. I don't think she ever had any tests, so she wouldn't know for sure I guess. Also, my aunt had extremely painful periods, although she never married or tried to have children, so I don't know about other symptoms or infertility. She also suffers from fibromyalga, rheumatoid arthritis, hypothyroidism. She had ovarian cancer when she was 50 and had a full hysterectomy. I know there are various theories about to what extent these diseases are linked to an increased risk of endo and vice versa, so it made me think.
I've also thought about how many children my mum and grand-mothers had - 3, 2 and 2 respectively - not many for good Catholic families in the case of the last two!
I just wondered if other people had thought about this or how much endo runs in families in the experience of people on this forum?
Thanks!
Scarlett
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Post by ouchy on Jan 11, 2007 10:21:10 GMT -5
I think it is definitely familial! So many people on here have siblings who also have endo--and one member and her sister both have aggressive endo, and they go in for laps together as sisters! My first cousin had it and had a hysterectomy for it, and I believe my mother had it, although she never had any diagnostic tests.
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Post by JackMcFarland on Jan 11, 2007 11:31:02 GMT -5
I have an older sister who honestly had NO issues whatsoever getting pregnant. She has given me three beautiful nieces and a very handsome nephew. However, though she had no issue getting pregnant her body would attack the fetus as if it was an unknown object within her body causing her to miscarry several times. But once she could carry a pregnancy full term, there was no stopping her! She had my niece Sydney in March '96, Antonio in April '97, and Sofia in Oct '98! Then she took a break and popped out Lola who will be three on the 22nd.
My little sister has normal periods. They last 4-5 days, she takes motrin and is on her way. Same with my mother when she got her period.
So far that we know of I am the only person in my family with Endo. I do have a lot of female cousins, all with normal periods and no issues in regards to babies.
My fear is my nieces, Sydney will be 11 this March. I give her another year, maybe two and she'll be complaining about her period. Gosh, I remember when I was changing that little girls diapers....I'll give her till she's 16, but if she starts to complain about them the way I did when I was 12, I'm going to make sure my sister has that kid checked asap.
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Post by donnadee on Jan 12, 2007 5:04:48 GMT -5
No one that in my family has experienced endo. I come from a large family and until I was diagnosed with endo no one had even heard of it.
Teenagers and women are really not aware of it which is really frightening and I think there should be more awareness about it. They say on average it takes about 7 years to diagnose which is absolutely terrible. What the Dr's don't realize is that this disease does so much damage to the female organs. Then they tell us that we have fertility issues. I know that Dr's are not perfect after all they are only human but I think instead of telling young girls that "this is what period pain is" they should investigate more. Sorry just the way I'm feeling at the moment!
Anyway because we have it we can share it with others and maybe prevent long diagnosis.
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Post by cherry on Jan 13, 2007 8:14:02 GMT -5
I have and my mother had it, we are both mixed race.On my mothers side my grandmother, great aunt, my mum's sister and great gran had very aggressive cancer of the womb and are all caucasian. So I also believe in a way there is a connection and maybe our family are predisposed to gynaecological conditions (I read somewhere that non white females are slightly more likely to have endo, white females are slightly more likely to have uterine cancer, which makes sense with my family history) My little sis needs to be looked at I think, and my older sis, being muslim hasn't been checked but will probably get tested if she has problems conceiving. Doctors seem to be dragging their feet though, considering the family history, which annoys me a lot!
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Post by irishmuse on Jan 13, 2007 9:50:35 GMT -5
My mom had endo, and my sis has cystitis. My cousin has endo (although she did manage to have two children), and my one aunt is infertile. All of the women on my mom's side have painful periods, that last for a long time. I have no doubt it is inherited.
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Post by verily on Jan 28, 2007 19:11:50 GMT -5
I would definitely say that having a parent or sister that has it makes you more likely to have it.
My mother apparently has mild endo, and I didn't know she had it until I got diagnosed. I think she pretty much avoided the worst of it naturally by having several kids.
I have two sisters that have PCOS and are on birth control for that. The other two seem fine, but I've nagged them both to start seeing a gynecologist on a regular basis to make sure they don't have either Endo or PCOS.
A friend of mine and her sister also struggle with PCOS & endo respectively.
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Post by akcheryl on Jan 28, 2007 23:39:28 GMT -5
My mom was diagnosed at 21 - she had an emergency appendectomy and the surgeon found extensive endo. Years later, she had a grapefruit sized cyst on her left ovary and had a partial oopherectomy (her left ovary was completely removed, right ovary 1/2 removed). She and my dad were married 10 years before conceiving me - after being told that she would never get pregnant!
My mom also has diabetes, fibromyalgia, arthritis, chronic sinusitis, nasal polyps, allergies...
I don't have too many family members on my mom's side. She only has 1 sister who she's met once, and all my female cousins are still too young to have their periods. I don't know if it's significant, but my mom also is not caucasian (like cherry was saying).
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