Endometriosis - Common Complaints
Women with endometriosis classically present during their reproductive years with pelvic pain (including painful periods and painful sexual intercourse), infertility, or an ovarian mass. According to a study on 1000 women with endometriosis published in Fertility and Sterility in 2008, approximately 80% presented with pain, 25% with infertility, and 20% with an endometrioma (ovarian mass). Dysmenorrhea (painful periods) associated with endometriosis is dull or crampy pelvic pain that typically begins one to two days before menses and persists throughout menses.
Additional endometriosis symptoms include bowel and bladder dysfunction, abnormal uterine bleeding, low back pain, or chronic fatigue, although these symptoms are less common.