Endometriosis and adenomyosis

That is not the first step. The diagnosis rests on your history, the examination and an expert ultrasound, and sometimes an MRI. Surgery, with an expert team, is one of the treatment options when it is needed, not the way to start looking.

It is possible: endometriosis takes far too long to diagnose and is not always visible on a first scan. A period so painful that it forces you to stop deserves to be looked into further, with the examination, an expert ultrasound and, when they add something, the cytokine profile or an MRI.

Not necessarily. Hormonal treatment is one piece and is considered when appropriate; the others are pain and inflammation control, diet, physiotherapy and, if needed, surgery. The order depends on your symptoms and on where you are in your life.

It is worth saying so from the start, because it changes the order of the decisions. Endometriosis can make pregnancy harder, and it is one of the things I review in the preconception consultation, along with genital tract infections, fibroids, polyps and uterine malformations.