endometriosis in the bladder

[sarahbigbird]

i have endometriosis in the bladder it hurts so much when i wee

[Karolina Afors]

Sorry to hear you are having such troublesome symptoms. Bladder endometriosis is a rare form of the disease and occurs when endometrial tissue grows on the surface of the bladder and can extend to involve the full thickness of the bladder wall.

Symptoms often occur around the time of your period and can include pelvic pain, urgent or frequent need to urinate , burning pain when you urinate, pain when your bladder is full or sometimes blood in your urine. You may also experience more generalised symptoms related to endometriosis such as painful periods and pain during intercourse.

Pelvic ultrasound and MRI may be useful in diagnosis, but small lesions can often be overlooked.The gold standard for diagnosis is direct visualisation of endometriosis lesions either at cystoscopy, where a camera i introduced into the bladder or at laparoscopy.

Hormonal treatment such as combined or progesterone only pill and mirena coil can help manage symptoms, however, depending on location and size of lesions surgical removal may be indicated. This often involves removing part of the bladder itself and having a catheter (tube inside the bladder) during the healing process. Whilst this may sound drastic the bladder heals remarkably quickly and risk of recurrence is low.