Ep 5: The Truth About Endometriosis & Medical Menopause

In this episode, Brandi Lytle candidly shares her 10-year infertility journey and its aftereffects, including unwarranted shame, living with severe endometriosis, debilitating pain, and intense side effects from induced medical menopause.

Terms used:
Birth control: Daily medication that contains 2 hormones (estrogen and progestin) to prevent pregnancy — or manage and suppress heavy periods.

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Endometriosis: A medical condition in which tissue that's similar to the lining inside the uterus, called the endometrium, is found outside the uterus where it doesn't belong.

Endo belly: A term used to describe the uncomfortable, often painful, swelling and bloating that's associated with endometriosis.

Endo pain (or endometriosis pain): Chronic painful period cramps, however pain may not be limited to the area around your uterus. In addition to sharp abdominal pain, some may experience back pain, rectal pain, painful bowel movements, leg pain, pain during intercourse.

Follicles (or ovarian follicles): Small sacs filled with fluid that are found inside a woman's ovaries. They secrete hormones which influence stages of the menstrual cycle and women begin puberty with about 300,000 to 400,000 of them. Each has the potential to release an egg for fertilization.
HSG (hysterosalpingogram): A test that uses x-rays and a special dye to detect scar tissue, polyps, fibroids, and other growths that may be blocking your tubes or preventing a fertilized egg from implanting properly in your uterus.

IUI (Intrauterine insemination): A technique in which sperm are introduced directly into a woman’s cervix or uterus to produce pregnancy, with or without ovarian stimulation to produce multiple ova.

IVF (or In vitro fertilization): In vitro which means outside the body, is a process of fertilization by extracting eggs, retrieving a sperm sample, and then manually combining an egg and sperm in a laboratory dish. The embryo(s) is then transferred to the uterus.

Lupron: A medication that lowers estrogen levels in the body, typically triggering menopause-like symptoms.

Male factor (or male infertility): Low sperm production, abnormal sperm function or blockages that prevent the delivery of sperm.

Medical menopause: Medical or induced menopause is when a woman stops producing eggs and her menstrual cycle ceases prematurely due to certain medical treatments. Unlike with natural menopause, which can take years, this process either occurs over a short period of transition time or abruptly.

Ovulation: This occurs when an egg is released from your ovary. When the egg is released, it may or may not be fertilized by sperm.

Ovulation predictor kits: At-home tests to determine when you're ovulating.

Perimenopause (or menopause transition): This transition begins several years before menopause, as the ovaries gradually begin to make less estrogen. Perimenopause lasts up until menopause, the point when the ovaries stop releasing eggs.

Scar tissue: Fibrous tissue that forms when normal tissue is destroyed by disease, injury, or surgery.

Watch this interview on YouTube.com/ChildlessWomen

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