Here are some fun facts about endometriosis that piss me off:
Since I'm in pain and want to info dump about it. (I'm not an expert, this is just things I've learned from living with it and I'm too tired to go find sources. I encourage you to go look these things up if you're interested, and let me know if I got anything wrong)
Endometriosis affects 1 in 10 women. It is VERY common.
It's more than just "bad periods". It's a chronic inflammatory condition that affects your entire body and not just during one week of the month.
Endometriosis lesions have been found growing in many places on the human body. On the pelvic organs generally, but also on the spine, lungs, and even the brain.
Some doctors think it should be classified as a form of cancer, since it is a progressive disease with clear growth stages and behaves similarly to cancer cells.
A legitimate treatment suggested by some very ignorant doctors even today, is: "try having a baby and see if that helps." If that wasn't absurd enough on its own, one of the hallmark symptoms of endometriosis is infertility.
A similar condition called adenomyosis (endometrial-like tissue growing into the walls of the uterus) can be mistaken for endo and they often occur together with similar symptoms.
There is no cure. Last resort treatment is hysterectomy to remove your uterus and/or your cervix and ovaries in addition to removing all of the endometriosis lesions. And even this doesn't ensure that it won't grow back.
Symptoms vary widely from person to person. Someone could have deep infiltrating stage 4 endometriosis and feel less pain than someone with superficial stage 1 or 2 lesions. Someone with stage 2 endo could have debilitating chronic pain, or maybe just painful periods. Some people don't even know they have it until they have difficulty getting pregnant.
Despite being (controversially) classified as a women's gynecological disorder, there have been a handful of cases of cisgender men with endometriosis, and endometriosis has even been found in fetuses.
It takes an average of 9+ years for people to receive an endometriosis diagnosis due to so many factors - doctor's ignorance of the disorder, misdiagnosis, lack of funding of women's health issues, dismissal of women's pain, no real standard treatment path, etc.
Anyway. I hope this information is helpful for someone, and sending healing vibes and solidarity to my fellow endo warriors 💓