Endometriosis is a inflammatory and chronic gynecological disease common, affecting almost 10% of women. How do you live with this disease on a daily basis? Our journalist met Julia Paredes, candidate of the show Moms and Famous and author of How I live with endometriosis (Le Courrier du Livre edition), a book in which she gives advice to women with endometriosis. The article below is largely the transcription of the associated video interviews.
What are the symptoms of endometriosis?
The pains are very strong during the rules, abnormal, with chronic fatigue, I sometimes have nausea, vomiting, even before the rules arrive. The pain goes to the legs. It’s very, very strong. It is disabled on a daily basis because these crises come when we sometimes least expect them.
What solutions are there for these pains?
There is no treatment today for endometriosis. When we go to see a doctor, what he will do is really see what stage we are at. To limit the damage. And then there are drugs that work, but it gives me nausea and headaches. So I tried to find natural remedies to limit the pain and alleviate it. Anti-inflammatory diet, sport, yoga, acupuncture. There are plenty of little methods like that. You have to rest and avoid stress as much as possible. Carthe more you are stressed, the more the pain will come.
Were you able to have children?
I had children. The first one was really a miracle, because following learning that I had endometriosis, I was with someone for 3 years. I didn’t protect myself and nothing happened. That’s when I realized that I was going to have a really hard time having children. When I got together with my current husband, it was a miracle because in just three months, I had Luna. But when we wanted the second, it was very hard. I suffered five miscarriages. We went to see a doctor and we were going to do an in vitro fertilization. So we underwent a lot of exams, questionnaires. We were going to start something and Vittorio happened so naturally.
What do you recommend for women with endometriosis?
It’s important, even if you don’t want to go to the hospital or something, to have regular checkups. I had cysts that I didn’t get checked out. I said to myself “ OK, they’re here, it’s not going to go any further. So I live with it. But in fact no. You really need to have them checked often. It’s something I didn’t do and a mistake I ask not to make. After a while, the cysts grew and burst in my belly. I had internal bleeding. I left in the evening, for me, everything was fine. And suddenly, like a gunshot, I took something in my stomach. I said to myself ” what is happening ? ». I collapsed on the ground and found myself in a fire truck with pain that I can’t even describe, it was so excruciating. It’s horrible to go through that and to think that it’s because of this disease that we see our life collapsing. Because within a few minutes, we can clearly pass there.
I encourage women to really talk regarding their pain and not minimize it. I have been talking regarding endometriosis since I have social networks and I realized that a lot of women were affected by this disease. I see messages of desperation from some women who tell me “ People think I’m crazy. My doctors tell me that it’s just normal to have pain, that my pain is basic and that I have nothing more. I said to myself: these women are not taken seriously. Above all, do not be silent. Because pain, no, it’s not normal. So we have to keep talking regarding it and go see specialists to get diagnosed. Then follow up regularly. Do not wait and tell yourself we will see later.
I also spent a year and a half looking with specialists, with doctors, for all the remedies that I might give to women with endometriosis so that they might live better with their disease. I have collected all these tips in my book.
What message is close to your heart?
Even today, I show when I have seizures, I show the belly which is hyperinflated. I show everything on social networks. And I also show my children. It gives them a lot of hope for women with endometriosis. I want to tell them not to let go, because they are not alone. We can all understand each other and it’s by talking that it will do them good. Especially for all the women who dream of having children and who say “ no, it is not possible because I have this disease “. No. Let them keep hope. Me too, I was told it was impossible. And today, I have two children. So it’s really this message of hope that I want to convey.
