After years of managing PCOS, Writer and Podcaster Jasmine Wallis thought her reproductive health journey had settled. But a routine ultrasound revealed something new: adenomyosis - a painful, little-known condition that continues to be overlooked.
I’m no stranger to period problems. From needing to skip school as a teenager to discovering I had polycystic ovarian syndrome at 18, I thought I was done being diagnosed with reproductive conditions.
Then, in the midst of one of Melbourne’s lockdowns, I went for an internal ultrasound. It was a routine check-up to see how my PCOS was going (read: not great) and to get some clarity on the continuing painful periods I was enduring.
The sonographer was probing around with the alien stick (IYKYK), using my uterus like a squishy ball – I was holding my breath.
“Wow. Your uterus is so angry,” she said.
Angry? Describing a body part with such conscious emotion caught me off guard. I asked her what she meant by that.
“It’s so tense, like… a tensed muscle. It’s one unhappy uterus.”
I was quickly diagnosed with adenomyosis. Only at that time, I had no clue what it was. Many people still don’t.
What is adenomyosis?
Described as endometriosis’s angry cousin, adenomyosis occurs when the endometrial tissue (the one that lines your uterus to prepare for pregnancy) begins to grow into the wall of your uterus.
This means that when you get your period, your body is trying to shed tissue that’s grown into the muscle of your womb, resulting in microscopic bleeds. Yeah, ouch.
It can cause inflammation, an enlarged uterus (a trait I was gifted), and, of course, a lot of pain.
Like many reproductive health concerns, the symptoms can often overlap with other conditions, such as endometriosis (makes sense), fibroids, and PCOS, making it hard for people to know if they have it.
Adenomyosis presents itself as heavy and extremely painful periods. This can make it hard to diagnose. Other symptoms include prolonged periods, pain during sex, and chronic pelvic pain.
I left the ultrasound with a pamphlet on the condition, and that was that. I had yet another reproductive disorder, and unlike PCOS, there aren’t many lifestyle changes you can make to lessen the symptoms.
Sometimes it feels like PCOS is the ruler of my body: all screaming hormones, blood sugar crashes and visible acne. I spend all month managing her.
Adenomyosis, however, sits quietly within me, only rearing its head once a month. The pain of my period radiates down my legs, my back, slicing across my abdomen. It’s white hot and blinding, the couch can’t even take the waves of my body. I have to crawl onto the floor and get into the recovery position, unable to talk, to think, to work. Then, it eases again and sits quietly in the corner, waiting, angry.
Adenomyosis awareness month
April is adenomyosis awareness month. And while it’s amazing that endometriosis is getting the attention, funding, and research it needs, when I tell someone I have adenomyosis, I receive quizzical looks and an ‘Oh, I’ve never heard of that’, showing that we have a long way to go.
When researching this piece, I came across the question ‘Can adenomyosis be prevented?’. The answer depressed me.
“As the cause of adenomyosis is not fully understood, there is nothing you can do to prevent this condition.”
The cause of adenomyosis is not fully understood. Just like most reproductive conditions that women endure, there has not been enough research to know why someone may have it, or why I was born with an “angry” uterus.
My only salve is pain management: ibuprofen, hot showers, staying home, and Scarlet’s rae heat pad.
So, if your periods feel more painful than normal, consider speaking with your GP or gynecologist about adenomyosis, because it can be a sneaky one, and it deserves more attention.
