I’ve been dealing with symptoms that sound a lot like endometriosis since I got my first period at 11.

I’ll try to keep this relatively short, because the full story is very long — and I’m sure many people here know exactly what that’s like.

For years, I’ve seen gynecologists who kept telling me that my ultrasounds looked completely normal. The answer was usually just: “Try hormonal birth control.” So I did. I’ve tried the mini-pill, the regular pill, and multiple IUDs. Some things helped partially, but nothing ever really fixed the problem, and my symptoms always came back eventually.

**My** **symptoms**  
At different points in my life, I’ve experienced some or most of the following:  
   
\- Extremely painful cramps that don’t respond well to naproxen, sometimes so bad that my legs literally give out  
\- Pain radiating into my legs and lower back  
\- Sharp/stabbing pain in my vagina and rectum  
\- Extremely heavy periods lasting 7+ days  
\- Bleeding through a tampon or pad within an hour  
At my worst, I had to sleep on puppy pads while wearing an overnight pad and a thick tampon, and I would still bleed onto the puppy pad  
\- Low iron levels, even during periods when I wasn’t menstruating because of an IUD  
\- Recurrent UTIs  
\- UTI-like symptoms during my luteal phase even when there is no actual infection: painful urination, frequent urination, only being able to pee small amounts, and constant false urgency  
\- Chronic constipation. I generally only have a regular bowel movement when I specifically take extra fiber and supplements for it, despite having a healthy diet  
\- Severe stabbing pain during bowel movements, sometimes so bad that I physically can’t poop  
\- Breast swelling and extreme breast tenderness starting around ovulation  
\- Significant PMS: mood swings, crying over everything, getting angry very quickly, and feeling depressed  
\- Deep pain during sex

**The time I went completely off hormones**  
When I was around 18–19, I had my IUD removed and went completely hormone-free for about 1.5 years.

Interestingly, I felt pretty much fine for the first 4–5 months.

Then the symptoms gradually started coming back every month, getting worse and worse until eventually I was in pain every single day of the month, not just during my period.

That experience is one of the reasons I’ve always felt that something more than “just normal period pain” was going on.

**Finally getting taken seriously**  
Last February, I saw an endometriosis specialist for the second time. The first specialist hadn’t really taken my symptoms seriously, but this specialist did.  
I’ve had:

Transvaginal ultrasounds → clear  
MRI → clear  
Diagnostic laparoscopy → supposedly clear

According to the endometriosis specialist, they didn’t find any endometriosis during the laparoscopy.

However, when I look at the photos from the surgery myself, there are two spots that make me wonder.

I’ve circled them in the pictures attached to this post.

**So, my question for the Reddit “self-acclaimed endo specialists”: Do either of these spots look like endometriosis to you?**

Could they be something else entirely? I’m obviously not expecting anyone here to diagnose me from a photo, but I’d really appreciate hearing from people who have more experience with endometriosis and laparoscopic images. **I’m specifically wondering whether other people here also see anything suspicious for endometriosis in these photos — partly so I can decide whether it’s worth pursuing a second opinion and having the surgical findings reviewed by another specialist.**

**Where I’m at now**  
I’m currently using the same IUD I’ve had for about 2.5 years. For roughly the first year, it helped to some extent, but over the past year my symptoms have gradually been getting worse again. Since the beginning of this year, I’ve also started menstruating again despite having the IUD.

So at this point, the IUD doesn’t seem to be doing much for me anymore.

I recently added 75 mcg of desogestrel to try to suppress ovulation, but I’ve been experiencing even more side effects and I feel significantly more depressed on it. So I’m planning to stop taking it.  
Ideally, I’d like to eventually come off hormonal contraception altogether and see what my body does without hormonal suppression.

I’m also already trying to manage this from a lifestyle perspective. I’m eating an anti-inflammatory diet and making various lifestyle changes to make my symptoms more manageable. I do notice some improvement from this, but unfortunately nowhere near enough.

I’ve also been investigated for pelvic congestion syndrome, but that was ruled out as well.  
So at this point I’m kind of stuck.

If anyone has experience with endometriosis, adenomyosis, similar symptoms, or interpreting laparoscopic images, I’d really appreciate your thoughts on the two spots I’ve circled. And if you have any ideas for things I could discuss with my doctor or ways you’ve managed symptoms, I’m open to hearing them.

Thanks ❤️

Self-acclaimed endo en adeno specialist of Reddit — do these spots look like endometriosis to you?