Endometriosis & Adenomyosis Symptoms
Endometriosis and Adenomyosis can cause a wide range of symptoms that vary from person to person. Understanding these symptoms is the first step toward getting the care you need.
Bladder Pain
Bladder pain or pressure can be a real (and often misunderstood) symptom of endometriosis and adenomyosis—especially when inflammation, pelvic muscle tension, or deep disease involves the bladder or tissues around it. If your urinary discomfort is cyclical, persistent, or paired with pelvic pain, it deserves a specialist-level evaluation.
Bloating
Abdominal bloating and visible distension (“endo belly”) can be a frustrating, painful symptom of both endometriosis and adenomyosis. It may flare with your cycle or certain foods, and it’s often a sign of inflammation and pelvic organ irritation—not “just normal” digestion.
Chest Pain
Chest pain can be a medical emergency, but for some people it can also be a cyclical symptom of endometriosis—especially when disease involves the diaphragm or chest (thoracic endometriosis). If your chest pain predictably flares around your period or with ovulation, it’s worth a specialist evaluation.
Constipation
Constipation that worsens around your period can be a sign that endometriosis or adenomyosis is affecting the bowel, pelvic nerves, or pelvic floor. Because “GI symptoms” are often mislabeled as IBS alone, cyclical constipation deserves an endometriosis-informed evaluation.
Fatigue
Fatigue in endometriosis and adenomyosis is more than “being tired”—it can feel like whole-body exhaustion that doesn’t match your activity level. It’s common, real, and often improves when the underlying disease drivers (pain, inflammation, heavy bleeding, and sleep disruption) are properly treated.
Heavy Menstrual Bleeding
Heavy menstrual bleeding (and bleeding between periods) can be a sign of adenomyosis, endometriosis, or both—especially when it’s paired with pelvic pain, clots, or fatigue. You deserve a clear explanation and a plan that treats the root cause, not just the bleeding.
Infertility
Infertility can be the first noticeable sign of endometriosis or adenomyosis—especially when you feel otherwise “fine,” yet pregnancy isn’t happening. Both conditions can affect the pelvis in ways that disrupt ovulation, fertilization, implantation, and early pregnancy.
Leg Pain
Leg pain that radiates from the pelvis or low back—sometimes mimicking sciatica—can be a real (and often overlooked) symptom of endometriosis and adenomyosis. When pelvic disease irritates nerves, muscles, or nearby structures, pain can travel into the hips, thighs, and down the legs.
Lower Back Pain
Chronic **lower back pain**—especially pain that flares around your period—can be a sign of **endometriosis** and/or **adenomyosis**, not “just normal cramps.” Understanding why it happens can help you seek the right evaluation and relief.
Nausea
Nausea—sometimes severe enough to cause vomiting—can be part of endometriosis or adenomyosis, especially during hormone shifts and pain flares. If your “sick to your stomach” feeling is cyclical, persistent, or tied to pelvic pain, it deserves a specialist workup.
Ovulation Pain
Ovulation pain (mittelschmerz) can be normal—but if it’s severe, cyclical, or disabling, it may be a sign of underlying conditions like endometriosis or adenomyosis. Both can amplify pelvic pain around ovulation through inflammation, adhesions, and nerve sensitization.
Pain During Intercourse
Deep pain during or after sex (dyspareunia) is a common, real symptom in people with endometriosis and can also occur with adenomyosis. It often reflects irritation or pulling of sensitive pelvic tissues—and it deserves evaluation and treatment, not dismissal.
Painful Bowel Movements
Painful bowel movements (often called dyschezia) can be a sign of endometriosis or adenomyosis—especially when it flares during your period. It may reflect inflammation, pelvic floor spasm, or deep endometriosis affecting tissues around the bowel.
Painful Periods
Painful periods (dysmenorrhea) that are severe or worsening over time can be a hallmark symptom of endometriosis and adenomyosis—not “normal cramps.” If your period pain limits school, work, sleep, or daily activities, it deserves a specialist evaluation.
Painful Urination
Painful urination (burning, stinging, or deep pelvic discomfort with peeing) that flares around your period can be a sign of endometriosis affecting the bladder/urinary tract—or an overlap condition like bladder pain syndrome. Because many causes look similar, a specialist evaluation can help you get the right diagnosis and relief.
Pelvic Pain
Pelvic pain can be a hallmark symptom of both endometriosis and adenomyosis—often chronic, often cyclical, and sometimes severe enough to disrupt work, relationships, sleep, and daily functioning. Understanding the “why” behind pelvic pain is the first step toward targeted treatment and lasting relief.
Shortness of Breath
Shortness of breath that worsens around your period can be a real—and often overlooked—clue that endometriosis may be affecting areas above the pelvis, such as the diaphragm or chest. It can also be worsened by heavy bleeding from adenomyosis that leads to anemia and low oxygen-carrying capacity.
Shoulder Pain
Shoulder pain—especially when it flares around your period—can be a sign of endometriosis affecting the diaphragm or tissues near the lungs. Because it can mimic musculoskeletal or heart/lung problems, persistent or cyclical shoulder pain deserves a thoughtful evaluation.
Urinary Urgency
Urinary urgency—feeling like you have to pee “right now,” often and sometimes with little warning—can be a real (and overlooked) symptom of endometriosis and adenomyosis. When it’s cyclical, persistent, or paired with pelvic pain, it deserves a deeper evaluation beyond “just a UTI.”