Ibuprofen, epsom salt bath and SEX...

I suck it up and deal with it.

Depends. I have endometriosis and have since 13 years old. For my school years, it was gone undiagnosed but there was no way I was able to stay in school ever during my first 3 days. I spent 2 days each month sitting over the toilet. No tampons or pads were enough. I was in pain every month. I'd sleep and sleep for abnormally long hours and feel like a totally different person.

Once I got about 15, it got much worse and the extreme pain and issues would last me two weeks. I got to where I was sick all over. Stomach sick or in so much pain I'd be doubled over at random times of the day unable to even breathe. I hated when that would happen. It didn't matter where I was at and there was nothing I could do. Two weeks every month of that kept causing me issues and the endo got worse (continued growing) and I became ill. Not just two weeks out of every month, but I was in pain all the time. Got to where I couldn't eat a small handful of ANYTHING without feeling desperately sick. I started having panic attacks and then started coming down with all kinds of sicknesses like the flu, colds all the time, bronchitis & laryngitis AT THE SAME TIME! And I'd never even had a bad cold before this. So apparently by the age of 15, I found out that endometriosis likes to show up with a friend--IBS! A horrible nightmare! That made things even worse and truly kept me sick with anything I'd eat or even drink. My stomach was upset and I weighed 70 pounds. I thought I was dying.

My first time in the hospital was when we first started getting an idea of what was wrong. Was referred to about 3 different doctors, none told me anything but "possibly a cyst" and that I have a tilted cervix. Had ultra sounds, no cysts, and a tilted cervix does not make you life threateningly ill.

Then I had a family member say they thought I had Crohn's! I began researching constantly because I thought I was really dying. I finally found my problem. It HAD to be endometriosis and/or IBS. So I went and found an OB/GYN who done ultra sounds and said he thought it was endo. Done surgery and removed some of the endo, said the rest was "too deep." And diagnosed me with endometriosis and IBS. He gave me pain meds for the stomach pains and anxiety meds. I could not take the anxiety pills. They made me a dang zombie and I couldn't function. This was a year and 2 months ago when I had all the surgery and meds prescribed.

The meds were not helping me to get well enough. They were only barely making the pain tolerable. I cuoldn't have a life at all. So I began researching natural ways to help me. Found aloe vera and coconut oil, tried them both. Aloe was the best so I took the pills and in one month was a new person! The pills were too expensive, so I got started growing my own aloe plants and now I prepare them and eat small chunks daily. Much cheaper and now I'm at my healthy weight of 93 pounds and starting to be normal again!

Aloe is what helps me a lot, but I've been on an injection that my OB/GYN prescribed for years now. It prevents the endometrial growth some and takes away the blood flow and a tiny bit of the symptoms. I still have a good deal of pain on my periods and there's no mistaking when it shows up, even with no flow. However, where I'd normally have a "flare-up" and be down pretty badly again for my third month (when I'm due back for the injection) I keep taking the aloe and it prevents that. I haven't had hardly any anxiety troubles anymore and I'm never stuck in bed for days at a time sick and feeling like it's the end of the world. Never.

There are times when the migraines and stomach pain is so intense that a painkiller is necessary to get through certain days. Say it's a day when I have all the kids and have to chase them around and can't afford to have a break when I'm having the stomach pain, I'll take something for it definitely.

For the migraines, I take BC powders. There is only one pain I've felt that can come close to the pain I feel during my menstrual cycle (when it's extreme) and it's the pain of a miscarriage. It feels very, very similar to endometriosis pain. In fact, during my first miscarriage, I thought I was only suffering from the endo pain. I didn't even realize what was actually happening until it was REALLY happening. Now when I'm feeling that extreme pain again, I always think about that happening. The pains were so similar, and I'd continued to experience the endo pain throughout the entire pregnancy, and that's why I didn't think much of it when I was miscarrying.

My menstrual cycle is a curse.

Even during labor my pain reliever of choice was a heating pad

I have a very high pain tolerance - it takes a lot of pain for me to stop suppressing/ignoring it and take some pain killers. If it's a muscle ache or a pulled muscle, I'll probably treat if with a hot pad and some pain killers since I'm worried that I'll just ignore it and then it will get much worse and cause me even more pain. If it's just a general ache I'll ignore it/ wait it out.

tylenol,heating pad, ice pack, ive had to take pain pills if its extreme..but thats on rare occasions.I always worry about getting hooked on them