5 Annoying Things People Say To People With Endometriosis

As someone with endo, I can safely say that these are the top 5 of annoying things said.

1. “What’s endometriosis?”

This is the #1 most irritating question for someone who has endometriosis. The disease affects MILLIONS of women WORLD-FREAKING-WIDE and the majority of people don’t know what it is. I don’t think I ever even heard it mentioned during my many years of school – which by now is about 18 years. It’s barely, if at all, mentioned in health class or sexual education in grade school, middle school, and high school. It’s not your fault that you don’t magically know what it is. The problem is that there is like … no education around the subject if you don’t google it yourself or your doctor suspects you have it.

The disease can affect you from a very young age, therefore it needs to be taught from a very young age. If a girl is sitting in health class learning that incredibly painful periods, crippling pain, stupid bloating and Satan himself crawling around in your abdomen isn’t normal, maybe it would take less than 8 years to get a diagnosis? Just a thought…

2. “so go to the doctor and get some medicine; get rid of it”

Hello there, friend. There is no cure for endometriosis. So alas, I cannot.

Unknown/Dreamworks / Via GIPHY

3. “it’s a disease? You don’t look like you have a disease.”

I’ve mentioned this one before. I’ll probably always mention it because it’s probably the most annoying one next to “what’s endometriosis?”. No Sharon, I don’t look like I have a disease. What is that even supposed to look like? Let’s take “don’t judge a book by its cover” and change it to “don’t judge a book by comparing it to other books. If you’ve read one, you have not read them all”. Not every disease is the same. Not every disease affects people in the same exact way. Grow up Sharon.

4. “it’s just bad cramps, how bad can that be?”

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy / Via GIPHY

WRONG. It is not just bad cramps, who told you this? Cramps can be painful, but they aren’t supposed to feel like you are housing a litter of baby porcupines in your abdomen. They aren’t supposed to feel like you might rip in half if you stand up straight, or pass out if you don’t hold onto something. They are NOT supposed to feel like an angry Komodo dragon is trying to claw its way out of your ass.

5. “I’ve heard of that! So, you can’t have kids?”

This is a severe case of something I like to call “idiot”. Never say this to anyone. Ever. Someone else’s fertility is not any of your business unless they are freely offering up that information. But otherwise … shut up.

Wedding Crashers / Via GIPHY

Why are these things annoying?

If you don’t know something, you don’t know it, and that’s nothing to be ashamed of. But he reason these things are annoying is because more people NEED and SHOULD know about this disease. ESPECIALLY WOMEN. If you were born with a uterus, there is a chance you could develop endometriosis or other diseases which can affect the female reproductive system. However, despite the risk and the MILLIONS of women worldwide with this disease, it is barely covered. I was never even told about it, or any other “reproductive” illness aside from cancer and HPV, by my doctor.

I'm not saying that everyone on the planet needs to know what it is and everything about it, that’s not reasonable, but to have a disease the vast majority of people haven’t heard of is the most frustrating thing in the world. A lot of the people who do know about it also don’t take it seriously. They think it’s just bad cramps and dramatic women overreacting. Most people don’t know what the disease is, and therefore it doesn’t get the attention it needs or deserves.