My symptoms began with extreme pain during my periods when I started at 11, and the pain continued getting worse and worse as I got older. My periods were irregular and were incredibly heavy lasting for 7-10 days each time. I also experienced crazy ovulation pain too. Another symptom for me was that my pain didn't go away when I started birth control which is a sign there is something wrong. When i was older I also experienced insane pain during sex which made it impossible. My surgery was last year and it was my first surgery. It's not as scary as you think. My tip for surgery day is to have someone there to support you, I brought my mum and boyfriend which helped. I also let the nurses/doctor know I was nervous so they knew to try and make me feel comfortable. Tips for the needles, you should only get the IV before the surgery which didn't hurt tbh but keep your hands as warm as possible and look away while they do it. I also had a morphine needle in my thigh when I woke up from surgery and an anti-clotting needle in both thighs which none of them hurt. You're a lot braver then you think, I promise. The last thing, keep reminding yourself that it's all happening so you can get better. I'm now 5 months completely endo pain free thanks to my lap.

I was terrified my first time, and I have a history of anxiety and panic attacks. I talked to my Dr, and he allowed me to take a xanex before showing up for the lap as long as I took it without any liquid and I let the anesthesiologist know and show them the bottle so they can adjust the morphine intake. Also, it helps alot if you have something to look forward to during recovery, or at least it did for me. The surgery is quick, once the IV is in you go to sleep in seconds and you wake up still feeling the painkiller so you don't notice the pain. I didn't even know they did the surgery when I woke up! The surgery is easy you just sleep. So, all you have to do is be ready for recovery. I bulked up on snacks, movies, and books for mine :)