Endometriosis is more common than most of us think but not much is known about it. And when not much is known about something, it leads to speculation. Some will even form their own theory on the subject. Here we have my Bitmoji in a unicorn suit to represent the myths and some of the most ridiculous misconceptions I’ve encountered.

“You’re not sick, it’s just your imagination.”

I believe this is the most common myth out of the lot. Almost every woman who suffers from endometriosis will tell you that she’s been told this at least once in her lifetime. Unfortunately, it is one of the reasons that caused many of us to get a diagnosis later than we should have. For the longest time, I thought that the pain I felt was normal, that every girl having her period had it and that I was weak and that I should stop complaining. Some days, I wasn’t able to show up for work because the pain was just unbearable and I will try my best to put up a brave front when I’m back at work. It made some co-workers and boss question if I was faking my illness. Even now after being diagnosed, some people still question my pain. It may not be cancer or diabetes but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt. Just because you can’t see it on the surface, doesn’t mean it isn’t there.

“You caused it by (insert bullshit assumption here).”

…”eating too much chocolate”, “drinking too much cold drinks”, “not having enough exercise”, “etc, etc, etc“. No. No. And no. No one and nothing caused me to get endometriosis. I’m just one of the many women who happen to have it in my system probably since I was born. It is still not known how it is caused and there is still no cure for it. Good try you budding wannabe doctors.

“Can she pass this disease to me?!”

This was the first question an ex asked the doctor when I was first delivered the news that I have endometriosis. NO, she cannot pass this disease to you. It is not sexually transmitted. Your dick will not fall off from touching her, sharing food or from having intercourse. What she should do is to dump you.

“You took too long to have kids.”

Whoever who said this must be really bitter, probably had children when they weren’t ready or have a shitty spouse. Endometriosis is not determined by when you decide to have children. It isn’t our fault that we choose to study, build a career, settle down later and find the right man to have children with. In fact, it wouldn’t make a difference if we rushed and got married at 18 because we’d still have trouble conceiving without a diagnosis. It is always better to marry the right man than to have kids with the wrong one whether or not you have endometriosis, take your time.

“God punished you!”

Not only are these people doctors, apparently some of them are also Prophets of God. As ridiculous as this may seem, superstitious comments are very common if you live in Southeast Asia. Once, I was told that what I have is a curse. Another time, someone claimed that I have to take the devil out of my womb. 😒. Here, the devil and curses are used to explain issues with little or no answers. And unfortunately, endometriosis is a phenomenon of its own which doesn’t have many answers.

I’m sure there are more but these are the most common misconceptions about endometriosis that I have personally encountered. Have you encountered a stupid myth about your pain? Feel free to share them so we can laugh about them together.

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