About ten percent of women have endometriosis, one affected person said

Ten percent of women in Switzerland suffer in silence. They all have the same disease: endometriosis. One of them is Flavia Visetti. The 30-year-old polygrapher was diagnosed about four years ago after suffering from the disease for 14 years.

For her – as for many other patients – specialists have played down the pain for a long time. “Slightly more severe menstrual pain” was said for a long time. Yet Visetti visited dozens of specialists and gynecologists. It was then said that the pain had “psychosomatic causes”.

“As a teenager I had extremely severe pain and bleeding. My mother took me to the doctor at the time, but you couldn’t classify it at the time,” Visetti says in an interview with Watson. The whole thing upset her because she was faced with major problems, stabbing pains and migraines from an early age – 12 years old.

Visetti suppressed the pain with painkillers for fourteen years. These are still her constant companions: without them she cannot survive the daily work during her menstruation.

The disease also affected Visetti’s interpersonal relationships. “I often had to cancel appointments with friends because of the pain. Or I couldn’t go to school because I didn’t have the energy.” But partnerships are also a challenge when things keep going wrong and you don’t know what you have.

Visetti was plagued by self-doubt for years. After all, from the outside it always said: “There is nothing there.” At some point you believe that too.

Four years ago, an acquaintance pointed out to Visetti about endometriosis. She then went to a specialist. She explains that they had to operate on her to diagnose her case. The growths were also removed during the operation. After the operation she knew for sure: Visetti had endometriosis.

“Based on the ultrasound images alone, you could not say with 100% certainty whether it was endometriosis,” Visetti explains. Nowadays, surgery is not recommended in all cases. If the diagnosis can be made in another way, for example, by ultrasound, MRI or palpation, these methods are preferred.

But even after the diagnosis, Visetti still felt “lost.” She discovered the disease online. Ultimately, Visetti had the hormone coil inserted. For them this is the right option, while other patients depend on hormone preparations, which, for example, contain the hormone progestin, have an analgesic effect on endometriosis.

Anti-inflammatory painkillers or other forms of therapy, such as complementary medicine, often help those affected. There is currently no drug that can cure endometriosis.

Visetti has been a member of the Swiss Endometriosis Association “Endo-Help” for a year and a half, which already has several hundred members. The association consists of several women who have endometriosis and want to raise awareness about the disease. “This is also a support for us because we have all had similar experiences,” says Visetti. To increase visibility, the women will also start the first “EndoWeek” next week.

“We want to be loud and inform people about the disease,” says Visetti. «Because I also felt helpless and alone for a long time with my illness. Now more and more people are coming to me and telling me that they suspect it affects them too,” she adds.

Visetti welcomes the decision of the National Council to provide more financial resources for endometriosis research in the future. Now the Council of States must also approve the decision before further measures can be taken.

She says: “We urgently need more research into this disease, this is the first step. It will be a long time before a drug comes onto the market that completely cures endometriosis. And perhaps this research will finally provide an explanation for how this disease arises in the first place.” It is important that those affected finally gain more visibility, especially at national level.

The Federal Council sees it differently: Research Minister Guy Parmelin asked on behalf of the Federal Council for the motion to be rejected. He pointed out that the National Fund already finances individual research projects in the field of endometriosis or related topics. Researchers have the opportunity at any time to apply for additional funding to carry out scientific projects. He does not think it is wise to politically dictate the research topic of endometriosis.