My Pelvic Pain Story: When Endometriosis Treatment Didn’t Help (And What Finally Did)
- Yaicha
- Apr 7
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 16
I still remember waking up in the middle of the night with a sudden, deep, throbbing pain in my left thigh.
At the time, I assumed it had to be structural — a nerve, a muscle injury, something mechanical that needed fixing. What I didn’t understand then is that pain that wakes you from sleep, especially when imaging is normal or inconsistent, can sometimes be a clue that the nervous system is the culprit of pain.
But back then, I didn’t know anything about neuroplastic pain. I only knew one thing: I was scared. And over time, the pain didn’t stay in one place. It moved — from my thigh, into my pelvis, then my buttock, and lower back. That part was especially frightening. Because when pain shifts, the mind often assumes it must be something spreading or getting worse. In reality, migrating pain can sometimes reflect a sensitized nervous system — but I didn’t have that framework yet.
When my nervous system was in survival mode
This all began while I was working inpatient during COVID. The hospital was overwhelmed. There was constant uncertainty, fear, and exposure to illness. My nervous system was living in a prolonged state of threat.
At the time, I wouldn’t have described it that way. I would have just said I was “stressed.”
But looking back, my system was clearly stuck in survival physiology — hyper-alert, exhausted, and never fully settled.
And when the nervous system stays in that state for long enough, the body often starts to express it through physical symptoms. Pain is one of those expressions.
The symptom pattern I didn’t understand yet
One of the most confusing parts was that my pain kept changing location and intensity.
Thigh. Pelvis. Buttock. Low back. Each change made it feel more alarming. But I now understand that symptom variability doesn’t always mean worsening damage — it can also reflect a nervous system that is highly sensitized and scanning for threat. At the time, I interpreted it as deterioration. That interpretation only increased fear — and fear amplifies the experience of pain.
Looking back: a longer pattern
When I later stepped back and reviewed my health history, I started noticing a broader pattern. Years earlier, I developed severe migraine with aura and episodes of numbness and tingling. Years before that, I had unexplained chest pain as both a child and a teenager. During intense training as a figure skater, I developed persistent back pain with no clear structural cause. At the time, each episode felt separate. Now I understand these experiences were part of a longer pattern of a nervous system that tends to express stress through physical symptoms.
Common examples of this can include:
migraines or headaches
IBS or digestive symptoms
dizziness
jaw pain or TMJ
chest pain or palpitations
tingling or numbness
fatigue
pelvic or bladder symptoms without clear structural cause
The endometriosis piece
I also have biopsy-confirmed endometriosis. I had surgery. It was real. And yet — my pain did not resolve after excision. This is something many people don’t expect, and it can be a major let-down. I felt hopeless when excision didn't lead to pain relief. Endometriosis can absolutely contribute to pain. But in some cases, treating the structural issue doesn’t fully resolve symptoms. That doesn’t mean anything was missed or failed. It may mean that pain has also become “learned” by the nervous system over time.
Everything I tried
Like most people in chronic pain, I tried everything I was told to do:
surgery
medications
pelvic floor physical therapy (multiple providers)
acupuncture
dietary changes and supplements
Some things helped temporarily. Acupuncture in particular often reduced symptoms — not because it was fixing damage, but because it helped regulate my nervous system. But I didn’t understand that at the time, so I kept searching for the “real answer” I hadn’t found yet.
The Turning Point
Everything shifted when I read The Way Out by Alan Gordon. For the first time, I recognized my own pattern — not just the symptoms, but the relationship between pain, fear, and stress. I started learning about neuroplastic pain — pain generated and amplified by the brain and nervous system in response to perceived threat. Not imaginary pain. Real pain, generated and perpetuated by the brain.
What actually helped
The biggest shift came when I stopped treating my pain as purely structural and started addressing it through the nervous system.
Approaches that helped included:
Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT)
Somatic experiencing and IFS work
Emotional awareness work (EAET principles)
learning to safely track sensations without fear
Over time, my relationship to pain changed — and so did the pain itself.
A harder truth
Recovery also required real-life changes.
I had to reduce chronic stress and step out of environments that kept my nervous system in constant activation. That ultimately led me away from inpatient medicine and toward work that was more aligned with my capacity and nervous system health.
This part is often overlooked, but it matters:
Healing isn’t just mindset. It’s also physiology and environment.
How to know if pelvic pain may involve the nervous system
Some patterns that can suggest a nervous system contribution include:
pain that migrates or changes location
symptoms that fluctuate
normal or inconclusive testing
stress-linked flares
symptoms that began during a high-stress period
multiple diagnoses without a full explanation
a history of other “unexplained” symptoms
treatment not fully resolving symptoms
If this resonates...
If you’re wondering whether this framework applies to your own experience, I offer consultation calls where we can look at your symptom history, stress load, and treatment path together. Sometimes having a clear framework is the first step toward making sense of something that has felt confusing for a long time.
FAQ: Neuroplastic Pain and Endometriosis
Can endometriosis cause neuroplastic pain?
Yes. Endometriosis can act as an initial trigger that sensitizes the nervous system. Over time, the brain can learn pain pathways that persist even after endometriosis is treated.
Why do I still have pelvic pain after excision surgery?
There are many possible reasons, including scar tissue, pelvic floor dysfunction, ongoing inflammation, or nervous system sensitization. If your symptoms persist despite multiple treatments, neuroplastic pain may be part of the picture.
Is neuroplastic pain “all in your head”?
No. Neuroplastic pain is real pain created by real brain pathways. The brain is the organ that generates pain — this doesn’t make it imaginary, it makes it treatable. When The brain changes, pain changes!
How do I know if my pelvic pain is neuroplastic?
Common signs include migrating pain, stress-triggered flares, normal imaging, multiple unexplained symptoms, and persistent pain despite treatment. A full history and symptom pattern review is often the most helpful way to determine this.
What treatment works for neuroplastic pelvic pain?
Evidence-based approaches include Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT), Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET). It's important to know that the best treatment for you, is likely to be individualized. A therapist or pain coach can help you determine what approaches will be most helpful to focus on.
If you’re wondering whether neuroplastic pain could be contributing to your pelvic pain, I offer a free consultation call to help you explore that question.
We’ll look at:
your medical history
your symptom timeline
what you’ve tried
neuroplastic assessment
and more...
Sometimes one conversation is enough to create clarity and hope. If this resonates, you can book a free consult below, or start with my Library and Resource page to learn more.
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