Background: Endometriosis is a chronic disease that affects about ten percent of the fertile women in the world and most of them also suffer from severe pain.

Aim: The aim of the study was to explore how women experience their quality of life while living with endometriosis.

Method: A literature-based study based on qualitative research to gain a deeper understanding of the experienced phenomenon was used. Eleven articles were included and analysed and reported in three main themes and nine sub-themes.

Results: The first theme was Life did not go as planned, which describes how women get reduced self-worth by not being able to live up to social norms and to expectations from their partner because of their incapability to accomplish pregnancy. The second theme was called, A life ruled by pain, which describes what it is like for women to live with the pain and how it has a negative impact on various parts of daily life. The third theme was called, to master their disease, and describes women's experiences of being treated with distrust and ignorance from healthcare, which made them seek knowledge on their own.

Conclusion: Women living with endometriosis risk that the disease affects several areas of life in a negative way, which contributes to reduced well-being and reduced quality of life. Nurses therefore need to have an understanding and knowledge of how they can respond to and support the affected women in a person-centred way to be able to help them reduce their suffering