# ENdo Or Ibs



## 20960 (Sep 16, 2006)

Ok i know there have been like 10 post about endo and ibs but my bf found a couple articles that suggest mabe we all have endo in the bowel or intestinal track. Im thinking i do cuz my periods are bad and sex is pain full even putting a tampon up there is painful. So here is the aretical check it out and let me know what you think and if this has rang true for anyone out there. It may be some hope to at least knowing where this is comeing from.http://www.obgyn.net/hysteroscopy/hysteros..._bowel_symptoms


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## Cherrie (Sep 1, 2006)

Hi BeanieI can see why you think you may have endo. The bowel symptoms of endo and IBS are so similar. My gut feeling (no pun intended) is that you really need to see an OB/GYN and get checked up to see if you have endo -- just by symptoms alone it is very hard to tell. I have most of the described symptoms and when I was a teenager my period was so painful that I felt nauseated (and even threw up at times) every time it came. But I don't have endo... So, it's really the best way to go and see a dr and get it checked...Hope you'll get some answers soon and keep us updated!


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## rockingirl (Jan 10, 2008)

The only way to know if you have endo is laproscopic surgery. But even then, you can have really small endo that doesn't show up but can still give you lots of pain. Does birth control seem to help your GI symptoms? That's usually an OBGYN's first step.


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## pukka (Nov 28, 2004)

[quote name='Beanie' date='Dec 5 2008, 12:13 AM' post='719697']Ok i know there have been like 10 post about endo and ibs but my bf found a couple articles that suggest mabe we all have endo in the bowel or intestinal track. Im thinking i do cuz my periods are bad and sex is pain full even putting a tampon up there is painful. So here is the aretical check it out and let me know what you think and if this has rang true for anyone out there. It may be some hope to at least knowing where this is comeing from.I was diagnosed via laposcopy with endo nov 2007 and IBS-C on 4/2003. I have pondered with this questions several times and I have come to my own conclusion. I noticed that when the anti-cholonergic works its my IBS-C acting up and if does not work it is my endo acting up. I am going to have an endometrial abulation in Jan to help with my heavy periods and I hope it will help with my IBS indirectly...since my IBS is triggered by my periods. I am also considering going back on zoloft because that helped my IBS a lot before.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

I definitely have IBS without any endometriosis symptoms at all.So I don't think that having IBS means one must always have endometriosis (after all guys get IBS, too.)There was a fairly recent case control study (one of the follow up letters just showed up in the IBSgroupster news feed)http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin...82062/HTMLSTART is the original article, but I'm not sure if everyone can read it. Here are a couple of quotes from the abstract


> Compared with the controls, women with endometriosis were 3.5 times more likely to have received a diagnosis of IBS (OR 3.5 [95% CI: 3.1-3.9]). Even after women had been diagnosed with endometriosis, they were still two and a half times more likely to receive a new diagnosis of IBS when compared with the controls (OR 2.5 [95% CI: 2.2-2.8]).


And this conclusion


> Women with endometriosis are more likely to be diagnosed with IBS and PID than controls, even after a definitive diagnosis of endometriosis has been reached.


What we don't know is if the endo is causing all the bowel symptoms by itself and so you really don't have IBS, or if the two diseases just tend to go together like Fibromyalgia and IBS do.They do say this in the main paper


> Our study reiterates the potential for diagnostic confusion in women with endometriosis. About 10% of women with endometriosis had been treated for IBS during the period before diagnosis


Which fits with how common they think IBS is in any part of the population. It is very common and a lot of surveys find 10% of healthy people have IBS symptoms, but not all of them may have been treated for it, so it still may be more than you'd expect. Alternatively it may be if you have both the IBS symptoms tend to be bad enough to seek treatment.


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## 20960 (Sep 16, 2006)

Sorry when i wrote the main post i ment to say some of us my have endo not all of us thats dumb lol.But anywho it is very interesting. I talked to my gyno and started taking a BC that stops your period so if it is endo hopefully ill get a lil relief. Iv onlly been on it 4 days but today i had some what of a normal bm but im not sure if its from being somewhat constipated of what. hum so confusing!!


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## AIRPLANE (Mar 15, 2004)

I suspect that there are many women with endo that are misdiagnosed as having IBS. It is very difficult to locate a physician who specializes in this condition- there was another poster awhile back who was fortunate enough to be treated by an endometriosis specialist in the UK- but even after visiting many different websites, there seem to be very few, at least in the U.S. I did find a couple of 'possibilities' in my area and am considering making an appointment with one of them in the spring or summer next year. I also came across a Center for Endo that sounds like it is in Georgia- which is not in my region but sounds like a good bet if you live in that area.Also, from what I've read, the birth control pill may not give adequate relief to everyone. I was put on it probably 15-20 years ago, and when I told the doctor it didn't help, he assumed that it couldn't be endo. I have read that this is not always the case. Even menopause and hysterectomy (whether partial or complete) don't always help. I had my uterus removed in 1998- got no relief from it. And none of these things alone can fix the damage that has already been caused by the condition- namely adhesions. These need to be excised by a knowledgeable doctor/surgeon- it sounds like quite a few who perform this type of surgery do not do a thorough enough job to obtain long-term relief.


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## 20960 (Sep 16, 2006)

Airplane, I live in california and i found that endo center also but obviously thats to far. Well i have been on the birth control pill for about a week and i have been a lil more constipated than usual witch may be a good thing cuz i take 2 or 3 immodium every other day so im gonna cut down on the imodium. But it hasnt been a ton of relief but im hoping. thanx for your replys!


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