# Endometriosis progress



## Amz (Jun 4, 2009)

i had wrote a topic last month about my problems. Since then ive been back to the dr and he thinks i have endometriosis and im going to see a gyno.I went to the dr after being bloated badly, even after i had a bm i was still bloated, he thought i was chronically constipated but when he felt my tummy there was nothing much there. i told him that i get pain during and after sex alot, my periods can be heavy and sore, irregular when im not on my pill, i get headaches alot and fatigue, constant pms, water rentention, period pains and my bowels have been playing up and my left sided pain is worse.I get a tender tummy and left sided crampy pains as well as on the right,he said this can be endo. He said often endo can be mistaken for ibs cos it can cause symptoms similiar to ibs such as constipation, diaherah, bloating.I got mild constiapation after taking codeine for the pains, which gives me indigestion aswell. Today (a week before the end of my pill pack) i had loose bowle movements (5 on the bristol stool chart) usualy id have a 4 on the chart. I was constipated and stressed yesterday,never ate anything diffrent so i think maybe my body is trying to clean itself out and becos my periods near.My last period lasted two weeks thas when i took the pill! and the night before i was in agony, my backs always sore and i get this weird sensation in my left side like popcorn popping around..its really weird.The dr told me that many woman get bowel problems near there periods and when you have endo you can get it moreso or all the time along with the other symptoms of periods. I know my friend gets loose bowels on her period, so im not that worried.when i pee it is sometimes sore and burns, and i have to keep going other days i cant go. When on my period having a bm can be uncomfrotable and sore too and i only know when i really need to know cos i get period cramps and cramps in my back..as my other symptoms have got worse so have my bowels.I was really stressed out yesterday which may of made my bms looser this morning. Im not really sure how itall works, endo and the conection to the bowels i think it might be the hormones?Does anyone else here have endometriosis and get bowel problems with it too?


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## Thai (Aug 22, 2007)

Don't have the problems any more but sure used to.The thing with endometriosis is it will travel to other sites, which is what it did in my case.My answer to that particular problem, in the end, was a hysterectomy with a bowel resection to remove the part of the bowel that had become infected with the endo.Certainly not a recommendation to you for your problem, just a story to let you know that this is not uncommon by any means.Thai


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## Amz (Jun 4, 2009)

i think ive had it since i started my periods at 10, it took two years for them to regulate and i took tablets to help with pain. Then they were okay, at about 14 i went on the pill for my acne and then my periods were regular as i took the pill, they were very light too. Then i got the implant in for contraception as i kept forgetin to take the pill then after a couple of days with that my period started, heavy and sore..and then didnt stop..after about 2 months with no real break between my periods i was put back on the pill which afer a while controled them again. My dr now thinks looking back maybe this was endo and not the implant, as soon as it was taken out witihin 5 days and bieng on the pill i was fine again. Then since about 2 years ago ive been having constant period pains, i thought this wuld be the after effect of the implant but it just got worse. I thought i hda a water infection as i kept needing to urinate and it was burning, after numerous swobs and urine samples to test for stis and infections they came back negative, i got given antibiotics anyway, they didnt help..so in the end i had 4 diffrent antibiotics ina month which made me sick, the dr said that this is a symptoms of endo -needing to urinate alot and it burning and that prob the cause as i never had any infection. I got tested in the hospital for all of these things again all fine. Dont have anything wrong with my bowels and no infection or whatever was found in my stool sample, i sometimes get blood in my stools this could be endo too apparently. when the urine samples and swobs were taken i was having painful sex like a deep pain, so they thoght i might have chlamidya, i get regular sti tests whcih have all been negative, and i practise safe sex with new partners. after the tests came back negative i wish they looked into it more as the anti-biotics only ended up making me sick! It could be sorted by now, as now i have constant period pains and most the time sex is sore, i ust have to do tonnes of foreplay and use lubes...which can be fun. I think that when i had 3 weeks of cnstant diaherah endo might have been to casue cos i hadnt had my period, i also had antibiotics which might of made problems worse. The day i left the hospital i was fine bowel wise and the next day my period started and my bowels went back to being fine..i told them there my periods were heavier and sorer, i got told its cos i have diaherah and my bodys under stress and not absorbing my pill and when your on your pill you get a fake period! After all the tests run on my bowels, stool samples, urine samples, swob tests..you think they would know something else was up as taking pills and chaging my diet made no diffrence.


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## Guest (Jun 17, 2009)

I use to have heavy flow cycles when I was in my 20's. The lower abdominal pain was Brutal.One time , not even on my cycle , I had abdominal pain so SEVERE it doubled me over and I collapsed and passed out.My husband got me awake and he rushed me to the ER Hospital.They did an Ultra Sound of My lower stomach and it showed My Ovarys had EXPLODED and I was bleeding to death internally.They rushed me straight into the OR and I had to have a Total Hysterectomy at age 29.They said my Ovarys had Exploded because they were Severly infected with Endometriosis.My word of advice > If you have a confirmed case of Endo , don't let your doctor Shrug this off as being un-important.get it taken care of Immediatly. It does have the potential to kill you , like it almost did to me.


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## Amz (Jun 4, 2009)

ive got to go to the hospital still - they keep canceling their clinics and giving me other dates..now im in the end of august so wont be able to go back to college atleast another year! I cant work with it and thers no jobs anyway..how good a employee would i be when im on my period and gotta take the whole week of? and before my period comes i get upset tummy. Not to mention the constant mood swings and period cramps.Im seeing my doctor today, hopefully he got in touch with the hospital now and has managed to fit me in by next month. I cant keep living in pain. Hes pretty sure its endo anyway cos all my symptoms point toward it.


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## Cathy in CA (Feb 5, 2009)

Here's my understanding of endrometriosis and some of my experiences....It is thought that Endrometriosis happens in development, so one is born with it. The endrometrial cells are supposed to be only inside the uterus, and are sloughed off during menstruation to clear up a nice clean place for possible conception. But when the hormones come along and tell them it's time for menstruation, those outside the uterus cells try but alas, they have no way to exit the body so they must be painfully absorbed. Those cells can always be in the same wrong place or change. And oddly enough the level of pain does not necessarily correlate with the severity of the condition. I had the misfortune of having horrible pain, such heavy, longlasting periods that I was badly anemic, since age 8, and later in my early twenties it was discovered in my first surgery that I had a very severe case of endrometriosis. Not everyone's case is like that. As far as diagnosing it is concerned, the only way to do it is to see it visually, so nowadays that can be done in a simple 20min laparoscopy. If no work is needed inside, you are home that same day .Those wrong place cells may do damage to what they are on. For example, one year, I told my dr I was positive it was on my bladder. After having bad bladder infections in the past, I knew where bladder pain occurs on me but unlike those times I had no burning/pain or urgency. Doc said well, that's pretty rare, but we haven't seen you in surgery for over a year so we'll just do a laparoscopy. My husband was told I'd be all done in 1/2hr so got alarmed when he hadn't heard in over 2 1/2hrs. It turned out I was right; it took all that time to carefully scrape it off my bladder. I do not know if it was on my colon or intestines because I was already suffering from the diarrhea+pains of Ulcerative Colitis. Diarrhea definitely increased in those 2 weeks of the month and I was on lomotil and something I can't remember but it is an opium derivative. Anyway, I was more than miserable. Once I was in the hospital for 2 months for UC so naturally got my periods (2 weeks ea month). Both acting up badly caused excrutiating pain I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.I'm not really up on the latest treatments of endrometriosis these days, but I bet the docs love these new birth control meds that create a long long rest between periods. The goal is to allow those wrong place cells to quiet down somehow and maybe go inactive. I was on some kind of heavy duty hormone injections to try to achieve that once but due to side effects, had to stop so never found out if it would've worked. My story is that I wanted a baby so bad, I found a Dr I knew would respect my wish to not have a hysterectomy unless absolutely necessary. He sure did... 5 times I awoke from anesthesia to hear he just removed a damaged tube, ovary, part of the other ovary, scraped it off this or that. Eventually had only 1 bad tube, 1/4 of one ovary and had developed adenomyosis so my uterus was a mess inside. Obviously, I ended up with the full hysterectomy. Within months after the last final surgery my life was sooooo much better; I was still a sick girl with bowel disease, but all my pain from endrometriosis was gone and I was no longer anemic. I was 27. Luckily, my husband and I were already on adoption waiting lists so only 1 1/2yr later, we became parents and then 1 1/2yr after that, we were blessed again. Please don't let this scare you; not everyone with endrometriosis goes through all that and I'm hoping the newer meds(+birthcontrol) help.Sorry this is so long. I hope it helps you somehow.Cathy


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## M&M (Jan 20, 2002)

After having struggled for years with bad endo, the past few years I've been on the Seasonique BC pill. You only get 4 periods a year. My endo has never been under such good control. My periods on Seasonique are so light and so easy, I rarely even have to take any pain meds! When I do have pain, it is controlled with over the counter pain meds, rather than having to take loads of different Rx pain meds. Every woman's body is different, but for some of us (I'd even venture to say many of us) endo can be well managed without surgery. It make take you a few years even to find the right combo of meds, but it can be done. Before finding Seasonique, I was on almost every formulation of BC pill out there, and had tried a large number of Rx pain meds too, all with very limited success (or, some would work for a while, but then loose their effectiveness). Seasonique has been a miracle for me. I wish you the best, and truly hope you can find something to help you.


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## Amz (Jun 4, 2009)

For years i took two pill packs together..so every 2 months id have a period, it was just so a period didnt ruin my plans etc and it was more convient, this worked..but now its stoped, il just get aperiod when its least expected..i could just be walking down to the shops and feel my period coming and have to rush home to sort myself out.Saw the doctor yesterday and asked him to feel the lump im feeling on my left hand side, which gets bigger when im on my period and this is where alot of my pain is coming from all the time, and when this gets bigger my bowels play up..he said it feels like thick muscle..and this could possibly be a pouch of endo.which wouldt explain my tummy issues near that time of themonth.So, i asked him does he think i have ibs or is this the endo?He said he thinks its endo, i have all teh symptoms which often minic ibs and since my tummy plays up when my period is due then its most likely this.I told him i ate load of fruit to see if this made my diaherah worst, cos if i had ibs-d i thought it would yeh? wel it didnt..it was the same the next day..i dont get diaherah first thing in the morning, it could be 11 or 2..anytime, usualy about 11 thats when i would normally open my bowels, sometims first thing after breakfast though. He recons becos of my diet and everything its endo. Im happy at this in some ways, that my digestive system is healthy cos he said endo can be treated well and if they find anything near my bowel, or on my left side they can burn it away to relieve the symptoms and pain.


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## Guest (Jun 24, 2009)

I got my period on my wedding night.We just came home from the church and reception and I walked into the bathroom to "P" and damned if I didn't start my cycle.I came out of the bathroom crying and my husband asked what was wrong ? I told him and he just smiled and said it was no big deal , we'd have the rest of our lives for "Fun" nights.I'm glad I had a total Hysterectomy afew years later , NO more periods.Fun nights every night then.


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## Thai (Aug 22, 2007)

AMZ, Not everyones IBS is caused by what they eat or don't eat.So just because you ate a bunch of fruit and it did not worsen your symptoms does not mean that you don't have IBS.Same for the timing of your episodes.Some people have morning probs and others have issues right after they eat anything!Would be nice if all of us were the same and the same fix worked for us all, wouldn't it.So much easier than what we are going through now.Thai


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## Amz (Jun 4, 2009)

I can eat and drink whatever i want with no problems..il go for a normal poo every day or 2. The general jist i got was most people will have some sort of food trigger.My dr doesnt think ive got ibs now, simply becasue i can eat anything..spicey foods, greasy foods..raw fruits..and alchol doesnt affect me either. Ive had tests done to rule out anything else, becasue i get blood in my stools..like alot..and loads on the toilet roll too. Alot of my problems are suspected to be endometriosis, as i have stomach problems when i get worst period pains. if my period isnt as bad one month my tummy isnt either..my periods, pain and tummy all seem to work together. As my problems with my periods have been getting worst so has my bowel problems.The only reason i had behind geting told i had ibs (didnt have any other tests them) just exceptionaly bad periods was because before my periods i would get constipated or diaherah.


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## Thai (Aug 22, 2007)

Amz said:


> . The general jist i got was most people will have some sort of food trigger.


Absolutely a lot of people do BUT a lot of people don't either.Thai


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## Amz (Jun 4, 2009)

IBS seems to be a confusing thing to have. My period stoped yesterday and now my bowels are back to normal..no diareah no constipation yay!


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## Lookin'foraLife (Jan 2, 2009)

Do any of you know: If I had endo wouldn't I have inflammation? I've had tests done to check for internal inflammation and they came back negative. Does that mean I can rule out endo?I also let my period come only once every 3 months with BC pills and my pains are still as awful as ever, they just get that much worse with my period though.Anything at all besides laparoscopy to check for endo?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Pain occurs for a lot of reasons. You do not need inflammation to have pain.Found this with googlehttp://books.google.com/books?id=_rH7xoerY...lt&resnum=3Typcially sed rate is normal in endometriosis patients. I do not think the immune system is attacking the tissue in the wrong places. After all it is normal tissue, just in the wrong place.


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## Lookin'foraLife (Jan 2, 2009)

Thanks Kathleen, this was very helpful.


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## ROMD (May 10, 2007)

Hi Cathy -Do you think that your IBS-D symptoms have improved since you've had your hysterectomy?


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