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Post by henkn99 on Dec 20, 2005 3:44:10 GMT -5
:-/For those of you that have endometriosis as well as an IBS disease, do you notice that the IBS flares up when the endo flares up during your period???
I was diagnosed with colitis, which is an IBS disease, before I was diagnosed with endo...It kinda sprung up all of a sudden, I was hospitalized to have fluids and a colonoscopy, and there they found the colitis...Ever since, the pelvic pain starts, then the stomach cramps, and the colitis flares up which has me in the bathroom ALL the time - the period is about 3 days later..Then usually the period subsides (usually) and the colitis continues for another week or so, then I am back to normal for another 2 weeks before the vicious cycle starts again...
Anyone else have this problem???
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Post by friendo on Dec 20, 2005 21:57:25 GMT -5
Hi h99
Inflammatory bowel disease is a broad spectrum term the white coats use for otherwise undiagnosed bowel inflammation. It is a term over used by doctors as if it were a conclusive diagnosis, which of course it is not. It is merely a "label" to encompass a broad range of bowel/colon symptoms, and not a "definitative" diagnosis per se.
Relative to endometriosis however, if you can appreciate, that endo tissue within the pelvic cavity responds to your monthly hormonal ebb and flow, and bleeds or sheds just as the uterus does during your period, then it is easier to understand how the colon (and bladder, tubes and ovaries and other pelvic organs, ligaments, nerves etc.) can be "webbed up" in all this tissue..., thus it seems like a so-called IBS "flare up".
Dunno if i am explaining this very well, but what i am trying to convey, is that rather than IBS being an isolated medical condition in it's own right "flaring up" during certain times throughout the menstrual cycle, it is possible there may be bowel involvement of endo, and your colon is responding to your cycle. The two week mid point you describe would coincide with ovulation, and the "viscious cycle starting again". Assuming the colitis was unrelated to the endo as a cause of the colitis, it would likely be aggrievated by endo lesions on the bowel responding to monthly hormone flux.
(Blah... i am crap at explaining stuff, sorry.)
Take care.
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Post by pinkcowgirl on Dec 23, 2005 15:51:38 GMT -5
I was diagnosed with endo and have become frustrated with countless doctor appointments even to other states. I have the same problem but was never diagnosed for anything like IBS, I get sick a few days before my cycle and also about a week after.I was wondering what type of treatment you have been using and if anything has worked for any of you
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Post by ouchy on Jan 20, 2006 10:54:22 GMT -5
i have been told by specialists that basically, if you have IBS occuring mainly with your period (painful bowel movements w/ period)...that there is usually some gastrointestinal involvement, mainly appearing as endometriosis. i had noticed this since i was 12 years old. everytime i had my period, bowel movements were hell. during my first lap, they found endo on my appendix. second lap, they found that the endo had adhesioned my appendix up and backward and on to the cecum (part of intestines), and also my sigmoid colon was adhesioned sideways and on to my pelvic wall. After these organs were freed, no more IBS!!! hope this gives you some new avenues to explore!
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camy
New Member
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Post by camy on Jan 20, 2006 21:48:28 GMT -5
Your story reminds me a lot of mine.. I have yet to be diagnosed with endo, but I have done a lot of testing to rule out IBS since I would have rectal bleeding all through the week of my period and the week after. I also only have 1 week where I do not experience loose stools in my cycle and it would have to be ovulation week, but then, I have been experiencing ovulation pain recently, so it leaves only a few days without pain. I experience the stabbing pain very low in my belly, like some endo sufferers experience. IBS was suspected in my case, but since the colonoscopy and baryum enema came back negative, both of my doctors are thinking more and more it could be endo.
'nyway.. good luck with sorting through all this!
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Post by Lena on Feb 3, 2006 14:24:58 GMT -5
I have Endo, stage 2, and recently was told I have IBS, although no tests for that were done. I have diarrhea nearly every day. But when I have my period it's more intense and more frequent. I was also told by a doctor a few years ago I was lactose intolerant, so who knows about me. I do know I get diarrhea with anything I eat.
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Post by ouchy on Feb 3, 2006 17:17:45 GMT -5
Hi, Lena. I was first diagnosed w/ IBS. The diarrhea used to only be during my period (this was back when i was 12-19). I'm 25 now, and for the past year and a half or so, it has been constant (if I eat anything fatty--and i also had gall bladder tests to rule that out as a possibility). I had another lap and they found my sigmoid colon was twisted sideways and adhesioned to my pelvic wall and my appendix was flipped up and backward and adhesioned to my cecum and intestines (all from the endometriosis). after that, i have less "IBS"... but actually yesterday, for the first time since june or so, i ate something reallllly fatty, and i am still crunched over in pain today!!! I hardly ever have totally solid stools, so I know what what you are going through. I had a sigmoidoscopy, and the gastrointerologist said that the constant diarrhea is due to the endometriosis (in my case), and he did not see any polyps or anything like cancer.
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Post by Lena on Feb 6, 2006 10:31:38 GMT -5
I sympathize with you. I always worry about going out to eat somewhere or visiting someone. With me I notice I get it the worse in the mornings and it eases off after noon. But I'm like you, I can't really remember the last time my stools were hard. I know all of this is a little gross and embarrassing to talk about. But I've always been curious to know if it's all related. I started having the diarrhea problems when I was about 25, I'm 33 now. I was diagnosed last Feb, with Endo, stage 2. I remember my periods hurting around the age of 25, cause I talked to my sister about then. I asked her about if periods get worse as you get older (she's older then me) and she said hers was better then when she was younger. That was the first time I remember thinking something might be wrong. Back then I didn't know Endo or even hear of it until about 4 years ago when my other sister was diagnosed with it.
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Post by ouchy on Feb 6, 2006 12:57:50 GMT -5
I know for sure some of my problems are endo related and wondering now if my gall bladder tests were flawed and something really is wrong w/ the gall bladder. I guess time will tell! Yah. It is an embarrassing subject, and I was so embarrassed for years that I never told anyone...even the doctor! It wasn't until I had a doctor take my "menstrual cramps" seriously that I revealed that bit of info to him. Also that the IBS meds weren't working. It was just another piece of the endo puzzle that fit together. Then during my lap, my intestines were all glued together. Nice. You know, I have found my current male gynecologist (one who dx'd endo) to be more sympathetic and understanding and will take me seriously..more than female gynecologists i've been to. I really think that the females tried to compare my symptoms to their "lack of symptoms" and believed it to all be in my head. I'm so glad I found my current gyn.
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Post by Lena on Feb 6, 2006 14:31:41 GMT -5
You know what! That's exactly what I've been feeling, I mean about the female gyns. I never have been to a male doctor about the Endo and someone suggested me to go the male doctor they see and I'm going to just as soon as I can. Every female doctor I've seen so far just isn't doing much for me, all I keep getting is "do the Lupron, there's nothing else to do". And the last one I saw that me and hubby both didn't care for said nobody complains about the shots giving them bad side effects. Now I don't believe that because this doctor has ALOT of patients and she can't tell that not one person has complained about the Lupron shots. I asked 3 times and she kept saying the same thing, there is nothing to worry about. I was going to do it until I talked to a woman on the phone one day that told me how bad it was for her. And I started doing research and found it to be too scary for me.
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Post by ouchy on Feb 6, 2006 15:06:40 GMT -5
i know SOOOO many women who have hated Lupron! My cousin is one of them! I'm not saying that there is no one who it has helped, as I know a friend of my who it did help (until she stopped taking it), and there is someone on this forum Lupron helped, while she was taking it. The downsides, according to my cousin, were hot flashes, bone loss that in her case did NOT regenerate--and she was only in her 30's, moodiness, and gosh, her list went on and on. And, when she stopped taking Lupron, everything grew right back.
There are a lot of alternatives to Lupron. I am on a high progestin birth control pill continuously so that I do not have a period. If I have breakthrough, I double up on the pills a couple days to make it stop (my gyn. told me this little trick). There are also several IUD's to choose from (but I have enough problems there..I don't think in my case having an "intruder" up there hanging around constantly would be good for me). Be careful about the depo provera shot "depot" or "the shot" for short, though, because it can also cause bone density loss as with Lupron. My gyn. was up front with me about all of this--different options and side effects; so, that helped in gaining my confidence in him.
If you don't feel comfortable with your gyn.'s answers, then yah, it is a great idea to switch or at least get a second opinion. If she was telling you that Lupron is your only option and not entertaining other options at all...head for the hills. There are always other treatments available. Best of luck! ~ouchyyyyyy (i got my screen name from endometriosis...OUCHHHHH!)
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Post by Lena on Feb 6, 2006 16:20:27 GMT -5
I'm on Seasonale...and I love it. I have never had a problem with it at all. But I know of others who have. It was the only bc I could handle. Ortho-tricyclen was horrible for me. But with seasonale I feel much better taking it then any other. I've heard the same about the depo shot to. I'm only 33 and this lady I talked to that had taken the Lupron said she gained 30 pounds and hot horrible hot flashes and while she was on it, her pain never subsided. Of course she was in Stage 4 of Endo and had had 3 laps. She said she'd never do the Lupron again. She said she's tried everything and was suppose to have a hyst. She's younger than me. Oh and that day I saw my last day that me and my hubby didn't like she actually said to me "there was a girl in here the other day who has Endo who is only 16" as if she was telling me to say "you think you've got it bad"...
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Post by Lena on Feb 6, 2006 16:22:09 GMT -5
ugh, I hate typos...I meant to say the last day I saw my doctor she told me about the 16 year old.
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Post by ouchy on Feb 6, 2006 17:48:19 GMT -5
Yah. I know what you mean. I assume I have had endo since my very first period when I was 12--I've had the exact same type knife-stabbing/twisting pains in the same locations. I went to doctor after doctor (not gyn.) telling about my pain, and all of the doctors told me it was "normal" and I even had one tell me that it was not as bad as I was making it out to be. Well, one day when I was 19, I was in the bathroom changing a pad...and I woke up later on the bathroom floor. I literally passed out from pain. So, I went to see another doctor (again not gyn.) and I told her about the pain and asked if I could have an rx for birth control. She said that she would not write an rx, even though it was for menstrual cramps without doing a va-gi-nal (had to abbreviate so wording wouldn't get changed on my post!) exam. I tried to explain I was a virgin and didn't need the exam when she couldn't tell anything from that anwyay! She told me that virginity isn't that important! Welll, to me it was! She wound up just giving me an rx for Vicodin. It wasn't until I was 23 that I found my godsend gynecologist who actually took me seriously. Luckily the "inspection" wasn't that emotional for me since I had been married for a couple years... but the speculum hurt like heck! I still hate speculum exams, because the speculum hurts me like mad!!!
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Post by Tina on Feb 13, 2006 12:14:48 GMT -5
Actually, Colitis is not IBS it's IBD otherwise known as Inflammatory Bowel Disease. IBS is Irratable bowel syndrome. My husband has Crohn's Disease. Sorry I had to correct it.
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