Endometriosis Can Be Constipating

"Today was Anna's 33rd birthday, celebrated in hospital agonizing in pain as a result of three weeks severe constipation. It must have been a jerk on duty that day for despite her medical history of being an IBS patient, she was told to go home after a heartbeat check.

Anna became very angry, rightfully so. She had tried laxatives. She eliminated wheat, sugar, diary, yeast, caffeine - all thought to aggravate IBS from her diet. However, she got no relief. Instead, her periods lasted as long as two and a half weeks and sex became unbearably painful.

She blew her top at her doctor and had a colonoscopy but still could not find anything wrong. In the end she solved the mystery of her six-year pain when she stumbled across an endometriosis website."

Story 2

"An IBS patient suffered from pain at the right side of her belly button along with nausea, constipation and pain after eating. She decided to have laparoscopy - a minor surgical procedure where two small incisions were made on her tummy to insert a ball pen tip size camera. Her surgeon saw her intestines stuck to her uterus and right ovary, and her appendix stuck to the top of her uterus! The 'minor' surgery turned into a rather 'major' one as the surgeon had to remove the appendix and adhesions caused by severe endometriosis. After that, she felt much better."

Difficult to Diagnose

Rogue uterus lining cells can travel far away from the pelvic area- even up to the nose! ( I assume having a menstruating nose is better than having a menstruating intestine, at least the former has an outlet for blood to flow out of the body ) When they stray to the intestines, the symptoms they cause depend on how far they penetrate into the intestine. For example, when a woman has endometriosis on the outer layer of her intestines, she may have nausea, bloating and loose stools during menstruation. Endometriosis that goes deeper into the inner layer of the intestines may cause rectal bleeding. Other intestinal issues such as constipation, diarrhea and alternating constipation and diarrhea may occur.

The irritating part is, a woman doesn't have to have endometriosis on her intestines to be as constipated as Anna mentioned at the outset. Other organs which are not suppose to menstruate, form lesions that can affect normal body functions resulting in a bewildering array of symptoms in which painful periods and sexual intercourse are the classics while constipation is considered the "not quite as common symptoms" affecting less than 10 per cent of endometriosis patients.

I think another reason why it is difficult to figure out endometriosis is that many doctors themselves do not have periods. Therefore, when female patients complain about intermittent constipation or diarrhea, or alternating bouts of the two the last thing on the doctor's mind is whether these problems vary with their patients' monthly cycles.

Even these days as doctors become more endometriosis conscious, it is still difficult for many women to discover the actual problem. Endometriosis may hide at parts of the body which even escape detection of laparoscopy. There is a nurse who had to go through four laparoscopies within sixteen years to confirm her endometriosis! Doctors thought that a 35-year old woman in Greece had colon cancer. However, there were some conflicting information. It turned out that it was a rare case of endometriosis in the innermost layer of her sigmoid colon. The woman must have been very scared while going through her medical examinations.

On average, it took a patient eight years to figure out. In many cases, doctors had to remove the reproductive organs by the time they find out. The notion that endometriosis affects women from their thirties upwards also makes it difficult for patients as young as 11 years old to get an accurate diagnosis.

Beware of Painful Periods and Constipation

I shudder as I recall my first menses cramp, bloating and constipation when I was seventeen. Fortunately, it wasn't endometriosis and I found a few effective natural reliefs. Knowing that our uterus lining cells called endometrium could turn renegade, should make us never to overlook the combination of period pains and constipation. Especially constipation that gets no relieve despite sensible diets.

Natural Relief?

Berries of the Chastetree or Agnus Castus is one of numerous herbs that is said to relieve menses cramps and constipation caused by endometriosis which has no cure. I am sure each endometriosis sufferer would have different remedy/remedies. I would like to invite you to share you effective remedy here.

How Do You Relieve Endometriosis?

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References

1.Reclaim Your Life - Your Guide to Aid Healing of Endometriosis By Carolyn Levett

2.Endometriosis for Dummies By Joseph Krotec, Sharon Perkins

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