Periods and Diarrhea?

[darylchristianne]

I've been finding recently that the worse my period is, the worse my bowel movements. It's hard to tell if it's just the cramping or if I need to run to the toilet, but by this point my muscles there are too sore to...yino is this normal? Is it more common/worse for women with endometriosis?

[Hells83bells]

I used to get this all the time. I used to get a burning sensation too so felt like dan upset tummy even when it isn't. I spoke to my GP and they said it's a common endo thing caused by increased hormones and because the bowel is so close to all your lady organs. I'm Pregnant now but still get that pain and panic when I need to do a number two. One of the other lovely symptoms of endo! A lot of people get wrongly diagnosed with IBS before they get an endo diagnoses x

[Starstellar7]

Hi, I have this too and it was one of the earlier symptoms of endo for me. I find it alternates between this and constipation at times. You can take medication for this if you find it is getting too much.

One way of reducing the amount of pain and disruption is to run birth control back to back or to go on a progesterone only pill. I've found that both of these can be helpful if it is getting too much.

Hope you feel better soon.

[Jdgirl030]

Prostaglandins are often the cause of this. They are released to repair the inflammation and help the uterus contract but unfortunately they can often have a contracting effect on the bowels. I guess the worse your period the more prostaglandins you are releasing.

popsci.com/science/article/...

[darylchristianne in reply to Jdgirl030]

Thank you, that was a very interesting link

[Looplou]

I used to always have pain having a bowel movement during my period and diarrhoea, or really funny loose stools. Then it got so it was painful to pass wind and painful even with no period. It seems I have recto vaginal endometriosis and ended up with an op to try and clear it. Have you seen your doctor/specialist about it? Think it's def one of the signs they look for and they could see my problem on an MRI. Good luck, hope that's helpful xx