Bowel endo issues or food intolerance?

[Amyrebecca246]

Hi, so as the title suggests - is there a way of knowing if my digestive/bowel issues are down to endo or is it a food intolerance? I have stage 4 endo, had two lots of laproscopic surgery to remove cysts and currently awaiting a potential third surgery. Last time the Dr said I had quite a lot of endo on my pouch of douglas. However around a year ago, after picking up a stomach bug at work (I work in a nursery) I found that my body no longer handles dairy. Try low fodmap diet, cut dairy from my food, take mebervene (?) tablets - its helped a bit but not completely. I can be fine for a week or two then I get a flare up with abdominal cramps and me running to the toilet every 10 mins. Went back to Dr's several months later, who made me do the low fodmap diet again, can't see any more food triggers but Dr is reluctant to say it may be caused by my endo. I know it's hard to see what endo is affecting (even though I've has several ultrasounds and a MRI in the past few months) but just wanted to know everyone else's experiences with this. Thanks 😊

[Scoutybob]

I'm really similar to this and I believe it's endo that's causing it. My bowel is attached and I have loads of issues. Sometimes I can go a good period of time without as you say, but then a flare up makes it really tricky. Today I was having a great time with my kids shopping for uni stuff at Ikea for my eldest when an attack suddenly hit and I was in agony. It's so frustrating.

[Catskils]

Are the MRIs being reviewed by endo specialist? You could ask your GP for a SIBO test to rule that out. Also keep a diary to see if bowel flare ups have a pattern consistent with your cycle. I was told for years I had IBS and it's been confirmed that I don't. It was always worse when I was ovulating. All the adhesions around my bowels contributed to my symptoms but after my surgery the bowel symptoms and pain on right side continued. In my case they've identified SIBO and adhesions in my small bowel, which may be endo related and would track with pain/symtoms being worse at points in my cycle. I hope you're able to get to bottom of it and symptoms improve.

[160467]

When I am bleeding I have blood in my stools I did a stool sample when I wasn't bleeding and the test came back clear so no signs of cancer whe

[BloomingMarvellous]

Get yourself a copy of Heal Endo by Katie Edmonds. Useful resource to help guide you through the morass of unknowns

[BloomingMarvellous]

Get your GP to do a stool test as well. You may have a resident bug causing issues.

[Amyrebecca246]

Thanks for the advice and info everyone. Dr's have done a stool test twice - both times came back clear, also blood test for coeliac. I'm not noticing any set pattern with it in regards to my cycle. No blood in my stools however have sometimes gotten sore to the point of bleeding from going so often/wiping. The MRI and scans are being reviewed by my Dr who has experience of Endo but I don't think it's his specialism however I've had four appointments to see him keep getting pushed back.

[Purpleindigo]

Hey,

Endo is very obvious on colonoscopy, so maybe request one of those?

Unfortunately, it doesn't rule out bowel adhesions which could contribute to some of your symptoms. But if there's no endo inside the bowels/rectum it's more likely to be IBS/IBD/intolerance.

[ccfd9]

is it a chicken and egg situation? A low FODMAP diet does not work for endometriosis. You need an anti inflammation diet, which has some differences. Although you have been tested for coeliac wheat may be an issues. What you eat is a key factor in everyone’s health and we are all different so you need to discover what is upsetting your digestion. You need to reduce oestrogen boosting foods or foods high in phyto-oestrogen’s. That may be the issue with wheat as it is sprayed numerous times with pesticides which is higher in bran and whole bran flour. Research has shown that about 80% of endo sufferers have an issue with wheat and about 60% with bovine dairy. Read “the devil in the milk” as cows (bovine) milk has a pro inflammatory effect. You need to see a good nutritional therapist like Dian Shepperson at the Endometriosis and Fertility Clinic endometriosis.co.uk/