We all need to be heard for a little while.

heartbreak_star

Thank you JM. I hope I can bounce back with a bit of help.

As I said to OH...currently I'm a bit like a cat. I can look after myself but it's nice to have someone to help

HBS x

tea_lover

Well HBS, if you're half as cute as my cat you'll be fine!

tea_lover

Am wavering on whether to see GP or not. Am not looking for medical advice, just wanting to get a few thoughts down and hope it becomes clearer if that makes sense.

Was diagnosed with endometriosis about 10 years ago, after many years of problems. Have had 4 or 5 surgeries for this, and various other treatments. Still have the odd bad day but it has been better overall in recent years. Last surgery was 2010, haven't seen GP or consultant about it since then. At the risk of TMI, most of the problems and the worst of the pain were bowel-related (common with adhesions where I have them).

After another morning of pain, bloating, mild nausea etc (as well as constant constipation) did some googling and obviously the first thing that comes up is IBS. A LOT of endo is initially misdiagnosed as IBS, and I'd always dismissed it and thought all the problems were caused by the endo.

Had a bit of a lighbulb moment this morning and just realised that there's no reason one person couldn't have both conditions!

Am now debating whether to see GP or not bother (takes about a month to get an appt). Even if it is IBS, there's not really anything medical that could be done. Could just be that a couple of cycles of IVF drugs have worsened the endo.

Clearly - I have no idea what I'm even asking here. As you can tell, there's no one around to speak to and I'm rambling worse than ever! Just fed up of feeling a bit rubbish all the time - in some ways the awful pain days are easier to deal with than the low-level nausea and general 'meh'.

Errata

Quickly, and HTH. What's your diet like? All these symptoms "After another morning of pain, bloating, mild nausea etc (as well as constant constipation)" can be caused by not eating the right stuff and too much of the wrong stuff.

tea_lover

Good point. Honestly, it's not brilliant at the moment. Not awful, but a combination of some busy evenings and a change in home circumstances has led to less 'proper' meals. Overall though it's usually not too bad. My diet since Christmas hasn't been great, but up till then I'd say it was generally pretty good.

I definitely need to get back on the wagon, foodwise.

Many years ago (before the endo diagnosis) I had to keep a food diary. There didn't seem to be any correlation with symptoms (although this was a long time ago and things can change). I might try this again - if I do decide to go to GP could be useful to go armed with data!

jobbingmusician

Ummm... I know we're not supposed to give advice on here, but here are some commonsense suggestions

1. If it would make you feel better to see the GP, go and see him/her! Worth getting checked out. And ask for a referral. They will be reluctant, but point out that you've already been diagnosed/had treatment and you shouldn't be feeling bad again.

2. Keep googling, and see if there are any sensible suggestions to help.

3. You will all get bored with me talking about this, but I've found that the 5:2 diet has helped all sorts of other stuff as well, due to the fact that it helps with visceral fat. You can be really skinny and still have loads of this..... Seems sensible if you have a bowel related condition to make sure there's as little as possible pressing on the OUTSIDE of the bowel, IYSWIM.

tea_lover

Am really tempted by the 5:2 diet - I keep hearing more and more health benefits and reasons to try it. Just not sure I have the willpower lol. Food is pretty much the highlight of my day

jobbingmusician

Ah yes, but it's not like a normal diet. You only have to put up with it for a day, and it makes you enjoy your food the following day even more! And it does get easier.

And I also suspect it helps regulate your poo

Buy the book and read it! It's really cheap on the tax avoidance site (Amazon) and it will inspire you!

tea_lover

Will definitely have a look, thanks.

When I'm cooking properly (which I haven't been the last few weeks), I have quite a few low-calorie meals so I reckon I could rustle up something half-decent within the allowances.

I lost 23 lbs last year but 6 has come back (eek!) so it's clearly something I need to get in hand. If I could sort out the constantly churning stomach at the same time.... bonus!

Errata

And I also suspect it helps regulate your poo

So does porridge for breakfast every morning, nothing better.;)