Monday, August 11, 2008

wicked webs and the missing link: endometriosis


Just realized there's a link between Endometriosis & CFS. Another piece of the puzzle comes together...


Years ago, I had a female GP who was the first person to mention the word endometriosis to me, and she explained that it might be worth checking out; however, it would have to be done with minimally invasive laprascopy, which would only tell us if there was an overgrowth, for which tissue removal was a temporary fix, but not likely a long-standing cure. Basically it would simply confirm or deny suspicions.


I have heavy periods, but they're not painful periods per se. I do have painful & chronic lower back pain & a general congested feeling in my pelvic area, combined with the fatigue and moodiness and irritable bowel/digestive disorders. I'd always associated the lower back flare ups to corresponding bowel flare ups, but never thinking there might be a 3rd flare up to blame for them both. It was only when I started to feel that the general pelvic area was "inflamed" that the thought of endometriosis came back into my mind.


Now with my CFS-minded research, I've tacked on endometrosis in my research criteria. Turns out, CFS is 100 times more likely in endometriosis patients than the general female population. Yeah, 100 times more likely & Fibromyalgia is something like twice as likely for endo sufferers. Apparently endometriosis is thought to cause (or contribute to) immune system dysfunction...and immune system dysfuction is known to instigate the viral infections & general CFS conditions.


My what a wicked little web my body has been weaving for me...but little by little, I am grabbing the threads to unravel it til I get to where I need to be.

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