I know endometriosis sufferers are much more likely to have other auto-immune diseases than non-endo sufferers. I was diagnosed with endo in 2006 and ulcerative colitis this year. Hi! I have been reading a lot of research and theories about this connection. Many doctors theorize that there is a connection between gut flora, UC/IBS/IBD and auto-immune diseases.
I have had digestive problems for the past five years with what I believe is undiagnosed endo. I began a diet a couple of months ago to help with my digestive problems. I began noticing that my endo symptoms began to go down.
I asked other people on the diet about this, and talked with one lady who also had endometriosis. She was diagnosed with endo and began this diet for IBS reasons, I believe. Only 3 months later, she went back to her obgyn and the doctor was pleased that she didnt have endo any longer. The doctor asked what she had done. She said she had followed a diet. The doctor said that it IS possible to cure Endo with a diet but they arent allowed to recommend that because it is "alternative." The doctor was really proud of her for managing the diet and curing herself. :) I am hoping for the same outcome for me!
So, I think a lot of doctors realize there is a connection between gut issues and autoimmune disorders. I will paste below a bunch of links that can give you an idea of what is going on in your gut and how its affecting your body.
A brief summary of the physiology behind what is happening in a sick gut:
When you have UC, the small intestines arent able to digest food properly. The lining is damaged allowing tiny food molecules to pass through the lining into your body (sometimes called "leaky gut"). When this happens, your body reacts to the normal food molecules as if they are enemies. Another thing that happens is that when your lining is damaged, bad gut bacteria are able to eat the food that isnt digested. They multiply into huge numbers and give off some chemicals that arent good to have in the small intestine.
All of this causes an imbalance that shouldnt happen. I believe levels of hormones begin to go out of balance and somehow these gut particles floating around outside the gut begin to contribute to endo. growth.
From all that I have read and what I am experiencing, I recommed that you begin a diet to cure your UC. If you cure your UC, your endo will very likely subside.
You can talk with more people who have experience with curing their UC on the Pecanbread forum on yahoo groups.
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/pec...
The diet is called SCD (specific carbohydrate diet), created by a doctor more than 50 years ago and backed by loads of research and 50 years of success!!
Good luck!! Message me if you have any questions!
I am really excited about the diet!! It isnt a gimmick... no commercialized thing where you have to take meds or go to a support group or something. You just follow some basic guidelines which you can find on the site (you can buy a book about it if you are curious about the science behind it...) So it is really refreshing to find something that works that is free, easy and just requires that i have enough self-control to avoid milk, sugar and grains for some months. It takes about 1-2 years to cure UC, normally. I have noticed insane improvement in two months. For the first time in five years, I finally have digested poo!!
If you dont think you can plunge into the SCD yet, you can also try the caveman diet or the candida diet. I began the candida diet last september and then changed to SCD in April because I wasnt seeing enough results on candida.
These are very similar to the SCD. Candida requires no fruits or yeast... but some bread. SCD says fruits and yeast but no wheat bread (just nut meal bread). Caveman says no yeast, bread, but fruits, nuts and meats as humans were designed to eat and as caveman began to eat before we started genetically modifying are food to make it taste better. :) I was very impressed with the amount of information and suggestions posted by the person above me. I think it is worth trying.
I suffer from Endometriosis and then soon after I developed Fibromyalgia, RSD (which causes tremendous nerve pain), hypothyroidism, and IBS. So I do believe that having Endo can cause other problems to develop in the future. Because of my multiple medical problems, I am now disabled. I can't work with this amount of chronic pain...so I rely on a combination of things to help me get through it. I take pain medication, anti-inflammatory, muscle relaxer, do physical therapy, use a T.E.N.S. Unit, use heat therapy, and have period 'nerve blocks' performed. It is the only thing that has come close to making all of this managable.
The reason I mention all of this is to tell you to find what will work for you. I am not sure if there is any literature linking Endo and U.C. but I do hope you can find it. I've been looking but didn't find it yet. I know that WebMD would be a great place to look. In addition, you can check the Endometriosis Assn to see if they have any of the latest published articles regarding these too conditions. I hope this helps you.
I just want you to know that you are not alone in this. You have my support. Hang in there. |
