Endometriosis and UC? Obviously aimed at girls. may be graphic for men

so... i got my period for the first time when i was 8 or 9. i was only about 80 pounds and was dancing 2 days a week (so had little body fat). we couldn't figure it out, they just said it was premature puberty. that same year i started wearing bras and shaving, so we went with the premature puberty diagnosis and let it go. By my second period, I had awful cramps and nausea which started the week before my period. i also had irregular bleeding and noticed that my stomach got 1000X worse when i had it. as i got older i started to wind up in the hospital in the days leading up to my period from vomiting and pain. i'd be on morphine and all of a sudden i'd call a nurse to go to the bathroom because i had my period. i never got to use the "teen" pads either. my first period i was already on super. i went onto birth control very young, like 12 or 13 and wasn't really doing any better. For the past 4 or 5 years, i've been taking the pills non-stop (skipping the placebos) being in a state called pseudo-pregnancy. i was still bleeding a lot and getting full-blown periods (cramps and all) but on an irregular basis. we've tried going off the pills for a month (that was the worst month of my life), changing pills, upping the dose... nothing's made a difference. my doctor has mentioned endometriosis several times but as some of you know about me, i have serious issues with putting things up either hole down there. i had a very bad experience with an ex who was later arrested for raping a 15 year old girl (fill in the blanks... wasn't raped but came close). i'm petrified of going to a gyno and am currently looking (with my counselor) for one who specializes in vaginismus. if i do find one, i want to have some idea of if there's a relation between endometriosis and UC. have any of you had both and if so, did one affect the other? (like i said, i know my periods make my UC way worse than usual).

sorry... didn't mean to write a book.

Thanks for any advice you can give!

I don't have any advice regarding the endometriosis but I just wanted to say I'm sorry that you've had to go through this. I got my period when I was 9 too and believe me 30 years later I'm ready to be done with it. I had horrible cramping too but after having my first child that helped alot...however after my third child it got worse. When I was 18 and had my first trip to the gynecologist I was put on birth control and he also gave me a script for some pills to help with the cramping. Couldn't tell ya what they are but they were great...I plan on asking for something when I go to a new gyno next Monday. Sorry for rambling-the main thing I wanted to say is that when you do go see a gyno take someone with you to be in the room with you. Have them stand up by your head and hold your hand. Just that alone can be a great comfort. I had a nurse do this with me at the ENT the other day and even though I don't know her just that comfort made it seem a little more bearable. Good luck to you.

i was told it might be possible to find a gynocologist who was willing to take an ultrasound instead of doing an internal exam. like i said, my counselor was supposed to be helping me find someone, but she cancelled today's appointment and monday we just have like a 10 minute appointment for her to meet my mother before graduation.

also forgot to mention, this period is in the middle of a pack of my BC and the blood is thick and black. not sure if that's important or not.

An ultrasound (abdominal or vaginal) won't be able to detect endometriosis. If you don't want to do surgery, then a gynecologist would treat depending on symptoms (and symptoms vary by person), which basically comes down to some form a birth control or Lupron (puts you in a menopausal state). Laparoscopy is the gold standard for diagnosing and treating endometriosis.

Most gynecologists aren't that familiar with endometriosis. It would be best to find a gynecologist who specializes in endometriosis (just like you would want a GI who specializes in IBD).

hmmm interesting discussion , I too have heavy bleeding since the beginning of my period . I got it when I was 12. very painful and developed ovarian cysts but got it checked like 3 yrs ago , doc said I don't have it anymore. but every time of the month the period takes over and my UC gets much better and oesnt both me as much as long as I stay clear of trigger foods. this might have happened to me also becuz period tends to change after giving birth. maybe there is a connection between periods and UC for some. it almost seems like our immune systems can't handle an irregular function in our body and attacks our colon wrongly. whether its a yeast overgrowth or bad painful periods or diminished intestinal flora our immune system seems to get triggered in the wrong way. I feel like we r circling a cause for this disease but there just isn't enough funding or research or awareness on this disease. it's sad. rpgdancer I hope u go to a good Gyno and rectify this soon.