Adenomyosis and rectal pain? (2005)

Hello All,

I am new here. I'm 42 and have been having progressively worse pain during my periods and also during ovulation. The pain usually starts while I'm having b.m. (sorry, I know tmi) It feels like I'm being stabbed in the rectum with a LARGE knife! Then, I begin to feel as if my uterus is being squeezed in a vise, like on GIANT cramp, the worst ever. This can last for hours and be reactivated by going to the bathroom. I have had probably 6-8 episodes of this the last year and a half, lasting from 4-10 days. My whole abdomen becomes tender and distended.

I started with a gastro and had a colonoscopy done, everything came back normal. I have had IBS for years and I know this pain is not the same, whole different ball park. When this pain is at its worst, I'm a hair away from passing out.

Two years ago I had an ablation for very heavy bleeding, a symptom of adenomyosis, as I understand it. At the same time, I had a septated cyst on my right ovary, so my doc did a laproscopic procedure to remove it. However, it had ruptured on its own. She said she explored during that time also and saw no endometriosis, so she doesnt believe that is the problem now. Besides, it would be unusual for it to suddenly appear in someone my age.

I've had an u/s and I do have another cyst on my right ovary, this time its a small complex one. She doesnt believe that is the cause of these episodes of pain. I dont either. Yes, I do feel the cyst and its annoying as heck, but its also not even in the same ball park as these other pains.

I'm wondering if anyone has had these types of symptoms, esp the rectal pain and if hyst solved it? I am leaning toward having a LAVH with oophorectomy, as I dont want anymore cysts and my ovaries are begining to fail anyhow (hot flashes, night sweats, family hx of early menopause) Also, my doc is leaning this way too, as her own mother died of ovarian cancer. She is not pushy though.

Does this course seem like a reasonable path to follow? Have you had these pains?

I had my hyster due to andeo and my syptoms were... horrible bleeding that was almost non stop even on birth control pills, stabbing pains in my abdomen, horrible back pain and painful (not quite stabbing) bowel movements. My hyster cured all of my pain. I had problems with cyst on my ovaries also, but I opted to keep them (I am only 30). I would much rather deal with the pain of cysts then go into instant menopause, I have heard it is rough but managable for some.
Good luck with your decision!!!

I felt like people did'nt understand the "rectal pain" I experienced during my periods. I could barely use the bathroom. It was also painful in my bladder. I'm now 4 weeks out and having "bathroom issues" related to the surgery and hope they get resolved soon.Stabbing was the way I would explain the pain I had. Hope yours get better with surgery.Take care~

Thank you both for your replies. I, too feel that ppl dont understand when I say rectal pain and hyst in the same conversation. I'm SO glad I had the gastro stuff checked out first, but cause I know that is what everyone is thinking. Well, that and that I'm crazy! lol

Tanner, I'm glad your hyst helped all your pain, that is what I'm praying for also. I'd hate to go through this and still have the pain.

Ingrace, I'm also relieved to see that you would describe the pain as stabbing also. I've only found a couple other ppl who understand what I'm talking about. As I understand it, the rectal and back pain is more common with a retroverted uterus. Which I definitely have.

BTW..I work for an ob/gyn office and I quizzed 5 of our docs and one of the nurse midwives. I received about as many answers too. Although, all but one said it was reasonable to at least do a lap and take a look. The remaining one said to go back to my gastro because it sounded like GAS!!! So, having a place like this to ask these questions is invaluable to me. Thank you again.

Just bumping, in hopes of more replies.

Although you feel alone in your symptoms, rest assured you are NOT! I went through the same kind of pain you described. My rectal pain was horrible and I was often reduced to tears during bm's.

I also described my pain as a stabbing pain at times. Often, during the weeks and days of the month when the pain was at it's worst, I would experience terrible pain while sitting and it would go on for days at a time. This pain came every month during my cycle and eventually progressed to the point that I had it 24/7. I described it to others as a feeling of impaling myself on a railroad spike. Each time I sat down I felt like I was driving the railroad spike straight up my rectum. This, in turn, caused pain in my tailbone. Eventually I learned to compensate for the pain I had while sitting by leaning to one side and sitting on one hip or the other.

For me, the pain was directly caused by deep, infiltrating endometriosis of my recto-vaginal septum and in the cul-de-sac. Once all the endo was removed the rectal pain was gone.

Eventually I had my uterus removed due to adenomyosis and two years later my ovaries removed due to recurring hemorrhagic cysts. I regret having my ovaries removed.

I feel for you. I know how miserable you are.

Hang in there.

Debbie

Debbie, [b][u]THANK YOU!!! Gosh, this place is a WONDERFUL resourse!! Thank you all!
Lorie

Hi Lorie,
I too know what those stabbing pains feel like yet I felt it was coming from my vagina. I had aTAH 2wks ago, kept ovaries but yet I am still experiencing that pain occassionally. I feel it's by bowel getting use to real food as it now only happens just before a bowel motion. I too had a very retroverted uterus. I don't regret my decision as my uterus was the size of 15wk pregnancy, this is the best I have felt in a long time. Good luck in your decision making.
Lilly

Hi Lilly, thanks for your response. I hope your healing is progressing and the pains you are having are like you said, bowels getting used to everything.

If you dont mind my asking, why did you have TAH and not LAVH?

I had almost the exact same problems but it always hit me a day or so before my period and lasted a few days into it. It would hit me out of nowhere. I felt like someone was stabbing me (My exact words to describe it to DH and friends) from my rectum and ended in my abdomen. I would double over in pain and just say "ow, ow, ow" over and over again until it would pass. I usually got some relief by having a bm as well. This just got continuously worse with each period and my periods began to get heavier. My gyno suspected Adenomyosis but the pathology report came back and said that what I actually had were malformed blood vessels in my uterus that were causing blood clots to form in the muscle of the uterus and thus the pain. This is a pretty rare condition and he hadn't even heard of it before but was going to research it for me. He said it was not life-threatening but just "different". I am soooooo glad I made the decision to have the hyst. My uterus was the size of a 12-15 week pregnancy - had it been any larger he said we would have had to go with the TAH - I had an LAVH. (Before hyst, I had a colonoscopy, pelvic ultrasound and CT scan) and am now glad since the scope came back normal.

It is always good to know there are other sisters out there that have experienced the same thing and we can lean on each other for help and support!