Endo on the bowel pics? I'm not a Dr. but...

This may sound crazy but- I have symptoms from what I can gather- of endo on the bowel and bladder. I was looking back at those lovely color pictures my Dr. did of my laps. Last laparoscopy was Jan 15 2009. In those pictures you can plainly see my colon/lower intestine. Running across what looks like a ligament or two over my intestine is red bloody stuff which looks exactly like the stuff that my Dr. said was endo everywhere else. Basically anything that was red OR white he said was endo and I have it running across my intestine. Doesn't that seem like endo on the bowel?? He never diagnosed that...or told me if he got rid of it there, just said he excised and burned off or froze all visible endo....but when I look at the pictures it seems clear to me something going on w/ the intestine. Maybe its just me?

Oh and my bladder was "inflammed" but he really couldn't say why and said if I wanted to know I should talk to a urologist.

Just wondering if anyone actually has seen pics of endo on the bowel (or bladder I guess) and what the heck it looks like. I did NOT see any blood red stuff on the bladder though just the lower intestine. Incidentaly that is right where I experience terrible pain with BMs especially at that time of the month.

First, I would suggest scheduling an appointment and sitting down and talking to your doctor about the pictures. Ask him to explain what you are seeing and if the pictures are before or after endometriosis was removed. It is possible that what you are seeing is not endometriosis at all or that it was removed. If it was removed, adhesions might the culprit for current pain and symptoms. You can also search online for photos and see if any match what yours look like, but I would recommend talking to your physician personally regardless.

Incidentally, endometriosis is more than red and white. It can also be clear, yellow, purple, black, and mixed. It can also have many appearances including looking like bubbles, "raspberries," or "blueberries." For an in depth article (with pictures) on the appearance of endometriosis, you might want to read this article: "Laparoscopic Appearance of Endometriosis."

Many of us with endometriosis also have Interstitial Cystitis (IC). It can cause inflammation of the bladder. I had symptoms that my urologist thought was endometriosis of the bladder, but when I had surgery with an endometriosis specialist, the problem was IC, not endometriosis. (FYI, my urologist had not completed the full range of testing he had planned before I ended up seeing the specialist as a complex cyst was found and the urologist wanted that taken care of before he proceeded.) I would encourage to see a urologist and find out what is going on and how you can treat the issue.

Are you keeping a symptom diary of all of you are experiencing so you can share it with all of your doctors? Many of us with endo also have other health conditions (like IBS), so it is important to keep track of everything to determine what all might be going on. Bowel issues with your cycle could definitely be connected to endometriosis and keeping details about your symptoms could hep indicate that is the problem without more surgery.

Are you currently taking any meds to help with your endometriosis?

Thanks! Yes, I realized after typing this I could have just google image searched and so I did. Saw what looked a lot like mine. But I agree I need to talk to my Dr. I have kept journals of my IBS symptoms. It seems to fluctuate up and down with no noticable difference in what I eat. Definately always get the diarrea once I start bleeding -- even if its NOT a "real" period but the withdrawal bleed you get on the pill. All I am on is the birth control (Combination) pill and I am taking it continously to avoid a cycle with giving myself one "period" every 3 mths.

I was on a low dose generic for desogen pill but my Dr recently switched me to the name brand kind because I kept spotting on it and apparently in generic drugs like that they can vary the amount of active hormone in it by as much as 30% per day so my dr was hoping a steady supply of estrogen would stop the spotting and breakthrough bleeding and intermittent cramping I keep getting. I've been "spotting" for over ten days now.

Other than caffeine I do not notice any changes in my IBS related to my diet. So, makes me wonder if its adhesions acting up or endo back because I did have it on my ligaments that attach to my uterus and my Ob/Gyn did say that it can cause a lot of pain.

Oh and to clarify, what I meant by all of the blood red and white areas were explained to me to be endo is because that is all I had- no blue or raspberry looking pics like the article you linked shows, but I will check out the rest of that article for sure!

Just an update- Doc said we can't really see much of the bowel from the pics. The pic I was worried about was actually a ligament, one of the round ones that run across uterus which had endo....and the area I thought was a huge ovarian cyst b/c I was told I had one- was actually my uterus cut open with the big tumor he'd cut out of it. The surrounding stuff I thought was the lower colon was just regular old normal body fat!

If you are worried about endo on/around the bowels get a colonoscopy. At least then you'll know whether or not any of the bowels/colon is being squeezed. And this sounds gross, but take a look at the size of your bowel movements. If they are a normal, healthy size - good for you. If they are coming out in thin rolls - run to a colorectal specialist. A colonoscopy is what started my journey to a TAH/BSO & colon resection. The gastro had trouble getting the scope through at my sigmoid colon. Many tests, a gyn oncologist & colorectal specialist later I was diagnosed with severe endo. Had a total abdominal hyst and about 4 inches of sigmoid colon removed. Much, much better now!