Karrie
New Member
Hi,
I was reading today that women who suffer from endometriosis are 12 times more likely to develop fibromyalgia. Since we know for sure that fibromyalgia is TMS, does that mean that a 'real' condition (endometriosis) and the emotional upset generated by that can generate 'TMS', or does it indicate that endometriosis is in fact too, (in some cases at least) TMS as well?
@Steve Ozanich and @Alan Gordon LCSW
If you happen to have the time to comment, I would be very interested to hear your thoughts.
(Endometriosis, if you aren't aware is where small patches of the lining of the uterus implants in other parts of a woman's body e.g. ovaries or bowel and causes pain either as very bad period pain or contestant pain. It is becoming a very common condition with some studies indicating that unto one in ten women seek treatment for symptoms matching that of endometriois. You can't read a newspaper or go on Facebook without coming across an article or new treatment.
A few interesting facts, that in some ways sound quite similar to 'grey hair of the spine':
-No one knows what causes it. The latest theory is an autoimmune disease but a lot of disagreement
-Endometriosis is often asymptomatic (i.e. found by accident when a women is having her tubes tied etc. It can only be diagnoses during laparoscopy and sometimes MRI)
-The amount of endometriosis present does not often correlate to the amount of pain felt (small amount - sometimes great pain, huge amount - sometimes little pain). The amount of pain ranges from annoyance to total disability.
-It is said to effect about 10%of women yet a small number of surgeon have said that 100% of women actually have it (and it would be found in any women if a well trained surgeon with the best equipment and unlimited surgery time was to look and take enough samples) and that it is sometimes misattributed as the cause of pelvic pain (although definitely the cause in some cases, esp where widespread disease is found - they mean more that when small amounts are found, which is actually my situation, doctors are too quick to blame the 'abnormality'. Other surgeons 'strongly' disagree with all of this and say endometriosis is never normal in any women.)
-In 50% of cases where it is discovered by accident (and the women are not in pain), it just spontaneously decreases or disappears over time. In the other 50% it gets worse (but does not necessarily cause any pain).
-Women often have one laparoscopy for pelvic pain, are told there was none present and that their pain is unexplained, then go to another surgeon, have the procedure again and are told endometriosis was found, and that the inexperience of the other surgeon was why it wasn't found before
-Treatments are largely unsuccessful and women are often told to have hysterectomies (which are successful in some cases but sometimes these women go onto develop different conditions following treatment).
-Endometriosis is a tricky diagnosis to be given because it can apparently be 'on the surface' and seen with the naked eye during surgery or 'deep inside' other tissue and hidden, and 'missed' during scans even as detailed as MRIs. So once a women is told all her symptoms indicate this, and she has containing pain, having scans and surgery that show nothing, still leaves her with doctors saying "just because we didn't find it, doesn't mean it isn't there".
So getting back to my question, can a 'real' condition (such as endometriosis) cause TMS (Fibromyalgia) (since the latter often develops in women who have the former) or does this indicate, that at least in some cases, endometriosis is really TMS?
(My own situation is one year of one-sided pelvic pain, a lap revealed some endometriosis and adhesions. Other diagnosis of pelvic floor hypertension (some say as a result of the endometriosis, not the cause of the pain itself. Chicken-egg) and idiopathic nerve irritation. I fit the TMS personality profile, this started during a stressful time, out of the blue but this lingering diagnosis makes it hard establish belief in TMS which I know is key.
Thanks for taking the time to read :)
I was reading today that women who suffer from endometriosis are 12 times more likely to develop fibromyalgia. Since we know for sure that fibromyalgia is TMS, does that mean that a 'real' condition (endometriosis) and the emotional upset generated by that can generate 'TMS', or does it indicate that endometriosis is in fact too, (in some cases at least) TMS as well?
@Steve Ozanich and @Alan Gordon LCSW
If you happen to have the time to comment, I would be very interested to hear your thoughts.
(Endometriosis, if you aren't aware is where small patches of the lining of the uterus implants in other parts of a woman's body e.g. ovaries or bowel and causes pain either as very bad period pain or contestant pain. It is becoming a very common condition with some studies indicating that unto one in ten women seek treatment for symptoms matching that of endometriois. You can't read a newspaper or go on Facebook without coming across an article or new treatment.
A few interesting facts, that in some ways sound quite similar to 'grey hair of the spine':
-No one knows what causes it. The latest theory is an autoimmune disease but a lot of disagreement
-Endometriosis is often asymptomatic (i.e. found by accident when a women is having her tubes tied etc. It can only be diagnoses during laparoscopy and sometimes MRI)
-The amount of endometriosis present does not often correlate to the amount of pain felt (small amount - sometimes great pain, huge amount - sometimes little pain). The amount of pain ranges from annoyance to total disability.
-It is said to effect about 10%of women yet a small number of surgeon have said that 100% of women actually have it (and it would be found in any women if a well trained surgeon with the best equipment and unlimited surgery time was to look and take enough samples) and that it is sometimes misattributed as the cause of pelvic pain (although definitely the cause in some cases, esp where widespread disease is found - they mean more that when small amounts are found, which is actually my situation, doctors are too quick to blame the 'abnormality'. Other surgeons 'strongly' disagree with all of this and say endometriosis is never normal in any women.)
-In 50% of cases where it is discovered by accident (and the women are not in pain), it just spontaneously decreases or disappears over time. In the other 50% it gets worse (but does not necessarily cause any pain).
-Women often have one laparoscopy for pelvic pain, are told there was none present and that their pain is unexplained, then go to another surgeon, have the procedure again and are told endometriosis was found, and that the inexperience of the other surgeon was why it wasn't found before
-Treatments are largely unsuccessful and women are often told to have hysterectomies (which are successful in some cases but sometimes these women go onto develop different conditions following treatment).
-Endometriosis is a tricky diagnosis to be given because it can apparently be 'on the surface' and seen with the naked eye during surgery or 'deep inside' other tissue and hidden, and 'missed' during scans even as detailed as MRIs. So once a women is told all her symptoms indicate this, and she has containing pain, having scans and surgery that show nothing, still leaves her with doctors saying "just because we didn't find it, doesn't mean it isn't there".
So getting back to my question, can a 'real' condition (such as endometriosis) cause TMS (Fibromyalgia) (since the latter often develops in women who have the former) or does this indicate, that at least in some cases, endometriosis is really TMS?
(My own situation is one year of one-sided pelvic pain, a lap revealed some endometriosis and adhesions. Other diagnosis of pelvic floor hypertension (some say as a result of the endometriosis, not the cause of the pain itself. Chicken-egg) and idiopathic nerve irritation. I fit the TMS personality profile, this started during a stressful time, out of the blue but this lingering diagnosis makes it hard establish belief in TMS which I know is key.
Thanks for taking the time to read :)
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