Endo Blog Spotlight: Interstitial Cystitis, Endometriosis, and Co-existing Conditions/Chronic Illnesses

Just a quick reminder to follow up on what was mentioned in the above disclaimer: The following is not intended to be construed as medical advice. Please consult your physician for treatment. The following is for informational purposes only.

Women and girls with endometriosis may also suffer from other chronic conditions. Several other illnesses have been correlated to endometriosis in various studies. I’ll mention just a couple of them here but there are others as well.

Many women with endometriosis also suffer from fibromyalgia and/or interstitial cystitis. These conditions can cause debilitating pain and can be detrimental to quality of life. Many women in my local support group have multiple co-existing conditions (that includes me)!

Here is a quick summary of two (IC and fibro) of the many co-existing illnesses that can affect some endo patients... ones that affect a surprising number of women I know personally.

Fibromyalgia patients may experience symptoms of widespread musculoskeletal pain (such as pain from head to toe). Also, disturbed sleep and severe fatigue are common for fibro patients. So is “brain fog”. Fibromyalgia means pain in the muscles, ligaments, and tendons – the soft fibrous tissues in the body. I have found numerous sources helpful for fibromyalgia information, including Fibromyalgia Network:

http://www.fmnetnews.com/.

Fibromyalgia too is often associated with other illnesses besides endometriosis and IC. One example of this is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). CFS is another illness affecting multiple women in my endometriosis support group.

Interstitial cystitis (IC), also known as painful bladder syndrome, is a chronic, painful, inflammatory condition of the bladder wall that affects over one million people in the U.S. Although its cause is unknown and there is no cure, there are many available treatment options to help relieve symptoms. Although IC is considerably less well-known than them... it is as common as Parkinson's Disease or Type I diabetes. For further information regarding IC, I have found the ICA (Interstitial Cystitis Association) very helpful.

For IC info see:

http://www.ichelp.org/.

Research indicates that in some patients, IC itself may be associated with other diseases besides endo and fibro such as vulvodynia (vulvar/vaginal pain) --- (an excellent source of information on vulvodynia is the NVA (National Vulvodynia Association).

For vulvodynia info see:

http://www.nva.org/

IBS or irritable bowel syndrome is often common in endometriosis patients as well.

While endometriosis in and of itself can be debilitating for some patients, having endometriosis plus one or more of the illnesses mentioned above (or others I did not mention) is even more challenging still. It's a great deal to juggle!!

It is a testament to the chronically ill patients who deal with one or more of these illnesses that they are able to do the things they do! I have been truly inspired and uplifted by having the opportunity to meet and get to know other endometriosis patients who, like me, have co-existing illnesses with their endo. Networking with patients going through similar experiences can be SO supportive, powerful, and life-altering! It can lead to fantastic friendship because the illness(es) seem to generate some sort of instant bond between people who "get it" because they have lived through like experiences.

A final note... You may have stumbled upon this blog and NOT be an endometriosis patient. PLEASE feel welcome here and don't feel you need to have endometriosis to read or post comments on this blog.

Perhaps you have one of the illnesses discussed briefly in this post but DON'T have endometriosis itself. You may still learn something helpful or gain needed support from this blog! Or you may be able to share your insights with patients who share your diagnosis/diagnoses (and no, I'm not requesting marketing plugs from companies selling their wares... I'm inviting patients with illnesses like fibromyalgia or others mentioned above to join the conversation here). You may find needed support here.

So please feel welcome and at home! I intend to have plenty more posts about chronic illness and co-existing illnesses in the future!

This article was posted by Jeanne via "Jeanne's Endo Blog" at www.endendoat.blogspot.com.