I am 40 and for the last couple of years have been experiencing really weird periods. When my period comes, I notice that it is accompanied by very loose bowels. It seems to be increasing with time to the point of being diarrhea....sometimes severe diarrhea. In the middle of the period - on day 3 usually - the bleeding will stop completely and entirely - for at least 24 hours - and then start up again. When it starts up again on day 4, it is accompanied with the loose bowels once more -
WHAT IS THIS??! I asked the doctor and he didn't seem to think much about it. Last summer I had a time with an ovarian cyst - they ran an abdominal ultrasound -the tech saw a complex cyst - my gyn said it was scar tissue from surgery probably - we did a CA 125 and it was pretty normal. I then got pregnant and miscarried - two months later he had an abdominal and a vaginal ultrasound done and he showed me the picture saying my uterus looked fine, normal and ovary appeared fine/normal, just enlarged. He said it was enlarged because I only have had the ONE for most of my life and it does all the work of two.
Two months after he told me I was fine, no ovarian cancer in his opinion, I was diagnosed with lung cancer - they found a nodule in one lung, very tiny and very early stage. I had part of a lung removed and they say I am cancer free. The cat scans show healthy kidneys, healthy liver, etc. and they say the lung cancer hadn't spread to anywhere else. They never did a scan of my abdomen or a mammogram so I wonder if I still have cancer in there somewhere,
Sorry this is so long. Has anyone here had the diarrhea with period thing? Comes with cancer?
I also have very bad diarrhea every month and my doctor (and several friends) have said that this is due to water retension - nothing else.
I also had surgery to remove a large cyst on my ovaries over 2 years ago, but ever since then I have extremely heavy, painful periods. Along with the diarrhea cramps, as you can imagine, each month is hell.
I'm sure you have nothing to worry about, but then, I'm not a dictor so it's always worth getting every little thing checked out. Had I spoken to my doctor a lot earlier, my cyst could've been removed without surgery so my advice to you now is always double check EVERYTHING!!
My endocrinologist said that it's a result of hormones released with your period. Not much you can do about it.
I always know when I'm about to start b/c I get a bad case of diarrhea about 4 hours before the bleeding starts. From time to time I STILL forget what it's connected to.
I had that happen and that's how I was diagnosed with Endometriosis! Was the same with the "heavy" bleeding in the first 2 days, then it'd stop, then light bleeding afterward. So, I didn't have the heavy bleeding and awful cramps many women have with endo, it was the diareah that helped a doctor diagnose me.
Check it out with your gyn.
I have always heard that it is hormonal. The same hormones that stimulate the "sloughing off" of the lining of the uterus also do the same to the lining of the intestines, increasing gastric motility.
From puberty to menopause I had the colon cramping and diarrhea with my periods that you describe. I don't think it's normal, for no one else I knew ever had this, and my gynecologists were all unable to account for it. Now I am in my 60's and have monoclonal gammopathy which is a precurser stage to the deadly multiple myeloma cancer. Recently there has been some research that indicates that 35% of people who have multiple myeloma have antibodies to gliadin just like people with celiac disease. It is now being postulated by many that multiple myeloma is due to longstanding untreated celiac disease. I've discovered that I have many of the symptoms and findings of celiac disease which not only affects the colon, but other body systems as well. I'm scheduled to have testing for celiac disease the day after tomorrow!
You guys need all to do some serious reading about celiac disease.
Diarrhea with periods? 
