Endometriosis & Toncil Stones

My daughter who is 27 now had awful menstural pain from the time her periods started at 10 years old. Her GP prescribed antiinflammatories and later the pill, both which helped only a little. At the age of 6 she had had tonsillitis for the first time and subsequently suffered regular bad strep throat usually lasting many weeks and requiring many courses of antibiotics. It took nearly 20 years to get her tonsils removed! In the meantime the pain with her periods got worse and worse and she also started to experience abdominal bloating. At Uni she was constantly visiting the GP or hospital due to tonsillitis or abdominal pain. Endometriosis was mentioned and she had an ultrasound scan which was inconclusive, though she was told her uterus was retroverted. The Mirena IUD was prescribed and fitted. This was about 3 ½ years ago and did help with her pain but she has continued to suffer with bloating and occasionally very sever pain and gradually more and more unpleasant symptoms which could be the result of mirena; fatigue, back and neck pain, lack of mental clarity etc. Her current GPs did ests and they all came back normal so now they want to send her for counselling... basically telling her it's all in her mind. I have been reading about endo, and this is what crossed my mind; I've read that it is normal for endometrial cells to migrate to other parts of the body, but that normally a woman's immune system deals with them. My daughter however had been suffering very badly with inflamed tonsils before, during and after she began menstruation and I am wondering if this stress on her immune system meant that it was not able to deal with missplaced endometrial cells? This is the reason I came to this web page, to find out if anyone had noticed a link between a condition such as chronic tonsillitis and endo?

I was diagnosed with endo two years ago, and after dealing with tonsil stones for countless years I am finally having tonsils removed. My theory is that my immune system is always in over drive fighting endo therefore my tonsil are showing signs of infection because tonsils are part of immune glanfs

Steach123 - It's not likely that your two conditions have any relationship to one another as the causes are very separate.

According to the Mayo Clinic, a process called retrograde menstruation is a likely explanation for endometriosis. That's when menstrual blood containing endometrial cells flows back through the fallopian tubes and into the pelvic cavity instead of out of the body. These displaced endometrial cells stick to the pelvic walls and surfaces of pelvic organs, where they grow and continue to thicken and bleed over the course of the menstrual cycle.

Retrograde menstruation alone may not cause endometriosis, though. Instead, the condition may develop when one or more small areas of the abdominal lining turns into endometrial tissue. This is possible because the cells lining the abdominal and pelvic cavities are descended from embryonic cells with the potential to specialize and take on the structure and function of endometrial cells. What activates that potential remains unknown.

Now let's look at tonsil stones. According to Web MD, your tonsils are filled with nooks and crannies where bacteria and other materials, including dead cells and mucous, can become trapped. When this occurs, the debris can become concentrated in white formations that occur in the pockets.

Tonsil stones, or tonsilloliths, are formed when this trapped debris hardens, or calcifies. This tends to occur most often in people who suffer from chronic inflammation in their tonsils or repeated bouts of tonsillitis.

It's good to know that you're seeking and getting the care you need, and I hope you'll provide progress reports in the days ahead.
Take care,
Pat