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Endometriosis as a Comorbid Condition in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Secondary Analysis of Data From a Case-Control Study. (Boneva 2019)

Murph

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Front Pediatr. 2019 May 21;7:195. doi: 10.3389/fped.2019.00195. eCollection 2019.
Endometriosis as a Comorbid Condition in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS): Secondary Analysis of Data From a CFS Case-Control Study.
Boneva RS1, Lin JS1, Wieser F2, Nater UM3, Ditzen B3, Taylor RN2, Unger ER1.
Author information

Abstract

Background: Endometriosis (EM) is a recognized co-morbid condition in women with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). This analysis evaluates the impact of EM on the health of women with CFS by comparing selected health characteristics and laboratory parameters in women with CFS with and without EM (CFS+EM and CFS-only).

Methods: This secondary analysis included all 36 women with CFS from a cross-sectional study of CFS in Wichita, KS, conducted between 2002 and 2003. The health characteristics and laboratory parameters of interest included functioning, fatigue, CFS-related symptoms, gynecologic history, routine laboratory parameters, inflammatory markers, cortisol levels, allostatic load, and sleep parameters (overnight polysomnography). We used parametric or non-parametric tests to compare group differences in the selected health characteristics and laboratory parameters. For examining the association between EM and variables of interest, logistic regression models were performed and odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were reported for the magnitude of associations. Statistical significance was set at 0.05 (two-sided).

Results: The mean age of this study sample was 50.9 years. Of women with CFS, 36.1% reported having EM. Age and body mass index (BMI) did not differ between CFS+EM and CFS-only groups. When examining the impact of EM, compared to women with CFS-only, women with both CFS and EM were more likely to report chronic pelvic pain [OR = 9.00 (95% CI, 1.47-55.25)] and hysterectomy [OR = 10.3 (1.82-58.39)], had more CFS symptoms (6.8 ± 0.3 vs. 5.5 ± 0.3, p = 0.02), younger mean age at menopause onset (36.4 ± 3.0 vs. 47.0 ± 2.7 years, p = 0.03), higher mean number of obstructive apnea episodes per hour (20.3 vs. 4.4, p = 0.05) and reported more negative life events (15.8 vs. 4.4, p = 0.05). Other parameters did not differ significantly between the two groups.

Conclusions: We found more than a third of women with CFS reported endometriosis as a comorbid condition. The endometriosis comorbidity was associated with chronic pelvic pain, earlier menopause, hysterectomy, and more CFS-related symptoms. However, endometriosis in women with CFS did not appear to further impact functioning, fatigue, inflammatory markers, or other laboratory parameters. Further investigations including younger women are warranted.

KEYWORDS:
chronic fatigue syndrome; chronic pelvic pain; cortisol; endometriosis; hysterectomy; inflammatory markers; menopause; sleep
PMID: 31179251 PMCID: PMC6537603 DOI: 10.3389/fped.2019.00195
 

Likaloha

Senior Member
Messages
343
Location
Midwest usa
I had severe and debilitating endometriosis with 2 surgeries before a total hysterectomy in my early 30's .... They removed everything but the fibromyalgia and cfs/me didn't get really bad until my early 40's... It was terrible, and there were days I could not even walk upright from the pain... I even recall having to crawl in hands and knees to get to the bathroom because it was so bad.... Hysterectomy was best thing ever, at least for that problem!