Can appendectomy affect period pain?

[mar1717]

I had an appendectomy in 2018 at the age of 23. Before that, I didn't really have painful periods (at least, not memorably so). They were painful in my first few years of having a period (started when I was 14), but I don't really remember the pain getting in the way of life by the time I was in college.

But then after my appendectomy, they were just consistently very painful. I've gotten them to such a better place with Dr. Briden's book (thank you!!!!), specifically by adding zinc and removing dairy. Most periods now, I can get through the night without waking up due to pain, which is huge. I still typically take a dose or two of Advil per period though, as it can be a little bit bad for 12-18 hours.

I'm trying to figure out my next move to keep improving things. This got me thinking about why things got worse after the appendectomy. Is it possible that the surgery messed up my gut microbiome, since a piece of my intestine (the appendix) was cut out? Is there any research or anecdotal tidbits about the affect of appendectomies on period pain?