What do you do to try and live a healthy ... - Endometriosis UK
What do you do to try and live a healthy life with endometriosis?
Please select all that apply:
Eat no dairy, red meat
vegan/plant based diet.
I follow a gluten free and low sugar diet
I've eaten a gluten free diet for years, but my sonographer suggested that I follow a vegan diet.
I am vegan, seems to make no difference! I will always do it though for the animals sake.
Various complementary therapies including homeopathy.
I think that everyone is individual and various methods of lifestyle change will work for some and not for others.
Whilst I have been welcome for any advice over the years, I have found through trial and error what works for me.
Exercise, and I mean at the most three times a week, including weight training (I do wonder if I am replacing one pain for another) and cardio work.
Massage and relaxation techniques. Yoga and pilates are brill.
I try to control my weight, not because of endometriosis but because I feel generally healthier when toned, fit and not carrying fat. I have limited red meat (once a week), and avoid where possible inflammatory vegetables eg; tomatoes, aubergines, chilli). I try and follow an alkaline based diet and seldom drink alcohol ( I only drink gin and soda when I do). I have ate this way for years, well before being diagnosed with endometriosis.
Sleep when my body is telling me it needs this.
I do take vitamin supplements, although I remain uncertain if they aid me or not, as I eat a healthy balanced diet.
Drugs. Lol. Yes, when I need pain relief I take it. I try to start with paracetamol and ibuprofen, but do on occasion resort to codeine and at the most tramadol. I do find that exercise helps with my pain.
I find that I have been caught, and will no doubt continue to be caught in a vicious cycle of tiredness and exhaustion, which impacts upon how much exercise I can do. This in turn impacts upon my pain. Which in turn impacts upon weight gain and pain relief etc. etc.
The psychological impact of all the aforementioned can also affect me. I work full time and love my job. I have found that having the focus of work, takes my mind away from me. However, there are times, when I struggle to function at work through endometriosis and it has informed my sick leave over the years, which never goes down well with employers. This has impacted upon my career progression.
Diet change is foundational for me. It takes time and deliberation, and must be done truly, without "cheating". I wish doctors would provide more support with this; I could have started managing symptoms 4 years earlier, and avoided getting worse.
No sugar, only whole foods, no dairy, gluten, soy, or grains. Anti-inflammatory fats like avocado, olive oil, fish oil. No caffeine. I do eat meat. Lots of vegetables.
Food tolerances vary with each person but I think the no sugar/gluten/dairy, lots of veg is a good start and go from there.
no red meat, no white bread or white flour based products, no a lot of milk chocolate either.
I wasn't even made aware that diet is a part of these flare ups. My gynaecologist and gp have gave little support and I've suffered for 4 years
I agree that everyone's experience will be different and for me , diet has absolutely nothing to do with the pain. The period in my life when I remember the least pain was when I lived in Newcastle and worked for wetherspoons who were an excellent employer and I loved the flexibility of the shifts. I was single at the time and went there for breakfast lunch and dinner every day (even when not at work because I still got discount) I also had loads of friends and went out 4-5 nights a week drinking and dancing and would always have a mcdonalds on the way home. I remember those 2 years as the happiest of my life; I was a size 6-8 thanks to my physical job as a waitress and had tonnes of energy and, mainly, had barely any pain. Now I have an office job, eat far more healthy, very rarely drink but am a size 12-14 and am in pain almost constantly. For me, I think stress is a much bigger factor than diet. I think the thing that truly made a difference in Newcastle was that I was so happy and relaxed there as stress seems to cause me the bloating and pain with anxiety and tiredness. But maybe I was happy and relaxed because I wasn't in pain; I have no idea how to tell which way around it is
I'm 24 years old and have been suffering with endometriosis and interstitial cystitis since i was 12. I'm young and try not to let it affect my daily life, I still want to go out for meals see my friends and enjoy myself. I feel that exercising helps me a lot pilates are great. slow and gental which works better for me.
used to go to the gym four times a week for a few hours yes it did make me feel better in the sense I had worked out but the next day i would be in pain and wouldn't be able to move for most of the morning so cutting out that type of exercise has helped. Also with interstitial cystitis I have to be very careful with my diet this is very annoying as I am a very fussy eater as well so I do struggle to find something I like that won't give me any pain.
balancing my lifestyles seems to have a good affect on my mood and my daily life, I eat food that I enjoy, work out three times a week but not in the gym and go out a few times a month with one of two gin and tonics. Keeping your mind in a healthy set was very important to me I got really low and depressed with how much i was in pain and couldn't enjoy my days now I have managed to shake out of that and enjoy my daily life but just keeping things at a minimal. Trying not to over do anything. I also rest when i feel I need to don't push yourself and make you feel terrible the following day.
I cant manage exercise on most days as I'm in that much pain. I have no appetite since having the coil fitted. I have no energy as the pains floor me.
Has anyone got any good ideas or suggestions for pain relief? I'm on amitriptyline but want to change to tramadol. Paracetamol I ibuprofen and hot water don't really help much. Hot water bottle now just seams to be like a comfort thigh for me.
Xx
I've had endo for 7 years and found that gluten-free and low dairy/low sugar/very low alcohol diet has kept my symptoms reasonably manageable. I also cut out coffee - but a few months ago I started drinking coffee again and got addicted to it - having coffee every day (only one cup though - occasionally two). Very quickly my endo symptoms have flared up and I have never felt so bad. I spent most of my last cycle in pain with the heaviest period of my life, and had terrible bowel pain and indigestion - so realised it was time to cut out coffee completely. I cut out coffee 2 weeks ago and the pains have calmed down, but still my abdomen feels like it is in a state of inflammation, though not as bad as it was, and I've suffered very painful ovulation which has been painful for a few days. I have read that coffee is incredibly inflammatory for many women with endo and can raise their oestrogen levels considerably. I also noticed it affected my body shape and my legs developed more cellulite and carried more fat on them. I am confident that my inflammation will reduce gradually without coffee in my diet, and I'm doing more exercise and more clean eating too. Already I can that the heavy cellulite on my legs has practically disappeared. However, I am worried that I have developed the extent of my endo as a result, so worry about the implications of that. Of all the things to eat in my diet I realise that coffee is my biggest poison, and I will not be drinking it again until after the menopause.
Cut out carbs. And do mindfulness and meditation Audiobooks at night
Have cut out dairy, soya, gluten and sugar. Made a huge difference and lost weight plus conceived as a wonderful outcome of these doing things.
