Has anyone else been to see a medical herbalist to help with endometriosis symptoms?

[Valeriana]

[bingobongo]

I did and went to Neals yard for a tincture with hawthorn, blackberry and ginger. I have to be honest that it didn't help. I tried it for 6 months. Acupuncture helps with pain and mental spiritual well being. I have also changed my diet and meditate daily using an i phone ap called 'Be Calm'

Good luck

[Brownlow]

I don't see a herbalist but I do see a Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioner and I boil up the herbs she gives me. I also get acupuncture. She is a licensed acupuncturist and TCM practitioner with the relevant UK bodies and obtains the herbs from a Traditional Chinese Medicine Approved Supplier in the UK. There are only 4 suppliers and it is strictly regulated. She also has a Masters in TCM. So with all that behind her I do trust her. TCM is practiced alongside conventional medicine in China. My GP also has a TCM practitioner in his practice.

I have been seeing her for 3 months and I feel a lot of time is required to get results as endo is such a deep seated condition that doesn't just spring up overnight. I am eating a super healthy diet and overall I do feel better but it's hard to know exactly why. I suspect it's a combination of everything that I do to try to help.

She is very helpful to talk to and considers me as a 'whole' person and that includes the nonsense that goes on in my head too! Chinese medicine does not recognise hormones. It has been around for thousands of years whereas hormones were only discovered about 100 years ago. TCM focusses very much on the liver when treating endo. Poor liver function is often cited as a factor in endo so it makes sense to target support there.

Ayurvedic medicine is another one you could investigate.

[ladybird7]

I have been having acupuncture for 5 months now at a Chinese practice linked with the pain clinic at my hospital. I started herbal medicine in December but kept getting very bad diarrhoea over many weeks despite stopping, having some medicine for the diarrhoea and trying the herbs again. Gave up about 2 months ago... Annoyingly I an still getting diarrhoea but I am inclined to think it has nothing to do with the herbs I took. Was a shame because the Chinese professor has a lot of experience in womens issues and 'they say' they are very successful.

[Brownlow in reply to ladybird7]

Hi ladybird7,

If it hasn't been done already it might be worth testing for food allergy, gluten intolerance/sensitivity, candida or infection.

There is a connection in some women between endo and coeliac disease. CD can cause diarrhoea and can develop at any point in your life.

Also there seems to be a connection between endo and e-coli. E-coli is more prevalent in women with endo and can cause diarrhoea.

The third one is candida which is also common in women with endo and diarrhoea can be a symptom.

Hope you manage to identify the cause soon and get treatment! x

[ladybird7 in reply to Brownlow]

Hi Brownlow - I was tested a couple of years ago and it was negative. My GP just did another blood test yesterday... he said if its normal then he's sending me to gastroenterologist...arrrrgh... funny thing is today everything's fine and normal! maybe because I took so much imodium two days ago!

I had pre-assessment for surgery yesterday pm (getting metalwork removed from my ankle tomorrow eeek!)... my blood pressure was low which I've never come across... apparently its because I'm dehydrated, no surprise there I guess. So now I'm drinking drinking drinking... It's not a problem for the surgery, it would be if it was high so I'm relieved, just want to get it over and done with. Thankfully I only had 4 days notice haha, there was a cancellation so they called me yay!!!! More worried about waking up in pain from endo though than my ankle hurting ... When I broke it two years ago I could barely feel it with all the morphine I was taking for my endo pain!! The orthopaedic nurses couldn't believe I needed so much!

[EmB18]

I did see a medical herbalist for about 5 months - I'd heard it worked for some people, but unfortunately it didn't make much difference for me. The only thing that did help was she made me a pain remedy you could use like a pain killer when the pain was bad, but it only worked up to a certain level of pain.

Instead I tried homeopathy and the endo diet and found that much more helpful in easing symptoms.

Hope you find something that works for you.