So after years of endo and struggling with pain I've re-read my recipe and advice book for endo sufferers.... Whilst I am not elated at the thought of cutting out sugar, wheat, dairy, eggs, soy and alcohol (I don't have caffeine) its come to a point when I really should try to help myself.
Has anyone had success with cutting things out and if so, what tips do you have to do this without sobbing into a bowl of brown rice?
Thanks!
Hey, I actually found cutting out dairy and eggs no prob, especially when within a few weeks I had much less trouble with bowel Endo! Red meat is harder but you can have chicken, turkey and fish - there's quite a large variety there, I still had stir fries and curries etc. Really enjoy brown rice now actually it's a pain as takes longer to cook but is lovely with chicken casserole and baked salmon, broccoli also a fab veg and love baby potatoes. Fruit best snack for me - bananas and tesco melon fruit packs. I didn't follow a diet book just guidelines on Endo resolved. endo-resolved.com/diet.html
I was following weight watchers at the time so was already on the health kick. Only things I struggled with were bread - switched to wholegrain, but also tended to have soup/salads at lunch rather than sandwiches. Toast in morning still! Starving otherwise!
Alcohol was tough, but the guidance is for ladies ttc to cut it out completely as causes brain damage in embryo even at 3-8wks and chromosomal abnormalities that can result in miscarriage. Good news is you can still have non-alcoholic cocktails - if you go to a good bar you'll barely be able to tell the difference - esp with mojitos.
Diet won't be as bad as you think, if you have a few pounds to shed then consider the weight watchers app (online subscription about a tenner a month and they've various offers on) - it helped me to keep track of what I was eating and with motivation. Start by cutting out one or two things at a time, chocolate is pretty hard but I found I didn't crave it after 3 days or so! Good luck xx
Thank you for replying. I saw your other advice and found it motivational.
Wow you like brown rice?! Ha yeah I think I could learn to love it but I overdosed on it doing a redo lupus diet some years back and I just need to readjust again!
Yes I have success on diets with shakes etc but they're crammed full of sugar and despite losing nearly a stone recently my period wasn't better so I think sugar isn't great. I know I struggle with dairy too. Did you try that lactose free stuff?
I don't eat much bread but I love it, that's why I avoid it but whole meal wouldn't be a problem when I do eat it. Eggs might be difficult. Do you still have days when you just eat what you want or have you found its not worth it?
X
Aww I know the feeling when you have too much of something - though in my case was caramac bars!!! Lol yeah I would say I had rice 1-3 times a week max, then had baby potatoes, sweet potatoes, baked potatoes, veggie dishes or brown pasta rarely the rest of the time. Keep the variety in!
I'd def avoid the shakes by sounds of it, tonnes of sugar will do you no good. I got around dairy by having toast, cereal bars or fruit in morning. Had sandwiches without cheese but mainly soup at lunch and never really ate much dairy in evening anyway. It's so much easier than you think. Never bothered trying to supplement it with other things just cut it out.
At the mo I am able to eat dairy and red meat etc. but that's only as am preg now and kiddo needs it - Endo pain greatly reduced. If/when comes back will be back on Endo diet. I have a friend who went on a strict no wheat diet etc. Lost a tonne of weight. She was allowed a cheat day when she could basically go nuts on pizza!! Personally I wouldn't recommend it, unless a special occasion and you really want to treat yourself, as when you indulge it will bring all your cravings back to baseline and it'll be harder to stick to the diet. That's why I found the ww app handy as things Endo girls should avoid tend to be big weight watchers no nos too, so kept me in line! Still off the eggs now, they upset my bowel Endo so much I can't even look at them now. Though love them in cake!! Haha
Process of trial and error, tackle the hardest things first and go from there, def do it over a number of weeks so you can adapt to the changes and also it lets you see which foods are the major triggers for your Endo xx
That's brilliant thank you. Well done you on having such commitment. I'm thinking it may improve my fertility too... Many congratulations on your pregnancy!!! On that note, do you mind if I ask whether you think diet and weight loss helped fertility? X
Yeah def think it all helped - the whole list of things mentioned in my other post - I should really make a note out of that for ladies. It's definitely trying everything you can and it all combines.
I was (and am still) booked for a surgery with a risk of hyst as is to remove an adenomyoma from the wall of the womb. With that coming up we had 12 months to try and felt under so much pressure so literally did everything I could think of. Fell preg 2nd month ttc - mc so took a break of two months, fell preg again but chemical preg, then 3rd time lucky on 6th month ttc and now 20wks.
Have to say all of the things I did like diet, acupuncture etc. also helped me to cope with pain; being off the pill and painkillers was horrendous when ttc. Could barely walk at times and hubby had to help even to get me showered and dressed like a small child!!
Give everything a go and you will get there, ttc can be a stressy time so remember to take time for you - I had massages and got my nails done, that kind of thing, and enjoy time with friends esp the ones who don't have kids - the ones who do unless they've been through fertility issues will prob just make things tougher so don't be putting yourself through hours of baby talk just to be a nice person, it's ok to take care of yourself and put yourself first esp right now xxx
Thank you so much for your reply. I think I needed to hear that. Last year I miscarried and 8 people I knew fell pregnant (I don't have that many close friends but 4 were very good friends, 2 are my closest friends) so I really struggled. People off loaded all their pregnancy woes on to me as I do listen well to people but I snapped and nearly lost friendships.
This year we Got married last month and are (hopefully) moving house next month so we've purposefully followed our dreams as our relationship was getting lost too, if that makes sense. I'm in such a good place with it all but I now need to get a grip and stop making excuses for bad food and alcohol. I need to see "treats" more as healthy eating and treating my body well.
Then every few months I remember this site and come on and get more inspiration.
I am considering acupuncture, probably after we move now (money!) and heard reflexology is good?!?! Watch this space I guess. Any recipe tips/advice in the meantime please feel free to message me...
Enjoy this time so much 
it sounds like you've really been through it x
Thanks so much! It's been a tough 6 years, we are really loving that everything is going well now and grateful for every day of the pregnancy. Also that I'm experiencing magical preg hormones that have got rid of a lot of pain so can get about a lot easier and so much more chilled out! Totally underestimated how much pain was dominating everything.
Anyhow, you are def going about things the right way and enjoying your relationship and achievements together. So special to remember that is important too. Never mind about the preggo army, it seems like that doesn't it?! It can be really upsetting whenever people explain their journey as 'oh we weren't trying, I just slipped up and fell on a c*#k!' Lol
There will be a lot of women around you, that you don't even know about, going through the same thing so take comfort in that. It's one of these things people don't talk about, even though the grin and bear it attitude makes it harder!
Reflexology can be good too, though if you fall pregnant then you have to stop I think? I took the acupuncture plunge after the first mc with a lady who specialises in fertility. Really helped me through everything and continued on through pregnancy. You go every week for about 4 weeks, then every two weeks then once a month. Some people are responders and some aren't, worth a go to see if it works for you.
Will msg you that list of stuff we did incase you can't find the other thread xx
Great thanks!
Ha preggo army. Love it. Yeah I got tired of people saying "how far along were you when you miscarried" like that makes a difference to me. I got that "oh we thought we'd give it a go and fell the first time" quite a bit. One "friend" said to me "I'll have one for you as I find it so easy". I don't know how I didn't get done for assault last year!
This year people are now complaining about sleepless nights to me and I say well this is the year you can be jealous of me (even though I have sleepless nights without a baby!).
I think I have a plan now. Thank so much for your advice, I will look into specialist acupuncture locally x
Hi Brottonbabe, I've also found Applebird's comments really helpful and encouraging - good news stories really help me.
I just wanted to give you a bit of hope about how do-able the diet is. I started the diet a month ago, and had my first lap 2 weeks ago so I can't tell you how much the diet (rather than lap) has affected my symptoms but can tell you that the diet has been much easier than I thought it would be. I'm doing it as I'm TTC and also had a large endometrioma cyst that they could only drain (rather than shrink or cut out) because they were trying to protect fertility - I know it's likely to come back so the diet is my way of delaying that and extending my window to conceive naturally. It feels good to take control a bit.
I think a few things really helped me:
- someone on here recommended I buy Henrietta Norton's book "Take Control of your Endometriosis" - she's a nutritionist and also sufferer so brings both expertise and personal experience. And explains why you should cut some things back and eat more of others. I found endo-resolved site a helpful starter but Norton's book isn't quite as catastrophic and therefore a bit friendlier to use e.g. if you don't have a clear milk intolerance she recommends to keep good organic plain live yoghurt, and goat and sheeps cheese e.g. feta and goats cheese. (I think Norton has worked with Emma Cannon who is a fertility acupuncture expert and has a good book that's worth reading too)
-I asked my friends and partner to help me especially in the first month - e.g. a girlie get together was a thai takeaway (thai green curry seems to fit pretty well) rather than going out for drinks or meeting up for coffee and cake.
-and I decided to concentrate on the things I like to eat and are good on the diet rather than all the things that are banned - I love hummus and dips, yoghurt and berries, discovered I love dahl, pan fried salmon, I love broccoli and cabbage (2 things you should eat lots of), and CHIPS are ok! I love marmite on toast but discovered I love Biona's pumpkin seed rye bread (I don't like rye usually) and I'd probably prefer this to a crusty white loaf now. **this list makes me seem like one of those healthy yoga types. I'm not. I've always drunk buckets of tea, eaten chocolate and toast in not small quantities (!) and would always order steak not fish in a restaurant. I've just found I do really like lots of things that are on the OK list and have focused on those and eaten as much as I like of them.
-Sugar (and chocolate) is the hardest for me but I've found it helps to have treats - live organic yoghurt and raspberries or blueberries gives me a sense of pudding. And last night I discovered hot chocolate - unsweetened almond milk with a natural sugar-free "choc shot" sauce I found in aldi. I'll only have weekly as I'm sure the sweeteners aren't brilliant but it gives me enough of a chocolate hit to satisfy me for a while.
- I've started to cook extra broccoli and keep it in the fridge to snack on to up my intake. And now keep a pot of brazil nuts and almonds to snack on rather than reaching for banned snack items (brazil nuts really good for you and your partner if you're TTC too)
-your food bill will probably seem higher especially if you opt to buy all organic fruit and veg (I don't yet - only some) but I've realised it balances out as I'm not buying nearly as much meat and don't spend in the pub!
Good luck - I'd recommend trying for a month and seeing how you feel. Honestly, the sugar cravings go away really quite quickly. And you'll find it much easier to continue if you feel much better and with less pain. Just don't try to force yourself to eat some lentil casserole if you hate lentils otherwise you'll be reaching for the pizza in no time. Give yourself the best chance by stocking up with foods that you actually like!
Good luck. I'd love to hear recipes or things that you discover are lovely and ok on the endo diet!
x
PS massive sympathy for the preggo army - I know how you feel. Some friends are better at understanding why it's so hard, others just aren't. I've come to realise it doesn't mean they don't care or are unthinking - they just can't imagine it and don't know what to say to help.
Thank you, that's fantastic advice. I had my lap 18 months ago and really get what you mean about taking control now and how that feels.
Ha I get what you mean about healthy types and I get the "looks" when I suggest cutting things out as people think it's a fad thing (I've been prone to trying different diets, although I drew the line at the cabbage soup one... Maybe I should throw that back in the mix now 😉).
For me it's the bitter cycle, I cut things out, feel pain then eat as I tell myself I need it to stop the pain but it's the crap food that causes it. Very good tips though and I am genuinely having broccoli for tea so I feel a minor triumph right there.
I am watching that book on eBay too (I'll need a bargain if I am going to buy organic lol).
I think you raise valid points about focusing on what I enjoy and not on what is more restricted. Again please share successful recipes, love the hot chocolate tip! I think I'm lucky in one respect that I don't eat red meat or much chocolate but I understand that need for a chocolate hit at certain times in the month.
And I love Thai food! Result...
Thanks x
P.S I agree with the friends part. I age amazing friends. I try not to mention things too much as I don't like to feel like I'm winging etc but sometimes I unwittingly find myself in a kind of pain battle: some friends try to empathise as they also have "bad period cramps" and others try to completely downplay their pain (even if it's completely unrelated like a broken leg) as they say "it's nothing" compared to mine. I reassure them (in both scenarios) and resolve to spot the pain battle signs earlier next time so I can steer the conversation away ha x
Does anyone know where you can get this book from? Amazon and waterstons both say the book is not available anymore 
I got one of mine from Amazon and one from ebay. I've just looked on Amazon and the Carolyn Levett one is there along with some others x
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