My journey to cure my endometriosis

[tamaraiscool]

Hey

Firstly, sorry if you are a part of this community. It's not a club anyone wants to be in and hopefully you will find some of what i say relatable and helpful.

I began my period when i was just 9 years old, and remember them being painful but never debilitating. By the time i was 14 I was being picked up from my school in an ambulance regularly because I couldn't physically stand up with out fainting or throwing up. When i would get to the hospital I was met with a big dose of painkillers before being sent home to rest. I was put on every type of pill, every type of pain relief and this went on till i was 20, when I finally got my laproscopy and was diagnosed with moderate to severe endometriosis.

The pain lessened but never enough to make me feel like it was really worth having had the operation. As the months turned to years, by the time i was about 23 the pain had almost completely returned.

Jumping to the present, I am now 26 and on day 3 of my period and have yet to take a pain killer!

4 months ago, I had just had enough. It got too much, and i spiralled into a mad depression where i started to question how I was going to be able to go on in this much pain for the rest of my life. The doctors had recently told me menefenamic acid was no longer being made, and there was very little they had left to offer me other than codeine. I was sick of taking tablets all the time, and sick of feeling rubbish. I had tried everything else, surgery, tablets, pain medication, excercise, random supplements i had read about on the internet, nothing had made a difference. So, i decided to see a nutritionist.

For those interested, the official job role of the woman i see is Naturopathic Nutritional Therapist. We spoke for hours about my medical history, my battle with endometriosis and the amount of tablets i have had to take from age 12. I was immediately put on a completely natural 'Hormone Challenge' (this has to be given to you by a health professional) where by you take a series of daily supplements complemented by a diet plan (see below) that help remove excess estrogen from the body. After doing this for 28 days, and changing my diet, i am on my second period without taking a SINGLE painkiller and I feel so so much better in myself.

Everyone is different, Every body is different, but from a broad perspective i thought i would include some of the information i was told that are easy things you can introduce in to your life which might help

NO MEAT OR DAIRY - This is probably one of the biggest changes you can make to your endometriosis. Animals have hormones in them, fact. Animals that are farmed for the meat and dairy industry are actually injected with excess hormones that we are then ingesting when we eat or drink them. Dairy in particular is one of the worst for womens reproductive system so if you can do anything to help yourself, just try and cut it out for a month or two, and if you see a difference then its probably motivation enough to cut it out for good (FYI i am cheese obcessed and so this was really really hard for me, but after a month and you start to feel and see the results it will never become worth it ever again! )

FRUIT AND VEGETABLES - Eat as many colours a day as you can at least 5 a day

FERMENTED FOODS - 5 portions a week Sauerkraut/ Kimchi/ Kefir/ Kombucha

GARLIC AND ONION - EVERYDAY!! Try to have onions with every meal (such as salad onions) and garlic as much as possible – supports the liver and inactives oestrogens through methylation.

Hot water with fresh ginger root first thing (1 pint is recommended) ANTIINFLAMATORY

3 days before and during period drink raspberry leaf tea with Angelica root

magnesium salt baths

ELIMINATE alcohol/sugar/fast and fried foods

If cutting things out is too difficult try to reduce and at minimum cut them out in the lead up and during your period. I have just started to introduce some new natural supplments including Black Cohosh and Fish oil. I eat chia seeds with almond milk every morning, and soak a table spoon of flax seeds in water at night to regulate the gut.

I also started seeing a therapist to help cope with the incessant mood swings, and have found there to be a lot of things I didnt know i needed to deal with surfacing. Obviously i dont speak for everyone, we are all different, but trying to work on my body as a whole has shown great results to my overall well being that have ultimately helped my endometriosis hugely.

I hope some of this information is at all useful to someone, and that eventually we will all get to a place where we can live pain free

Good luck!

[arielseamermaid]

Hi there, this post was so helpful for me. I am already doing a lot of this following a good diet with regular yoga and meditation. Do you take any hormonal tablets to support? I ask because I'm currently on the mini pill Cerazette and it's not really helping (irregular bleeding more often than not) I really want to come off it but I'm just worried about side effects but I also don't know if I will see the good effects of my diet and exercise while I'm still on it. Sorry to hijack your post with my questions but you seem very knowledgeable in natural healing and I'm really at a loss with medical help.

[tamaraiscool in reply to arielseamermaid]

Hey

I am not a doctor nor qualified nutritionist, so please of course seek professional medical advice before making any drastic changes - but coming off conraceptive was another weight completely lifted. It didnt improve my endometriosis but it did make me feel calmer and more in tune with my body, as i was able to see what my most natural state is. For me, my periods are incredibly reliable and almost to the day on time, so i didnt see any reason to stay with the pill nor wanted to mess with my hormones any more than they clearly already are!

It cant help to try doing without the pill if you are not seeing the effects while currently on the pill?

Hope that helps!

[arielseamermaid in reply to tamaraiscool]

Hi, thank you for this it is just reassuring me that when I do visit the doctor I am going to recommend going without it. I had an ovarian cyst removed in Jan along with an ovary (not an Endo cyst) and before that I didn't even know I had Endo. Periods were like clockwork almost to the hour reliable had pain for first day but at worst I took 1 naproxen. I just hope that it's not going to be worse than before I hate to think that I may have done unnecessary damage to my hormones.

[tamaraiscool in reply to arielseamermaid]

Our bodies are forever chaging, so perhaps if you come off the pill and start introducing better foods/anti inflamatories in to your diet you will hopefully see a real difference! Give it a few months, and you can always go back on the pill if you feel it isnt working but i think you will be pleasantly surprised - let us know what you decide and if it helps!

[EndoSis]

Wow. This is really interesting. Thank you for sharing xx

[Starry]

Interesting it's had such an effect on you.. ive been vegetarian since a teenager, turning almost vegan about 6 months ago, and eat lots of veg onion and garlic most of it from an organic veg box delivery. My pain , though most definitely there and worsening , appears to be more moderate than it should be for the amount and duration of adenomyosis and deep endo I have, and I wonder if that may be a contributing factor . It's not helping my IC though !

[tamaraiscool in reply to Starry]

stock up on as many anti-inflamatory foodsas possible! Golden milk (turmeric lattes) and anythign containing natural anti inflams have helped so much!x

[Hidden]

This is fab!! I am so pleased for you! I've been wondering whether or not to see a naturopath, I feel like I have tried everything but perhaps not the right things for me. Thank you, all the best for continued good health.

[tamaraiscool in reply to Hidden]

I felt exactly the same 'ive tried everything else, why not?!' and it was the best decision, as long as you have the strength to stick to what you are told as ive had friends try the same thing for different illness and they complain its not working but they are not very disciplined in staying away from the things that are bad for them. Have a go, and at worst you'll probably stil feel better in yourself from eating lots of vegetables!

[arielseamermaid]

I myself have been vegan (plant based I still wear leather etc) for 6 months but there are so many vegan junk food options (cake, crisps, chocolate), I have seen an improvement over the time I have been vegan but I still think there is validation to further improving my diet. just this week (Wednesday) I have given up sugar and wheat and have decided to re introduce fish into my diet and occasionally organic eggs, chicken & turkey (once per week at most) but mainly focusing on plant based foods 99% of the time with the odd treat meal maybe once per month just to keep me sane.

It's a complete lifestyle change but it's definitely worth it if it gets rid of the pain. I just wish I could just stop taking the pill now so tempted to just stop but don't know if I should wait a few months being disciplined with diet and exercise before doing so.