Dietary changes for endometriosis

[SophiaValentine]

Hello, long term endo sufferer here.

I want to adjust my diet, any suggestions on things to take out?

I eat very healthy just want to know what to avoid

[Purplerain12]

Hello,

Im currently trying to do the same thing so interested in the responses you get.

I’ve found that milk causes me issues, but I’m ok with hard cheese like Parmesan. Coffee, tomatoes (raw and cooked, but seem ok blended in sauces strangely!) and strawberries can trigger issues with me. Sadly, also Prosecco! I don’t eat much processed food anyway, but if I have things like sausages or a chocolate bar they can cause me problems too. I have found that eating purple foods like kidney beans and beetroot can help with fatigue, mood and brain fog. I’d tried following the fodmap diet as well as anti inflammatory but that was too much for me so I’m trying to eat a more Mediterranean style diet.

I had my ovary and tube removed in December because I had a large chocolate cyst burst and it seems to have upset my stomach a lot. I also have endo on my bowel, but it’s hard to know if it’s the endo that’s causing me issues or that all the meds I’ve been on have upset my digestive system. I have more scans in june. When I’ve asked medical professionals, they don’t seem to give me an answer about diet.

Good luck! 💛

[SophiaValentine in reply to Purplerain12]

Oh that’s awful.. I’m sorry.. same, I had a cyst bleed out and since then I seem to be overly sensitive to lots of things but I can’t pin point them..

I’m thinking Olof doing a good diary to see what I can figure out because honestly buying alternatives to gluten (which I think it is) is so expensive

Thank you, you too!

[wanwood]

Some people find it helps to eliminate gluten and alcohol in terms of their symptoms. Diet won’t affect whether the disease progresses. If it isn’t making a noticeable difference to pain and bloating after say 6 weeks, it’s probably not worth continuing.

[SophiaValentine in reply to wanwood]

Thank you,It’s so hard to cut things out it feels..

Luckily I don’t drink. I’m thinking a food diary to help

[BloomingMarvellous]

So many ways to deal with this aren’t there and add to the confusion not everyone’s triggers are the same . It’s a fickle beast. Pre diagnosis for many years for all kinds of reasons I was following a whole food, no gluten, vegetarian, little dairy diet. Wasn’t well. Had a major crash 💥 and changed diet to still lots of veg, whole food, gluten inclusive, grass fed meats, fish 🎣 dairy but largely cheese / yoghurt kefir so predigested stuffs …but discovered via bloods that was really allergic to eggs which I had always loved. Big improvement for longest time as the eggs were causing chaos. Both are pretty low on the refined and sugar intake which can be pretty tedious and socially a killer. Still there we go. Since this two year flare post a cyst burst even that seems to be a puzzle with endless bloating and then magically not. Making sure I’ve plenty of water on board, flax seed and the supplements I need seem to be helpful with the pain and glandular flares that truck along when the digestion is inflamed.

Coming from a family that believed anything could be fixed if your diet was right for the longest time was quite a burden as it’s easy to feel as if you’re failing. Especially when there’s no diagnosis. What have grasped for me anyway is that stress and food is a real no no. When am poorly soup is good for the screaming gut and despairing soul. Beyond that the least refined, low sugar, little alcohol, fermented foods in some quantity are useful as base guidelines for the most part. Food for the eyes and inner smile 😊 helps balance the food as therapy bit otherwise it can be a tough journey.

[Tillyfloss]

Hi. Hope you are ok.

I was very sceptical about diet having any impact on my endometriosis but we were desperate as most days I couldn’t get out of bed so for a good two months we ( my husband did all the cooking as I wouldn’t eat left to my own devices as it just hurt) we followed the endometriosis diet and it was very restrictive but along with the pain team helping me to get the best out of the medication it got me through to surgery without being completely bed bound by pain . As things settled I introduced one thing per week so it took time but it meant I knew what was causing problems so for me I can’t have pasta in any way even gluten free it just sets it off, I can’t have bought cakes pizza etc but homemade in small amounts is fine, I can’t have citrus, certain bread and various other things as daft as a different brand of oil can trigger a flare up but it’s a very individual thing to find out what you are ok with and what to avoid and a food diary is a really good idea to keep track .

For background I have stage 4 deep infiltrated endometriosis with various problems but I am now at the point I only need the occasional paracetamol compared to the hospital admission every month and if I risk it and eat something I always regret it but sometimes cake is just to tempting 😀. I haven’t needed a consultant for a while but it was actually his suggestion as we were struggling so much and it certainly helped me but it’s such an individual disease what works for me will be different for others. Good luck in finding what works for you. Xx

[SophiaValentine in reply to Tillyfloss]

Thank you so much for sharing that with me. I’m so glad you are in less pain and managing better, thank you for the tips! X

[EmB18]

Hi, as others have said it often is a bit of trial and error to see if there are particular foods that make things worse for you. I found taking out wheat, sugar, alcohol and caffeine made a big difference to my symptoms. Dairy can be an issue with some people too. Good luck.