Advice on shrinking endometrioma

[SB0910]

Hi, I've been recently diagnosed with endo and have a large endometrioma on my ovary. I've been advised the only way to get rid of it is with surgery. However I'm weighing up whether surgery is worth it due to A) the risks of other organs being damaged and potentially losing my ovary and B) it still doesn't solve the problem as endo could still come back. As I have the mirena coil I don't have a period or any pain other than the occasional dull ache.

Does anyone have any experience of following a certain diet, taking certain supplements or doing any alternative therapies which have actually shrunk cysts or reduced sites of endo?

Any advice is appreciated

[Chicken37]

Hi! I have recently been looking into leading an anti inflammatory lifestyle and using “heal endo” a book by Katie Edmonds as a guide. She explains all the various things from small to large steps of what can help to reduce endo symptoms and possibly reduce endo lesions mass or in some cases existence. It isn’t a be all and end all but it has certainly helped guide me. It has thinks such as diet, exercise, day to day things that may influence the endo, toxins in foods and environment, and most importantly things to help combat them. It is definitely worth looking at if you want a more natural way to take control first and then consider surgery. I want to clarify this isn’t a fix and surgery will ultimately with a specialist surgeon help give you a clean plate however, the steps and information in the book here helps provide support naturally in all areas of life. I hope that helps 💛

[SB0910 in reply to Chicken37]

Thank you so much for your help and advice I'm going to follow the anti-inflammatory diet for 6 months and see if it makes any difference to my lesions. Will report back if it does when I have an MRI

[Lil8]

Hi - came across your post after searching for the same thing. I have a 4cm endometrioma which my Dr is recommending I have removed or go onto Birth Control to manage. My issue is that I've massively improved my endo symptoms through lifestyle changes (diet, exercise, supplements and acupuncture) over the past few years so I'm reluctant to start messing around with hormones etc. when I've finally managed to get into a good place (bar the pesky cyst!). Did you have any success in shrinking yours?

[SB0910 in reply to Lil8]

Hey My cyst has shrunk about a 1cm so I'm planning to keep following the same diet and supplements and try to avoid surgery. I had the coil when they found the cyst originally so I'm fairly sure the diet and supplements have helped. My GP said to just keep monitoring it with regular ultrasounds and MRIs every 6 months, but said it was really positive it had shrunk.

The lady above's recommendation to read Heal with Endo was so helpful.

I'd be interested to know what supplements and diet you are following to see if there is any crossover. I take magnesium, NAC, vitamin D, Vitamin C and Zinc (they absorb better together) and turmeric. Also cut out all sugar and alcohol, bar the odd Aperol

[Lil8]

Wow, that's great news! So glad it's working for you. I've seen a massive improvement in my pain, fatigue and bloating by cutting out sugar, alcohol, gluten and mainly eating a high protein , green veg diet - more fish than meat when I can.

I've found acupuncture really helped with my cycle - after my first 4 weekly sessions, my first period after, I had zero clots and fresh coloured blood, not dark which I was told meant it was old blood.

I also started exercising more once I felt better/had more energy (fatigue was a big issue for me - i could sleep for 16 hours and still feel tired.) I joined a great women's gym that does a mix of strength training, weight lifting and HIIT which has been amazing for my body and mind.

In terms of supplements, I take a lot! Wish I'd been more scientific and added them in one by one to see which had the biggest impact on me but it has worked:

Omega 3 fish oil

Vitex

Vitamins B, C, D, E

Coq-10

Alpha lipoic acid

Quercetin

NAC

Pro biotic

Magnesium

Psyllium husk (for constipation as endo on my bowel)

I am virtually pain free apart from some back ache/hip ache around ovulation and in the run up to period. It's made a huge difference - only thing that is still causing issues are my cysts, was hoping they would have shrunk but unfortunately not. Now trying to avoid surgery or contraceptive if can as I feel great other than that and really don't want to meddle unless I have to.

Hope that helps - and your cysts keep shrinking

L

[Lil8]

Whoops, missed two:

L-Acetyle Carnetine (antioxidant)Evening primrose oil (for hot flushes)